Branch also plans vote on Foxborough housing and land use bill
STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, OCT. 9, 2025…..Free menstrual products would be made available at public schools, correctional facilities and shelters under legislation the Senate plans to debate next week.
The branch will also tackle bills regulating ingredient disclosures for menstrual products, bolstering safety precautions for disabled vehicles and utility vehicles with flashing lights, and updating land use restrictions on a former state hospital property in Foxborough.
The Senate Ways and Means Committee favorably reported the bills Thursday, enabling them to move to the full Senate for votes.
Family and individual shelter operators that receive state funding would be required to provide free disposable menstrual products, including sanitary napkins, tampons and underwear liners — under one bill (S 2546). Free products must also be on hand at public elementary and secondary schools, jails, houses of correction and regional lockup facilities. People should be able to access the products in an accessible spot and in a way that “minimizes any stigmatization.”
The legislation died last session in the House Ways and Means Committee.
Twenty-seven states and Washington, D.C. have laws providing period products in schools, and 25 states have laws to make them available in correctional facilities, said Ariana Smith of the Alliance for Period Supplies that raises awareness about period poverty. The alliance consists of 140 organizations nationwide that collect and distribute millions of period products each year.
“While our allied programs in Massachusetts work extremely hard to address the needs in their communities, government support and investment is needed in order to make significant strides toward menstrual equity,” Smith told the Public Health Committee in June. “Massachusetts is falling behind in supporting our menstruators.”
Another period product bill (S 1483) calls for manufacturers to use labels with a “plain and conspicuous” list of all ingredients on their packages and boxes that are sold or distributed in Massachusetts. That information must also be posted online. Manufacturers must update their labels when changing or adding ingredients, and those who violate the proposed law could be fined up to $1,000.
“There’s growing concern about chemical exposure and resulting reproductive health issues from certain components and additives in menstrual products,” bill sponsor Sen. Jo Comerford told the Public Health Committee in June.
Massachusetts would be following the lead of states like New York and California, the Northampton Democrat said. Comerford warned some products contain PFAS forever chemicals, which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says can result in decreased fertility or increased high blood pressure in pregnant women.
The Senate is also looking to tighten the state’s Move Over Law, which requires motorists to proceed with caution, change lanes when possible and reduce their speed when they’re approaching stationary emergency, maintenance or recovery vehicles that have flashing lights on highways.
Those protections would also encompass disabled vehicles and utility vehicles with flashing lights, including hazard signals under another bill (S 2547) the Ways and Means Committee advanced. The bill is meant to shield “telecom, electric, and gas workers,” according to a Senate summary. Fines would increase from $100 per offense to $100 for the first offense, $250 for the second and $500 for the third and subsequent offenses. Motors who are charged with second or additional offenses must complete a driver education program.
Twenty states in recent years have expanded their “slow down” or “move over” laws to include disabled vehicles, including Connecticut, Maine, Rhode Island and New York, said Christina Hayman, senior manager of government affairs at AAA Northeast.
“Expanding the current law to include vehicles beyond our tow truck drivers and our emergency responders will save lives,” Hayman told the Transportation Committee in June.
In another measure (S 2141), the commissioner of the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance would be allowed to release or update use restrictions on land parcels that were previously used by Foxborough State Hospital, with the aim of supporting housing.
The Healey administration in December 2023 said the site would be transformed into more than 100 units of affordable housing for residents ages 55 and older, backed by a mix of state and federal credits, subsidies and funding. The hospital, which treated patients with alcoholism, closed in 1975.
