The House Administration Committee on Tuesday authorized the use of official funds to purchase tampons and other feminine hygiene products and ordered the House Office Supply Store to keep them in supply.
Reps. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-N.Y., Grace Meng, D-N.Y., and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., asked the committee on Monday to clarify what whether House members can use the Members’ Representational Allowance to buy the products.
House Administration Committee Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., said the decision to make the changes official take effect “immediately,” according to a press release from Maloney.
The MRA is an annual allowance provided to each congressional office to pay staffers, fund official travels, and purchase supplies that are considered “ordinary and necessary,” according to the Members’ Congressional Handbook. Congressional offices are also permitted to use the funds to pay for other hygiene products such as hand sanitizers, stain removal pens, and rubber gloves. The MRA further allows for purchase of items such as embellished letter openers, brass bookends, customizable gavel sets, and “executive tissue holders” made of wood.
Maloney, who says more than half of his Washington staff are female, sent a letter to the House Administration Committee last summer while it was still in GOP control to complain when his office was denied the use of official funds to purchase a box of tampons and was told he would have to personally reimburse the House.
In a statement Tuesday, Maloney praised Lofgren for reversing “last year’s chaos” and offering “clarity” to the situation.
“It is past time to address outdated policies that were written without consideration of women inside the chambers of Congress,” Wasserman Schultz added. “This is a basic, but critical health concern for most women, and failing to provide access to these products reflects a disregard for the needs of women and the leadership they bring to the Capitol.”
Lofgren approved the request a little over a month after the 116th Congress began when a record 102 women were sworn into the House.
