STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2013

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2821

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 2821 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MENSTRUAL EQUALITY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to require public schools to provide menstrual products free of charge to all students, on all school campuses, and to appropriate funds for the same.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Education; Department of Human Services; State Public Charter School Commission; State Council on Developmental Disabilities; Hawai‘i State Commission on the Status of Women; Ma‘i Movement Hawai‘i; ‘Ilima Intermediate Activist Club; Stonewall Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i; Hawaii State Teachers Association; Community Alliance on Prisons; Women's Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i; Zonta Club of Kauai; Pono Hawai‘i Initiative; Hawaii Youth Services Network; American Association of University Women of Hawaii; Children's Network Speaks!; HawaiiKidsCAN; Hawaii Women's Coalition; Achieve Zero; Hawai‘i Health & Harm Reduction Center; Education Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i; Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center; American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Hawai‘i, Guam, and Samoa Section; Breastfeeding Hawaii; and one hundred eighty-two individuals. Your Committee received no testimony in opposition to this measure. Your Committee received comments on this measure from one individual.

Your Committee finds that the lack of access to menstrual products in schools limits full participation in school, contributes to higher rates of school absenteeism and missed activities, and negatively impacts students' ability to learn. A 2021 study conducted by the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women and Ma‘i Movement Hawai‘i found that forty-two percent of student respondents missed class or left school because they did not have access to period products and nearly twenty-two percent missed school entirely. Illustrating the impact of this problem, of those who missed school entirely, nearly twelve percent missed three to five school days and six percent missed six to ten school days in an academic year. Because chronic absenteeism is one of the most powerful predictors of student success or failure, it should be a priority for Hawaii public schools to minimize or eliminate it.

In addition, your Committee also finds that the lack of adequate quantity and quality of period products directly and adversely impacts student health. Using period products for a length of time beyond that recommended by the manufacturer, or utilizing substandard alternatives, jeopardizes the safety and health of students and increases the risk of serious medical issues, including preventable infections that can result in death.

Your Committee further finds that there is convincing evidence that free period products have positive impacts on education. A pilot project and study of students and faculty in Hawaii conducted between August 2021 and January 2022 revealed that reducing the barriers to access resulted in fewer missed classes and absences. In recognition of these types of findings, more than ten states, including Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington State have laws or policies advancing menstrual equity in their public school and higher education systems. In addition, the United States Congress also introduced The Menstrual Equity Act for All this year, seeking to comprehensively address period poverty in schools and menstrual inequity in other spaces.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Adding a purpose section; and

(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

Your Committee notes that the appropriation required for this measure is $1,000,000.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Education that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2821, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2821, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Education,

________________________________

MICHELLE N. KIDANI, Chair