'Next Logical Step': LA City Council To Examine Making Feminine Hygiene Products Free

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) -- Los Angeles may offer free tampons and pads in public restrooms.

The L.A. City Council Wednesday requested staff members create a report regarding the potential costs associated with offering free feminine hygiene at facilities owned by the city.

The measure was authored by councilmember Bob Blumenfield, who says the move is an effort to end the stigma surrounding menstrual cycles.

"It's long overdue that female hygiene products were treated like soap, toilet paper and necessities that are provided in public restrooms," Blumenfield wrote on Twitter.

Feminine hygiene brand Always reported in a 2018 survey that nearly one in five girls in the U.S. have either left school early or missed school entirely because they didn't have access to menstrual products.

Gov. Gavin Newsom's budget proposal this year calls for a two-year moratorium on taxing menstrual products and diapers.

Several states have taken efforts to end so-called "period poverty" by making the products tax-free or offering them free of cost in certain settings.

"Providing feminine hygiene products in city-owned facilities is the next logical step, and I believe it can help a lot of women at minimal cost to the taxpayers," Blumenfield said.

The Department of Recreation and Parks and the Department of General Services will issue the report.

(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)