Bill Text: CA SB257 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Lactation accommodation: state employees.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Vetoed) 2010-01-19 - Stricken from Senate file. [SB257 Detail]
Download: California-2009-SB257-Enrolled.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 257 ENROLLED
BILL TEXT
PASSED THE SENATE MAY 11, 2009
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 20, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 30, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Senator Pavley
FEBRUARY 24, 2009
An act to amend Section 123360 of the Health and Safety Code, and
to add Chapter 5.3 (commencing with Section 19994.10) to Part 2.6 of
Division 5 of Title 2 of the Government Code, relating to lactation
accommodation.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 257, Pavley. Lactation accommodation: state employees.
Existing law requires employers, including the state, to provide a
reasonable amount of break time to employees desiring to express
breast milk. Employers are also required to make reasonable efforts
to provide the use of a room, or other location, other than a toilet
stall, in close proximity to the employees' work area, for the
employee to express milk in private.
This bill would require every state agency and department,
including local offices, when notified by a female employee that she
is nearing maternity leave, to notify the employee, through its usual
channels of communication with state employees and in the most
cost-effective manner, of specified information regarding
breast-feeding, including an explanation and summary of the
provisions described above relating to lactation accommodation,
information regarding lactation accommodation on the Internet Web
site of the Department of Public Health, and a listing of other
comprehensive breast-feeding support organizations with Internet
links.
Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to
include in its public service campaign the promotion of mothers
breast-feeding their infants.
This bill would require the department to provide information
regarding lactation accommodation on its Internet Web site, as
specified.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Scientific evidence shows that breast-feeding strengthens an
infant's immune system and protects infants' health in many ways, by
preventing disease and other adverse health conditions, and is also
beneficial to the mother's health.
(b) The United States Surgeon General, the United States
Preventive Services Task Force, the American Academy of Pediatrics,
and all other major health organizations, recommend that, unless
there are specific contraindications, babies be exclusively
breast-fed (meaning no food or drink other than breast milk) for the
first six months, with continued breast-feeding and the addition of
appropriate foods up to at least one year, as long as it is mutually
desired.
(c) Breast-fed babies are likely to have fewer ear, respiratory,
and intestinal infections; less frequent allergies and asthma; and
less risk of developing sudden infant death syndrome or chronic
diseases and conditions, such as diabetes, leukemia, obesity, and
high cholesterol.
(d) Exclusive breast-feeding for three months is estimated to
reduce health care costs for infants in the first year alone by up to
four hundred seventy-five dollars ($475), compared to nonbreast-fed
infants. The United States Department of Agriculture estimates that a
minimum of three billion six hundred million dollars
($3,600,000,000) in medical expenses annually would be saved if the
number of children breast-fed for six months were to increase by 50
percent.
(e) Breast-feeding is also linked to reducing the risk of obesity.
Childhood obesity is a major public health policy concern.
Approximately 28 percent of California schoolage children are
overweight or obese. Children who are overweight or obese are at
heightened risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, asthma, and
type 2 diabetes, among other serious physical problems. Type 2
diabetes is a particular concern, as it is now being found in
children at increasing rates. Being overweight or obese in childhood
also increases the risk of obesity in adolescence and adulthood.
Medical expenses attributable to obesity cost Californians seven
billion seven hundred million dollars ($7,700,000,000) each year,
with one billion seven hundred million dollars ($1,700,000,000) paid
by Medi-Cal.
(f) The California Obesity Prevention Plan highlights
breast-feeding as a key strategy. The federal government's Healthy
People 2010 goals seek to increase breast-feeding initiation (any
breast milk) to at least 75 percent of babies, with at least 40
percent of babies exclusively breast-feeding at three months, at
least 50 percent of babies having some breast milk at six months, and
at least 17 percent of babies exclusively breast-feeding at six
months.
(g) Only 42.7 percent of mothers of newborns breast-feed
exclusively in California hospitals after giving birth according to
the most recent data available (2007) from the State Department of
Public Health. Less than 18 percent of California mothers breast-feed
exclusively when their infants are six months old, according to the
United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
(h) Women who breast-feed their babies for longer periods accrue
significant health benefits. Breast-feeding is linked to a reduction
in risk for breast and ovarian cancers, osteoporosis, and type 2
diabetes. The practice has a contraceptive effect, which can lengthen
the time between pregnancies and help make the next child healthier.
Financially, breast-feeding means families save on food costs and
healthcare expenses. Working women who breast-feed take fewer days
off to care for a sick child and are less likely to incur the expense
of a caretaker.
(i) Since 2001, state law has required every employer, including
the state and any political subdivision, to provide a reasonable
amount of break time to accommodate an employee desiring to express
breast milk for her infant child, subject to the requirements of
Sections 1030 to 1033, inclusive, of the Labor Code.
(j) Better communication between the state as an employer and its
employees about the breast-feeding accommodation requirements of
Sections 1030 to 1033, inclusive, of the Labor Code is necessary to
help promote and support breast-feeding among state employees, for
the benefit of the state.
SEC. 2. Chapter 5.3 (commencing with Section 19994.10) is added to
Part 2.6 of Division 5 of Title 2 of the Government Code, to read:
CHAPTER 5.3. LACTATION ACCOMMODATION
19994.10. (a) Through its usual channels of communication with
state employees, every state agency and department, including local
offices, when notified by a female employee that she is nearing
maternity leave, shall, in the most cost-effective manner, notify the
employee of the following information:
(b) Information regarding lactation accommodation on the Internet
Web site of the State Department of Public Health.
(c) An explanation and comprehensive summary of Sections 1030 to
1033, inclusive, of the Labor Code.
(d) A listing of other comprehensive breast-feeding support
organizations and Internet links to their informational materials.
SEC. 3. Section 123360 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
123360. (a) The State Department of Public Health shall include
in its public service campaign the promotion of mothers
breast-feeding their infants.
(b) The department shall provide information regarding lactation
accommodation on its Internet Web site. This information shall
include, at a minimum, a link to the most recently published version
of "The Employees' Guide to Breastfeeding and Working," as developed
by the Health Resources and Services Administration of the United
States Department of Health and Human Services.
(c) The department shall develop a model eight-hour training
course of hospital policies and recommendations that promote
exclusive breast-feeding, incorporating available materials already
developed by the department, and shall specify hospital staff for
whom this model training is appropriate. The department shall also
provide the model training materials to hospitals, upon request.
