Need to Go? Public Health Committee May Help

January 21, 2009

To go along with the hangovers from yesterday’s Inauguration parties, both in Washington and Connecticut, the legislative Public Health Committee just raised a bill that would force certain businesses to allow people with digestive problems, such as colitis, to use their bathrooms in an emergency.
Similar legislation passed out of the committee last year but didn’t get much further. Today’s committee meeting featured rookie Rep. Auden Grogins, D-Bridgeport, a lawyer, wondering how broad the law could be.
“As a practical matter, whether this is something the Legislature should do, I have my doubts,” said Sen. Jonathan Harris, D-West Hartford, committee co-chairman. Rep. Linda Gentile, D-Ansonia, said the proposal would be “a narrow law” for people with “distinct digestive disorders.”
The act of raising the bill means committee members will explore the concept.