BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1787
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 1787 (Lowenthal)
As Amended August 12, 2014
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |72-5 |(May 28, 2014) |SENATE: |32-1 |(August 20, |
| | | | | |2014) |
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Original Committee Reference: TRANS.
SUMMARY : Requires large commercial airports in California to
provide a room separate from a public restroom behind security
at each terminal where women can express breast milk in private.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the airport manager of an airport that conducts
commercial operations and that has more than one million
enplanements per year, on or before January 1, 2016, to
provide a room or other location at each airport terminal
behind the airport security screening area for members of the
public to express breast milk in private that meets both of
the following conditions:
a) Includes, at a minimum, a chair and an electrical
outlet; and,
b) Is located outside of the confines of a public restroom.
2)Exempts Terminal One at the San Diego International Airport
from the requirement for the room to be located behind the
airport security screening area, but requires the airport to
provide a secure room located in the same terminal prior to
entering the security screening area that meets all of the
other specifications described above.
3)Requires airports that conduct commercial operations and that
have less than one million enplanements per year to comply
upon new terminal construction or upon the replacement,
expansion, or renovation of an existing terminal.
4)Requires all airports, upon construction of a new terminal or
the replacement, expansion, or renovation of an existing
AB 1787
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terminal, to provide a sink in any room or other location
designed to comply with the above requirements.
The Senate amendments :
1)Define "renovation of an existing terminal" to mean the
repurposing of more than 25% of the space in the terminal.
2)Clarify that the requirements apply to airports operated by a
city, a county, a city and county, or an airport district.
3)Require Terminal One at the San Diego International Airport to
provide a room behind the security screening area upon
construction of a new terminal or the replacement, expansion,
or renovation of an existing terminal.
4)Exempt the commuter terminal at the San Diego International
Airport from complying, except upon construction of a new
terminal or the replacement, expansion, or renovation of an
existing terminal.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS : According to the United States Breastfeeding
Committee, women with infants and children are the fastest
growing segment of the workforce. Among employed women with
children under age three, approximately 70% work full-time.
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. The Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that the percentage
of new mothers in California who exclusively breastfeed at three
months is 56.8%, dropping dramatically to 27.4% at six months.
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
AB 1787
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employees with a private room and break time to express
breastmilk. 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.
This bill requires all large commercial airports in California
to provide, by 2016, a private room or space outside the
confines of a public restroom and behind security at each
terminal for nursing mothers to express breastmilk. The room
initially must include a chair and an electrical outlet, but
after any terminal renovation or replacement must also include a
sink. Smaller commercial airports would be required to include
these rooms only upon new terminal construction or upon
replacement or renovation of an existing terminal. The bill
allows the San Diego International Airport to provide the room
before security at its Terminal One due to severe space
constraints behind security and exempts the airport's commuter
terminal except upon replacement or renovation because the
terminal serves fewer than 100,000 passengers per year.
Currently only one airport in California - San Francisco
International - offers private rooms behind security for the
purpose of expressing breastmilk.
Analysis Prepared by : Anya Lawler / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093
FN: 0004562