New Hampshire

NH schools are currently required to provide period products. New bill looks to end that

Published

1 year ago

January 24, 2025

NH schools are currently required to provide period products. New bill looks to end that

In 2019, Rochester teen Caroline Dillon spearheaded the passage of a law to mandate New Hampshire schools provide free feminine hygiene products such as pads and tampons to help students without access and to fight the stigma around periods.

But this year, some Republican lawmakers have introduced a bill to remove this requirement, saying it goes against the state constitution.

HB 415 sponsor, state Rep. Katy Peternel, R-Wolfeboro, said to the House Education Policy and Administration committee on Wednesday that while she doesn’t “have an issue” with supplying free menstrual products in restrooms, requiring schools to bear the costs of supplying the products is an “unfunded mandate.”

Why are menstrual products mandated in NH schools?

Current New Hampshire law requires all New Hampshire middle and high schools to provide free feminine hygiene products in dispensers in their female and gender neutral bathrooms.

Dillon, who was a senior at Spaulding High School at the time, brought a mock version of the bill to then state Sen. Martha Hennessey, D-Hanover after learning about “period poverty” in school. The term refers to when girls and women miss things like work or learning time because they can’t afford feminine hygiene products.

Dillon said that she knew girls at her school who would stay home or raise their risk of infection by using socks or newspapers if they didn’t have access to period products when on their cycle.

“To think about my classmates being in need and not having the access to something so basic is just awful,” Dillon told Seacoastonline at the time. “I couldn’t really let that go.”

Dillon also wanted to end the stigma and taboo associated with period products. She believed they should be treated like toilet paper, which is already provided to students for another essential bodily function.

“SB 142 will help ensure young women in New Hampshire public schools will have the freedom to learn without disruption — and free of shame or fear of stigma,” former NH Gov. Chris Sununu said when he signed the bill into law.

Why do legislators want to remove this requirement?

Opponents of the law in 2019 said that it would be an unfunded mandated and could burden taxpayers in already cash-strapped school districts.

Peternel and the other Republican sponsors have a similar argument this time around, saying this law goes against the state constitution’s prohibition on mandating “new, expanded or modified programs or responsibilities to any political subdivision” unless fully funded by the state.

Under the law, schools bear the cost of supplying menstrual hygiene products. School districts can also seek grants to meet this obligation.

Rep. Jess Edwards, R-Auburn, another sponsor of the bill, said that the requirement is “offensive” and unnecessary and that schools will continue to provide products without it.

Over 1,700 oppose removing requirement

On Wednesday, all speakers besides the two sponsors opposed the bill. On the New Hampshire legislature’s website, over 1,700 people signed on in opposition to HB 415. In contrast, 23 signed on in support.

At the hearing, seventh-grader Abigail Banner said that not having menstrual products in her private school requires her to make a plan whenever she is on her cycle. She described one time where she had to use toilet paper because she did not have enough time to go back to her locker to retrieve a pad.

“I could ask my friends for help, but since there’s so much taboo and shame when it comes to talking about periods openly, it would require, well, an entire well thought out plan to not get caught by a suspicious teacher,” she said.

Michael Apfelberg, the president of United Way of Nashua, pushed back against the concern about it being an unfunded mandate, saying he thinks the funding involved is minimal and that it’s worth it for the benefits of improved health and wellness for students, minimized stigma, and raised class attendance.

As of December 2024, 28 states have legislation providing free access to menstrual products in schools.

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New Hampshire

Possible 2028 Democratic White House contenders weigh in on Iran with New Hampshire voters

Published

11 hours ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

Possible 2028 Democratic White House contenders weigh in on Iran with New Hampshire voters

As the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran overtakes the foreign policy debate in Washington, two Democratic governors with potential 2028 presidential aspirations — Gavin Newsom and Andy Beshear — recently traveled to New Hampshire, introducing themselves to the state’s famously engaged voters. The two weighed in on the war and both criticized and questioned President Trump’s strategy and endgame.

“If a president is going to take a country into war, and risk the lives of American troops and Americans in the region, he has to have a real justification and not one that seems to change every five to 10 hours,” Beshear told CBS News after a Democratic fundraiser in Keene.

“This President seems to use force before ever trying diplomacy, and he has a duty to sell it to the American people and to address Congress with it,” Beshear continued. “He hasn’t done any of that. In fact, it appears there isn’t even a plan for what success looks like. He’s gone from regime change to strategic objectives and now is talking about unconditional surrender, which isn’t realistic where he is.”

Beshear also said he thought that Congress should have reined in Mr. Trump’s war powers.

