California’s public schools to soon offer free menstrual products

Public schools and colleges in California must provide free menstrual products in their restrooms starting in the 2022-23 school year under a bill signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom Friday.

The bill, authored by Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens), expands her 2017 law requiring low-income schools in areas designated as disadvantaged to provide free menstrual products to their students.

Garcia said:

“Our biology doesn’t always send an advanced warning when we’re about to start menstruating.” 

Garcia’s bill, Assembly Bill 367, was inspired by what her office described as “the trailblazing actions of Scotland, where Parliament adopted The Period Products (Free Provision) on November 24, 2020.”