Florida Gov. DeSantis vetoes program to put free tampons in state public schools

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has vetoed a program seeking to provide free tampons and pads in public schools, drawing criticism from state Democrats, Florida Politics outlet reported.

Rep. Kelly Skidmore, a Democrat from Boca Raton, had pushed for a bill with that purpose, saying that getting their period was the reason why one in four students missed class.

"I'm confident most women can relate to their period starting unexpectedly and at the most inconvenient time and location," Skidmore had said during the Legislature's Special Session last year.

"For girls in school, it is no different and they shouldn't be deprived of attending class and furthering their education five days out of every month," she added. Skidmore also noted that fifteen states and Washington D.C. had passed such measures.

The outlet noted that previous attempts at making tampons and pads more accessible to schoolchildren failed in the state Legislature over the past years, although they did pass a bill requiring prisons to provide the items to female inmates in 2019.

DeSantis' veto came as he reduced the state budget on Wednesday, making it drop by about $900 million to $116.5 billion. The Menstrual Hygiene Products Grant Program had an estimated cost of $6.4 million.

"Some of the stuff I don't think was appropriate for state tax dollars. Some of the stuff are things that I support but that we have state programs for," DeSantis said in a press conference addressing the issue.