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THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, October 24, 2025 Page 17 BHRC | FROM PAGE 14 Senate 39-0, approved and sent to the House a bill that would require all prisons, homeless shelters and public elementary and secondary schools to maintain free menstrual products, including sanitary napkins, tampons and underwear liners in private and public restrooms; and to make them available in a “convenient manner that does not stigmatize any persons seeking the products.” Supporters said that according to the Massachusetts Menstrual Equity Coalition, approximately one in seven children in Massachusetts is living in poverty and struggles to pay for menstrual products. They argued that research shows that the inability to access menstrual products affects students’ class attendance. They also noted that women facing homelessness or who are incarcerated face high barriers to access, with Massachusetts shelters reporting that menstrual products are among the least donated items. They argued that restricted access in shelters and correctional facilities means that products can be used as bargaining chips and tools of control for people in vulnerable circumstances. “Equitable access to free disposable menstrual products is a necessity for menstruators everywhere,” said sponsor Sen. Pat Jehlen (D-Somerville). “This bill has the ability to ensure menstruators in public schools, shelters and prisons no longer have to experience anxiety, shame or fear around periods. Students in my district were the first to meet with me and speak out about their concerns in school of not knowing if they would have access to menstrual products when they needed them. I am so glad to see this bill passed in the Senate which honors the work and courage of these students who have inspired so many more to break through the stigma and advocate for their peers.” “Tampons and pads are a basic hygiene necessity,” said Senate President Karen Spilka (D-Ashland). “Ensuring their availability—safely and without stigma—is key to advancing equity for women’s health. Menstruating people have always shouldered the burden of carrying their own tampons and pads into the restroom, leading to a quiet struggle all too real for the girls and women who have difficulty making ends meet.” The Senate approved the same bill in the 2023-2024 session on October 26, 2023 and sent it to the House Ways and Means Committee where no further action was taken for more than a year and the bill died from inaction on December 31, 2024. Any individual representative in the 2023-2024 session could have acted to try to force the bill out of the Ways and Means Committee but none of the 160 House members did so. Any House member can still do the same anytime during the current 2025-2026 session. Under House rules, any individual representative can move to discharge any and all bills from the Ways and Means Committee. There is a 7-day waiting period prior to the House considering the motion to discharge. The discharge motion must receive a majority vote of the members present. If the measure is discharged from the committee, the committee has four days within which to report out the measure for placement on the House’s agenda for action. A bill may also be discharged from the Ways and Means Committee by any representative by filing a petition signed by a majority of the House. The bill would then be discharged seven days later and go onto the House agenda for the next session. However, the Ways and Means Committee is often a burial ground for bills that will never again see the light of day. “Rarely, if ever, does a member go either of those two routes against the wishes of the leadership and the committee chair,” said a state representative who requested anonymity. They told Beacon Hill Roll Call, “It’s no secret that Speaker Mariano controls the flow of legislation and a bill makes progress in the House only when he wants it to. Every member knows that one of the biggest sins is to publicly make a motion to discharge a bill from a committee. The leadership frowns upon that.” House Ways and Means Committee chair Aaron Michlewitz (D-Boston); Margaret Ann Ferrnate (D-Gloucester), vice chair of House Ways and Means; Todd Smola (R-Warren), the ranking Republican on the committee; and House Speaker Ron Mariano did not respond to repeated requests by Beacon Hill Roll Call asking them to comment on the committee bottling up the bill and killing it. Beacon Hill Roll Call asked Sen. Pat Jehlen (D-Somerville), the bill’s sponsor and Sen. Patrick O’Connor (R-Weymouth), a strong supporter of the bill, to comment on the killing of the bill. “I support our House colleagues’ efforts this session, and in prior ones, to advance this important legislation,” Jehlen responded. O’Connor responded, “Unfortunately, all too often within the legislative process we see bills that would benefit individuals across the commonwealth not make it across the finish line with the other priority bills the House and Senate both have on the docket. With the overwhelming support