The House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing today on H.R. 4869, the "Restroom Gender Parity in Federal Buildings Act." Fox News Channel has coverage of the bill that "seeks to address the unequal number of restroom facilities for women in federal buildings by requiring at least a 1-to-1 ratio for toilets, including urinals, in women's and men's restrooms." From the Fox News dispatch:
The legislation would cover most federal facilities in Washington and across the country, including all properties managed by the National Parks Service, the Defense Department, the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
"Today, women still lack equal access to restrooms in many places of employment, education, and recreation," said Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., chairman of the committee who authored the legislation.
"The fact that many federal buildings do not provide as many restroom facilities for women as they do for men is simply unfair," he said in his opening remarks. "It's time for that to change."
The bill is being co-sponsored by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., the ranking member on the panel.
"I believe that there are a number of serious health and fairness issues related to restroom gender parity that we can address in newly constructed, acquired, and leased federal buildings, or in existing buildings undergoing major renovations," Issa said.
The only other Republican co-sponsor of the 27 listed so far is Donald Manzullo of Illinois. Once these rules are imposed for government buildings it's only a matter of time before they are imposed on private properties.
