BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1787
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 30, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 1787 (Lowenthal) - As Amended: April 10, 2014
Policy Committee:
TransportationVote:15-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill requires the state's large commercial airports to
provide a separate room where women can express breast milk in
private. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires commercial airports with more than one million
passengers annually, by January 1, 2016, to provide a room at
each terminal beyond the security screening area. The room is
to have at least a chair, electrical outlet, and a sink and be
located outside of public restroom.
2)Exempts Terminal One at San Diego International Airport from
providing the room beyond the security screening area and
instead requires a room before the screening area.
3)Requires all other commercial airports in the state to comply
with (1) upon construction of a new terminal or reconstruction
of an existing terminal.
FISCAL EFFECT
Ten airports with annual passenger counts exceeding one million
would be subject to the bill's January 1, 2016 mandate, at a
total of 32 terminals: Los Angeles (9), San Francisco (4), San
Diego (4), Oakland (2), Sacramento (2), Orange County (3), San
Jose (2), Ontario (4), Burbank (1), and Long Beach (1). If costs
are up to $50,000 per terminal, one-time costs would total up to
$1.6 million. (A major driver of costs would be to plumb the
required sink.) These costs would be state reimbursable to the
extent the airports, which are self-supporting public
enterprises, submit successful mandate claims rather than
AB 1787
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covering the costs through their budgets.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . According to the U.S. Breastfeeding Committee,
one-third of mothers return to work within three months after
giving birth, and two-thirds return within six months. The
American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that babies be
exclusively breastfed for about the first six months of life,
and should continue to be breastfed for a year or for as long
as is mutually desired by the mother and the baby.
While breastfeeding is recommended, workplace and other
facility constraints often create obstacles for mothers trying
to continue to breastfeed after returning to work. California
law clearly establishes a woman's right to breastfeed her
child in any location where she is otherwise authorized to be.
The law also requires employers to make reasonable efforts to
provide employees with a private room and break time to
express breast milk. These legal protections, while critical,
do not help in situations where a working mother must travel
for work without her child and must express breast milk.
2)The California Airports Council (CAC) requests an amendment to
remove the sink requirement due to cost and feasibility
concerns. (The CAC notes that current law requiring employers
to provide private spaces for nursing mothers do not include a
sink requirement.) The CAC also seeks an amendment providing
the flexibility to comply without having to renegotiate
existing lease agreements or local government approvals.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081