Tennessee Senate Bill SB0573

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/30/25

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49; Title 63; Title 67 and Title 68, relative to hygiene products for women and children.

Summary

This bill expands Tennessee’s school feminine hygiene product requirements from public high schools to all public schools, including public charter schools, and specifies that the products must be placed in women’s and girls’ bathrooms and locker rooms regularly used by students in grades 4 through 12. It also adds a definition of “public charter school” by reference to existing law. The bill requires both local education agencies (LEAs) and public charter schools to provide feminine hygiene products and directs the state to reimburse them for the full cost of the products they purchase under the program. In addition, the Department of Health must work with the State Board of Education and other agencies to develop a public health campaign encouraging individuals and nonprofit organizations to donate or drop off feminine hygiene products to eligible schools. The act would take effect July 1, 2025, and apply beginning with the 2025-2026 school year.

Impact

The bill would amend Tennessee Code Annotated Title 49 to broaden the existing school hygiene-product program and impose a new statewide reimbursement obligation. It shifts the duty from being limited to public high schools and optional for LEAs to being mandatory for LEAs and public charter schools serving grades 4-12, while also creating a state-funded reimbursement mechanism and a public health outreach component. Although the bill caption references Titles 63, 67, and 68, the text provided primarily changes education law and creates related administrative responsibilities for the Department of Health.

Sentiment

Based on the bill’s structure and purpose, the measure appears generally supportive of student health and menstrual equity, with a focus on ensuring access to hygiene products in schools. There is no committee transcript or recorded vote history provided, so no formal debate or opposition can be identified from the available materials. The bill’s reimbursement provision and public health campaign suggest an effort to make the policy more feasible and broadly supported by schools and community partners.

Contention

The main potential points of contention are likely to be the cost to the state of reimbursing LEAs and charter schools, the administrative burden of implementing the program, and the expansion of the mandate to charter schools and to younger grades beginning in grade 4. Another possible issue is whether the requirement should be statewide and mandatory rather than locally optional. Because no committee discussion or votes are included, the specific positions of legislators, school officials, or advocacy groups are not available from the record provided.