Sponsored by:
Senator M. TERESA RUIZ
District 29 (Essex)
Senator RENEE C. BURGESS
District 28 (Essex)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes State SNAP Menstrual Hygiene Benefit Program; appropriates $1 million to DHS.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning a monthly State benefit from menstrual hygiene products under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, supplementing Title 44 of the Revised Statutes, and making an appropriation.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. There is established in the Division of Family Development in the Department of Human Services the State SNAP Menstrual Hygiene Benefit Program. Under the program, the division shall distribute to each menstruator in an eligible SNAP household a monthly State benefit of $14. The division shall distribute the monthly State benefit via the household’s existing SNAP electronic benefits card, on the same issuance date as the household’s standard SNAP benefits. A household shall be required to use any monthly State benefit issued pursuant to this section for menstrual hygiene products. Any unspent funds from a household’s monthly State SNAP Menstrual Hygiene Benefit shall be carried over to the next month, for use by the household for the same purpose.
b. As used in this section,
“Menstrual hygiene products” means tampons, menstrual cups, or sanitary napkins used to collect or absorb menstrual fluids.
“SNAP” means the New Jersey Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, established pursuant to the federal “Food and Nutrition Act of 2008,” Pub.L.110-246 (7 U.S.C. s.2011 et seq.).
2. The Commissioner of Human Services shall adopt rules and regulations, pursuant to the “Administrative Procedure Act,” P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), as may be necessary to implement the provisions of this act.
3. There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Division of Family Development in the Department of Human Services $1,000,000 to effectuate the provisions of this act.
4. This act shall take effect on the first day of the fourth month next following the date of enactment, but the Commissioner of Human Services may take such anticipatory administrative action in advance thereof as may be necessary for the implementation of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill establishes the State SNAP Menstrual Hygiene Benefit Program in the Division of Family Development in the Department of Human Services, and makes an appropriation to support the program. SNAP, formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, is a nutrition assistance program that serves as a safety net for low-income households. The federal government provides 100 percent of the funds for the standard SNAP benefit for all enrollees, and prohibits the use of benefits to purchase menstrual hygiene products. This bill, in using State funds to provide a menstrual hygiene product benefit, aims to circumvent the federal prohibition in order to help address “period poverty” in New Jersey. Period poverty, an invisible form of poverty that affects over 22 million people in the United States, is the inability to afford or access the necessary menstrual products needed to manage a period. Recent studies show that 2 in 5 people who menstruate experience period poverty.
Under the program, the division is to distribute to each menstruator in an eligible SNAP household a monthly State benefit of $14. The division is required to distribute the monthly State benefit via the household’s existing SNAP electronic benefits card, on the same issuance date as the household’s standard SNAP benefits. A household is required to use any monthly State benefit issued pursuant to this bill for menstrual products. Any unspent funds from a household’s monthly State SNAP Menstrual Hygiene Benefit is to be carried over to the next month, for use by the household for the same purpose. The bill defines “menstrual hygiene products” to mean tampons, menstrual cups, or sanitary napkins used to collect or absorb menstrual fluids.