FINAL BILL REPORT

HB 1596

C 164 L 09

Synopsis as Enacted

Brief Description: Protecting a woman's right to breastfeed in a place of public resort, accommodation, assemblage, or amusement.

Sponsors: Representatives Green, Hunt, Hudgins, Williams, Rolfes, Morrell, Campbell, Roberts, Kagi, Dickerson, Goodman, Upthegrove, Simpson, Moeller, Ormsby and Nelson.

House Committee on State Government & Tribal Affairs

Senate Committee on Government Operations & Elections

Senate Committee on Health & Long-Term Care

Background:

Washington’s Law Against Discrimination prohibits discrimination against a person in the enjoyment of public accommodations, in employment, in real estate transactions, insurance, and credit transactions, and other specific circumstances based on the person’s race, creed, color, national origin, sex, military or veteran status, sexual orientation, the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability or, in certain circumstances, other factors. Discriminatory acts are considered unfair practices and may be the subject of complaints brought to the Washington Human Rights Commission or filed in court.

The prohibition against discriminating in providing public accommodations applies to "any place of public resort, accommodation, assemblage, or amusement" and includes restaurants, hotels, motels, inns, stores, markets, shopping malls, theaters, cinemas, concert halls, arenas, parks, fairs, arcades, libraries, schools, government offices, and hospitals.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures' summary of states' breastfeeding laws, Washington is one of 25 states that expressly declares the act of breastfeeding or expressing breast milk not to be indecent exposure under state criminal laws. Washington is one of 21 states that address breastfeeding in the workplace. Washington allows a public or private employer to use the designation "infant-friendly" if it provides flexible work schedules and clean, appropriate facilities for breastfeeding and expressing breast milk. Forty states other than Washington have laws with language that allow women to breastfeed in public and private locations.

Summary:

Washington's Law Against Discrimination includes the right of a mother to breastfeed her child in any place of public resort, accommodation, assemblage, or amusement. Discriminating against a woman based on her status as a mother breastfeeding her child is an unfair practice under the state's Law Against Discrimination.

Votes on Final Passage: