Members of the West Virginia Senate have voted to provide free feminine hygiene products to inmates of the state’s prisons and jails.
Senate Bill 484 would have the superintendent of a state correctional facility to provide inmates their choice of tampons or sanitary napkins within eight hours of a request.
The upper chamber passed the measure on a 32-0 vote. The proposal now heads to the House of Delegates.
In 2019, there were over 1,500 female inmates in the state’s prisons and jails. According to a fiscal note attached to Senate Bill 484, providing 2,000 cases of tampons to that many inmates would cost about $80,000 a year.
Other proposed legislation this session would require county boards of education to provide students free feminine hygiene products in schools.