“He is trying to ignore Congress. He’s trying to even ignore the American people,” Beshear said.

He went on to note that the president’s State of the Union address took place “three — four days before he launched this attack,” and Mr. Trump “didn’t even have the respect to tell the American people the threat that he thought Iran posed to us.”

Last week, both the House and the Senate failed to pass resolutions to limit Mr. Trump’s war powers and stop him from taking further military action against Iran without congressional support.

Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear speaks with voters in Keene, New Hampshire, on March 7, 2026.

Anne Bryson

For Newsom, the war with Iran constitutes part of a broader criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

At an event last Tuesday in Los Angeles, Newsom had compared Israel to an “apartheid state.” Later, in New Hampshire, he sought to clarify his comment.

“I was specifically referring to a Tom Friedman [New York Times] column last week, where Tom used that word of apartheid as it relates to the direction Bibi is going, particularly on the annexation of the West Bank,” Newsom explained during a book tour event Thursday night in Portsmouth. “I’m very angry, with what he is doing and why he’s doing it, what he’s going to ultimately try to do to the Supreme Court there, what he’s trying to do to save his own political career.”

Friedman wrote that at the same time that the U.S. and Israel are prosecuting a war in Iran, within Israel, Netanyahu’s government has undertaken efforts to annex the West Bank, driving Palestinians from their homes; fire the attorney general who is leading the prosecution against Netanyahu for corruption; and block the government’s attempt to establish a commission to examine the failures that led up to the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre of Jews by Hamas.

CBS News has reached out to the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., for comment.

On Iran, Newsom said, “I’m very angry about this war, with all due respect, you know, not because I’m angry the supreme leader is dead. Quite the contrary. I’m not naive about the last 37 years of his reign. Forty-seven years since ’79 — the revolution,” Newsom said. “But I’m also mindful that you have a president who still is inarticulate and incapable of giving us the rationale of why? Why now? What’s the endgame?”

California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks with political commentator Jack Cocchiarella at an event in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on March 5, 2026.

Anne Bryson

Many attendees at Newsom’s book event said that the situation in Iran is a top-of-mind issue for them, too. Some said they’re “horrified” by what is happening.

29-year-old Alicia Marr told CBS News she decided to attend Newsom’s event because of his social media response to the war with Iran.

“There was one spot left, and I decided to pick it up, and it was due to his response to the war, that it is just unacceptable, and I would agree with that,” Marr said.

While some voters like Marr are eager to hear about where potential candidates stand on foreign policy, many at Newsom’s event said they care most about how potential candidates plan to address domestic issues.

“I’m more focused on getting the middle class back on track and fighting the oligarchy, and I’m less invested in international issues,” said Anita Alden, who also attended Newsom’s event,

“I wouldn’t call myself America first, but we have so many problems at home that are my priority,” she told CBS News.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris, who may also be weighing another White House bid, told Fox 2 Detroit last week that she “unequivocally opposes” the Trump administration’s military action in Iran and urged Congress to take action.

“If we want to stop Donald Trump with this random decision that he has arrived at, then Congress must act, and Congress must act immediately. The American people do not want our sons and daughters to go into this unauthorized war of choice,” Harris said.

Mr. Trump has lashed out against Democrats who have pushed back on his Iran strategy, calling them “losers” last week and arguing that they would criticize any decision he made on Iran.

“If I did it, it’s no good. If I didn’t do it, they would have said the opposite, that you should have done this,” the president said.

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New Hampshire

Mass. man nabbed after allegedly driving over 100 mph in N.H.

Published

23 hours ago

March 9, 2026

Press Room

Mass. man nabbed after allegedly driving over 100 mph in N.H.

Local News

Police say the Attleboro man was driving 104 mph in a 55 mph zone on Route 202 near in Rindge, New Hampshire.

A Massachusetts man was arrested late Wednesday night after police say he was driving more than 100 mph on a New Hampshire roadway.

Officers with the Rindge Police Department stopped a vehicle shortly after 11 p.m. on Route 202 near Sears Drive in Rindge following a report of a car traveling at excessive speed, according to a statement from Chief Rachel Malynowski.

The vehicle, a 2020 Kia Stinger, was spotted traveling at 104 mph in a posted 55 mph zone, Malynowski said.

The driver, a 21-year-old man from Attleboro, was arrested and charged with reckless operation of a motor vehicle, according to police.

He is scheduled to be arraigned April 5. If convicted, the man faces a fine of at least $750, in addition to the court’s penalty assessment, and a 90-day license suspension, Malynowski said.