Meeting Public Comments

Elizabeth Lundberg

In favor; please pass. A truly commonsense billwell done!

Patricia Anne Higby [Iowa AAUW]

All of us want to keep students in school. All students, both male and female. Unfortunately, biology puts girls at a disadvantage each month. From personal experience I know how hard it is to concentrate on classes when you are unprepared for your monthly flow. And this is especially hard for young girls with irregular periods. Providing what is needed in the restroom is essential, especially if your school no longer has a nurses office. Why do we provide soap and towels in restrooms? Because we know hygiene is important. Feminine hygiene is important too! Please support HF 543.

Edith waldstein

Please support this bill. As an educator I have experienced firsthand how girls' education can suffer if they do not have ready access to period products at school. Absenteeism is, of course, the most obvious and most harmful, since it has the potential impact for girls to miss school for one week per month. Period products are a basic health and hygiene necessity for girls that should be available in bathrooms, just as are toilet paper, soap, or paper towels. This is not a partisan issue. It impacts Republican, Democratic, or no party girls/families in all areas of our state, both rural and urban. Again, please support this bill. Thank you.

Rebekah Jacobs

Please vote IN FAVOR of HF 543. Hygiene Products are essential to young women and they should be focused on school work not on their biological needs. Please include an amendment to address the lack of funding from the state for such needs. Thank you.

Meredith E Keelan [AAUW]

HF543I retired in 2015 after 35 years of teaching and Coaching in Texas. While this bill is for Iowa the issues were the same there and still are.The menstrual cycle, especially in pre and teenagers is very unpredictable, to say the least. Teaching in a lower income school district girls who come from low income or families on assistance wont have access to feminine hygiene productspads and tampons. I had numerous times when these girls would miss school, worse have accidents while at school and not have access to products. I would often provide them with products. As a Coach I made sure that we had supplies in out first aide kits when we were away at meets or games.While there isnt much in the way of documentation to the correlation of girls being on their Period and absenteeism, common sense would follow that if a girl or their family cant afford products they would stay home. There is also the serious issue of a girl wearing pads or tampons too long resulting in infection and worse Toxic shock syndrome. Yes, TSS is NOT caused by using Tampons, but prolonged use of a single tampon can allow this bacterium to proliferate, resulting in infectionRequiring schools to fund and supply access to feminine hygiene products in school wouldnt guarantee our girls would be in school, but it would remove this as a potential, avoidable reason for absence. Having access to products in emergencies would help in these trying times. Campus nurses should educate and dispense products, reducing the potential embarrassment. I understand this is an added expense for schools to have to budget for, but we give lowincome students free lunch, we should also help low income girls have access to these products as these cannot be acquired with food stamps and is equally important to their physical and mental health.This bill needs to move forward in the Affirmative and be passed for the benefit of our girls!Thank you,Meredith KeelanVan Vleck ISD, Van Vleck, Tx Retired

Laura Arterburn

Yes! Please pass this bill!

Jessica Van Winkle

Please provide feminine products for students.

Jennifer Santiago

I am writing in full support of this bill. This could make such a difference in the lives of students who either dont have resources available to them or find themselves in a moment of emergency need.

All Henkle

All people deserve access to clean and safe period protects. This is a huge step forward in health equity and accessibility for those from different socioeconomic Classes. Please support this bill.

Nancy Henderson

I urge you to support this bill. The legislature says it supports girls and women. By approving this bill and making sure it is eventually signed by the Governor, you will show the support that you profess. Menstrual cycles begin unexpectedly...and can occur unexpectedly. Having access to free menstrual products for these situations would be supportive of girls and women. It can be embarrassing to bleed through your clothes and then be unable to access hygiene products and thus have to find a way to survive the rest of the day and also find a way to clean your clothing...or find other clothing...which may not be possible. Some students may stay home and miss school because of a lack of hygiene products. I know when I started my first period, I was at school, in the 7th grade, and I had nothing with me...I was too embarrassed to ask for help. I folded several sheets of toilet paper and hoped they would stay in my pants until I got home from school. No one should have to go through this. We shouldn't have to be embarrassed and we should have hygiene products easily available at nocost for our students. Please support this bill and encourage your fellow legislators to support it, too. Thank you.

Ariana Smith [Alliance for Period Supplies]

March 03, 2025The Honorable Ryan WeldonHouse Subcommittee Education 1007 E Grand AveDes Moines, IA 50319Re: HF 543 SUPPORT Representative Weldon,On behalf of the Alliance for Period Supplies, I am writing to express our strong support for HF 543, sponsored by Representative David Young, which would require school boards to ensure that feminine hygiene products can be accessed by students without cost in at least half of the restrooms in school buildings in the district where students in grades 6 through 12 are educated and that the supply of feminine hygiene products is refilled regularly. The Alliance for Period Supplies is comprised of over 140 independent nonprofit organizations that collect, warehouse, and distribute period products to those in need. In Iowa, 2 of our allied programs are hard at work to end period poverty a growing public health issue impacting 2 in 5 people that is characterized by an inability to afford enough menstrual products due to lack of income. The provision of menstrual products in schools is vital to ensuring the health, dignity, and full participation of all Iowans in daily life. Nearly one in four students missed class due to a lack of access to menstrual products, and two in five reported not being able to afford the menstrual products they needed. Research also shows that 86% of women and girls have started their periods unexpectedly in public, and 34% have needed to leave what they were doing to retrieve period products. Such disruptions cost considerable time and resources, which can be particularly burdensome on youth, lowincome people, unhoused people, and other vulnerable populations. By providing menstrual products in schools, Iowa can help to ensure its students have equal access to education and are empowered to reach their full potential. Research shows that students lacking access to period products experience higher rates of absence and are less able to focus and engage in the classroom. Significantly, after New York City passed a law providing free menstrual products to students, participating schools saw a 2.4% increase in attendance. Passing HF 543 would mark a critical step toward removing barriers to equity for all Iowa students, especially those who have struggled to access menstrual products due to gender or income. 28 states and Washington D.C., have already passed legislation to increase access to period products in schools. For all of these reasons, we urge you to support this important legislation.Thank you for your attention to this crucial matter. The Alliance for Period Supplies stands ready to support and collaborate with you in any way possible to ensure the successful passage and implementation of this critical legislation. Sincerely,Ariana SmithManager of Legislative PolicyAlliance for Period Supplies

Lilly Froehlich

I support the passage of this bill! No girl should have to go home from school and miss out on a day of education due to a lack of sanitary product access.

Brandy Smith

Please vote in favor of HF543! This bill will help reduce missed class time and absenteeism for girls. I have worked with a local group of Girl Scouts that have done grassroots efforts at their local junior highs and seen firsthand how much impact this simple act can have on the ability for girls to quietly have a simple solution to unexpected times when their menstrual cycle may start and they are do not have what they need. There are also some girls that do not have the financial means to afford product they need, so miss school all together because of this. These products need to be in bathrooms, so girls do not have to miss class time trying to find a product at the nurse or counselor's office. This bill would have significant positive impact on all female students in our state!