* Rachel Hinton at the Sun-Times…

Menstrual products will be provided free of charge at shelters for homeless people and in campus bathrooms at public universities and community colleges under pieces of legislation signed into law Thursday by Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

“Given the high price of menstrual products such as pads and tampons, it’s no wonder that many women below the poverty line have had to sacrifice their personal health and hygiene in order to afford food or other basic necessities, turning to socks and toilet paper to manage their menstrual cycle,” Pritzker said.

Pritzker was joined by the sponsors of House Bills 155, 310 and 641 which he signed Thursday at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. The bills increase access to menstrual products, necessities “which fit right alongside hand soap and toilet paper as critical hygiene care” that can make or break a student’s day, the governor said. […]

Rep. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville, said the legislation signed Thursday “recognizes a simple fact of biology: about half our population experiences menstruation throughout a significant portion of their lifetimes.”

“We all agree collectively that soap, toilet paper, napkins, tissues, seat covers and all those other things are provided for us in public spaces,” said Stuart, a sponsor of the legislation. “In fact, we probably don’t really ever think about it until we’re in a situation where we really need something like that, and it’s just not there. This legislation puts menstrual hygiene products in that same category, which is exactly where they belong.”

* WEHT…

HB 155 requires the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) to apply for a waiver from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service, that would pave the way for recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) to use the two programs for diapers and menstrual hygiene products. This piece of legislation goes into effect January 1, 2022.

HB 641 requires all public colleges and community colleges across the state to provide free feminine hygiene products in campus bathrooms. This legislation goes into effect immediately. The Board of Trustees at Illinois colleges and universities will need to decide how these needs are funded.

* Capitol News Illinois…

House Bill 310 requires homeless shelters that serve women and youth to make menstrual hygiene products available free of charge. That requirement, however, is “subject to the availability of funds in the homeless shelter’s general budget,” according to the bill.

“I cannot personally imagine the indignity of having to use some other item as a makeshift sanitary product,” bill sponsor Sen. Christopher Belt, D-Swansea, said at the news conference. “But I believe people who have already been deprived of so much should not have to suffer that, too.”

That measure passed the General Assembly with only one vote against in the Senate and three votes against in the House. It will become law in January 2022.

Republican Sen. Terri Bryant and GOP Reps. Brad Halbrook, Chris Miller and Adam Niemerg voted “No.”