of [this bill] this session, I am confident now more than ever that we will finally be able to get this through the House and I will continue to urge my colleagues in both chambers to get this done.” Spokespersons for two groups that are lobbying for House rules changes, includingpreventing bills from being unilaterally being killed by a committee chair, did not mince words when asked to respond to the death of the bill. “As long as representatives forfeit their power, Michlewitz and a few unknown staffers will keep sorting bills into yes/ no piles behind closed doors,” said Aaron Singer, the producer and director of “Shadows on the Hill,” an upcoming documentary that he says asks why common-sense bills don’t pass the Massachusetts Legislature. “We don’t even know if there are women in that room. The real question is which representative will rally a coalition to rewrite House rules and reclaim the lawmaking process. Without reform, even small disagreements with leadership demand an outsized, conflict-heavy push.” Scotia Hille, Executive Director of Act on Mass said, “Every session, our elected representatives in the Statehouse allow popular, commonsense legislation like this bill to die without a vote. Unfortunately, they would rather leave our state’s neediest without adequate menstrual care than defy leadership by using their own power to initiate a vote. So long as we allow chamber leaders to control member’s salaries, I fear we will continue to see this pattern unfold. Our legislators should be empowered to act independently and organize their peers behind legislation their constituents need. This situation and unfortunately many others like it motivate Act on Mass to support a reform to legislative stipends.” (A “Yes” vote is for the bill.) Sen. Jason Lewis Yes COMPANIES MUST DISCLOSED INGREDIENTS OF MENSTRUAL PRODUCTS (S 1483) Senate 39-0, approved and sent to the House a proposal that would require manufacturers of menstrual health products to clearly disclose and display a list of ingredients. The ingredients would have to be easily accessible on both retail packages and manufacturers’ websites. “A person who menstruates will use, on average, over 10,000 menstrual products in their lifetime,” said sponsor Sen. Jo Comerford (D-Northampton). “Yet, menstrual products have increasingly been found to contain harmful substances such as PFAS, heavy metals and other toxic chemicals.” “Menstrual equity is not only about making products free— it’s about ensuring those products are safe, high quality and labeled with full ingredient disclosure,” said Sasha Goodfriend, Executive Director of Mass NOW. “We are deeply grateful that the Senate understands that dignity requires both access and accountability. Today’s vote sends a powerful message: menstruators in Massachusetts deserve not just products, but the ability to make informed choices about what products they use for their menstrual health.” (A “Yes” vote is for the bill.) Sen. Jason Lewis Yes EXPAND THE “MOVE OVER” LAW (S 2653) Senate 39-0, approved and sent to the Senate legislation that would require motorists to slow down if they are approaching a stationary utility truck or a stopped vehicle with flashing lights on the shoulder of a road or breakdown lane of a highway. Drivers on a highway with multiple lanes in each direction would also be required, if practicable, to change lanes to ensure greater safety for vehicles and individuals in the breakdown lane. The bill expands the state’s existing Move Over Law which provides this protection for emergency response vehicles, highway maintenance vehicles and tow trucks. “This essential legislation is a critical upgrade to our Move Over Law, expanding its life-saving protections to everyone who must work or wait on the side of a busy highway,” said sponsor Sen. Brendan Crighton (D-Lynn), Senate Chair of the Committee on Transportation. “By including disabled vehicles and utility workers and implementing stronger penalties, we are making everyone on our roads safer.” “National Grid employees perform critical repairs and maintenance to ensure safe, reliable energy service across Massachusetts every day when customers need it most,” said Shaun Vacher, Vice-President of Electric Operations for National Grid. “We thank the Senate for passing this important legislation to provide essential protections for roadside utility crews, helping ensure they can do this vital work safely and without unnecessary risk.” “The Massachusetts State Police shares the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s support for this bill, which provides important additions to the commonwealth’s existing Move Over Law,” said Col. Geoffrey Noble, a spokesperson for the Massachusetts State Police. “While these expanded provisions support our ability to address dangerous behavior through enforcement, above all else, we want drivers to slow down and change lanes away from stationary vehicles when it’s safe to do so. Taking these common-sense steps will prevent the serious injuries and faBHRC| SEE PAGE 19

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