Antonio Delivers Massive No-Cost Period Products Appropriation In The State Budget

Senate Democratic Leader Antonio and Senator Stephanie Kunze are joined by the advocacy groups PERIOD.org, Aunt Flow, and the Hamilton County Commission on Women and Girls to conduct a press conference about no-cost period products in Ohio.

Ohio’s budget was signed into law on Tuesday, July 5th, 2023. The governor’s veto power of the pen was Ohio’s last chance to lift up poor and working families over the wealthy and well connected, at a time of surplus and great need. Ultimately, the governor chose to veto 44 provisions. This budget still does not prioritize the needs of all, especially everyday Ohioans struggling to make ends meet.

Though the final version of the budget was not the Democrats’ most desirable version of the budget, a key highlight from the budget was an appropriation that I fought hard to introduce: free period products for school districts in Ohio enrolling girls from grades 6-12.

This budget appropriation will change the way periods are perceived by students in Ohio. Menstrual products are vital to the health and well-being of women and girls. By having period products be both accessible and free in Ohio schools, we can expect attendance in schools to increase proportionally. According to a study conducted by  PERIOD and Thinx[1], among the teenage girls in the United States that were surveyed, 38% of the girls said that they often or sometimes cannot do their best schoolwork due to lack of access to period products. When students lack access to period products in schools, they face barriers and may avoid going out into public while wearing stained clothing in public without the necessary sanitary products.

Luckily, our budget appropriation provides a solution to this problem. Just as we have regulated the provision of toilet paper and paper towels in public restrooms, so too should the same be done for menstrual products. Menstruation is a natural biological occurrence, experienced by half the population for much of their lives, and should not be treated differently than any other basic bodily function. It’s unhygienic and a danger to one’s health not to have access to menstrual products, no less so than to lack access to toilet paper.

This budget appropriation will be distributed in the following manner: Up to $2,000,000 in fiscal year 2024 shall be used to provide funds to each school district, other public school, and chartered nonpublic school that enrolls girls in any of grades six through twelve in order to install dispensers for feminine hygiene products in each school building under its control.

It also creates a fund titled “Feminine Hygiene Products,” which states that up to $3,000,000 in fiscal year 2024 will be used to reimburse those aforementioned schools and districts in a manner determined by the Department of Education and Workforce, for costs incurred to provide free feminine hygiene products.

I am pleased that this budget bill includes a provision for the basic health and hygiene necessities for women and girls, and I look forward to seeing what the future holds for expanding access to period products as we work toward menstrual equity in Ohio and throughout the country.

[1] https://period.org/uploads/State-of-the-Period-2021.pdf

State Senator Nickie J. Antonio (D-Lakewood) is honored to be serving in the Ohio Senate, representing District 23, and in leadership as the Minority Leader. Antonio, who was elected to the Senate in 2018, previously spent eight years in the Ohio House of Representatives, where she served District 13 and was also a member of leadership. Antonio has served as a Lakewood City Councilmember, Executive Director of an outpatient drug and alcohol treatment program for women, Adjunct Professor, and a teacher for children with special needs.