EAST LANSING, Mich. — East Lansing is considering a new ordinance that would require all city public restrooms to have free menstrual products.
“I think that this is something that we should do as a basic issue of equity to provide these menstrual products for free and I think that this ordinance would be a good idea for council to pass," said City Manager George Lahanas.
Tampons, pads and similar products may soon be added to men's, women's and family bathrooms in the city.
“Just the same way that we would supply other necessary hygiene products in public bathrooms, you know, toilet paper, so there's no question about whether or not that's appropriate and this is just another thing that's needed and should be available,” said Mayor Pro Tem Jessy Gregg.
Gregg said this idea came from MSU's student government, ASMSU.
“This is one of the areas that they had identified for advocacy, they were working with the state lobby group with the tampon tax that was just repealed,” Gregg said.
Gregg said this would include restrooms in the East Lansing Public Library, Aquatic Center, Soccer Complex and Patriarche Park. The Hannah Community Center and East Lansing City Hall already provide free sanitary products.
“People have to come to City Hall for a variety of reasons. Court is the one that you really can't get out of," Gregg said. "Also voter registration, paying bills, lots of different things. We wouldn't want anybody to feel that they couldn't access those services if they were unable to financially stretch their budget to cover menstrual products.”
Gregg said the money to pay for the products will come out of the general fund, but they don't anticipate it will cost much.
“It will be a slight amount of money coming from our general fund," Gregg said. "The same fund that we use for other hygiene supplies and public restrooms. I don't anticipate it being a very large sum of money we'll find out I guess after first year how much that's going to be, but it's just part of what we have to budget for.”
At recent city council meetings, students from ASMSU spoke out about their support of the new ordinance.
“Providing free menstrual products in all public restrooms could greatly help defeat period poverty and help support many people who cannot afford menstrual products," said ASMSU Vice President for Student Allocation Harsna Chahal.
So did MSU alumni like Nama Naseem, who works with Mission Menstruation, a non-profit who provides free period products to students on campus.
“Access to free period products betters the well-being of those who menstruate by lowering the risk of disease caused by poor menstrual hygiene management and reducing the chance of missed opportunities," Naseem said. "A person who menstruates may skip school or work if they are unable to access period products.”
Unlike a similar ordinance passed in Ann Arbor, East Lansing's will not require businesses to provide the free menstrual products, but Gregg said she hopes more businesses choose to adopt something similar.
“I hope that businesses do adopt this policy amongst themselves. We so far have not made it mandatory, but, hopefully, this will kind of be a green light signal to people that this might be an appropriate step for them to take," Gregg said.
A vote to adopt the new ordinance will take place at Tuesday night's City Council meeting. If passed, dispensers are expected to be installed by this summer.
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