Relates to providing feminine hygiene products at no cost to individuals in correctional facilities and to any other individual in a punitive custodial setting.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A588B
SPONSOR: Rosenthal L TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the correction law, in relation to providing feminine
hygiene products at no cost to individuals in correctional facilities
PURPOSE:
This bill will provide feminine hygiene products at no cost to individ-
uals housed in state and local correctional facilities.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section one amends the correction law by adding a new section 625.
Section two sets forth the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
In correctional facilities across New York State, incarcerated women are
given an insufficient monthly supply of feminine hygiene products or are
required to purchase such products from the prison commissary. The cost
of feminine hygiene products can be high, forcing many inmates to go
without or use their own makeshift hygiene products. Not only is this
unsanitary, but it also creates an underground market for feminine
hygiene products with the prison walls.
At the Taconic State Correctional Facility, for example, one tampon
costs 24 cents. The average female inmate makes approximately 17 cents
per hour. Thus, female inmates must spend their week's earnings to
purchase a 20-count box of tampons, which still may be insufficient for
women whose periods last up to seven days or have heavy flows.
Feminine hygiene products are not a luxury, but a necessity, and incar-
cerated women must be provided with access to feminine hygiene products.
This bill would correct the current injustice within New York State
correctional facilities by providing feminine hygiene products at no
cost for inmates.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
This is a new bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Undetermined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall become
law.
