Bill: HB 741, 83(R) - 2013

Vote Recommendation

Vote Recommendation Economic Freedom Property Rights Personal Responsibility Limited Government Individual Liberty
No Neutral Neutral Neutral Negative Neutral

Author(s)

Armando Walle

Bill Caption

Relating to the right of a public employee to breast-feed, or to express breast milk for, the employee's child in the workplace.

Fiscal Notes

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated. According to the Texas Association of Counties (TAC), many counties have already implemented measures consistent with the provisions of the bill. Dallas County, for example, reported no anticipated fiscal impact for this reason. However, TAC reported that the impact to counties which do not currently have policies for nursing mothers may see a significant fiscal impact from the bill. Bexar County reported that it would need to adopt new policies to comply with the bill, and estimated one-time total costs at $448,000. This would not represent a significant cost to Bexar County. The Texas Municipal League (TML) reported that costs to municipalities, if any, would not be significant.

Bill Analysis

Summary: HB 741 would require public employers to make a provision in their policies for women who breastfeed to express breast milk. Expressing breast milk relates to a mother's ability to extract her breast milk periodically in order to continue generating milk while she is not with her child. According to the Bill Analysis: "C.S.H.B. 741 seeks to help reduce employee absenteeism due to sick children, improve workplace morale and productivity, and lower health care costs for employers by requiring public employers to create a written policy on the expression of breast milk by employees." The employers will be required to "support the practice" and "make reasonable accommodations" for mothers who breastfeed (C.S.H.B. 741).

Analysis: HB 741 would expand the scope of government by creating a right to express breast milk that government is obligated to support. This legislation would require the state to support and accommodate mothers, leading to additional costs to the taxpayers. We recognize that breastfeeding is a natural and healthy option of feeding for a mother's child; however, this is an option for feeding that a woman can chose and not a requirement for the state to support by placing mandates on employers that will require taxpayer funded compliance. We oppose HB 741.


Source URL (retrieved on 03/29/2024 09:03 AM): http://reports.texasaction.com/bill/83r/hb741?print_view=true