On Friday, State Senator Will Haskell (D-Westport) joined members of the Senate Democratic caucus to announce “A Connecticut for All,” the final of four legislative agendas for the 2020 legislative session from Senate Democrats. The series of bills outlined the policy proposals from Senate Democrats aim to support families and build a state for all our residents.
Sen. Haskell introduced the topic of ensuring equal access for parenting, promoting legislation that would require newly constructed, publicly-accessible buildings to include diaper changing tables in both men’s rooms and women’s rooms. This legislation was initially proposed in the 2019 legislative session and was approved by the Senate in a 34-2 bipartisan vote, but never reached the House floor.
“I want to talk about my niece, Mimi,” Sen. Haskell said. “She has two dads, my brother Stephen and his wonderful husband Dave. They’re the two most dedicated, remarkable, caring parents I know, and yet they run into an issue almost constantly. When Mimi’s diaper needs to be changed and they’re out in public, they can’t find a diaper changing station in a public men’s restroom. There are only changing tables in women’s restrooms. That’s because we have a societal belief that women should do the majority of childcare. Fortunately, that is changing. Men are starting to take on more parenting roles. This isn’t just about same-sex couples but about heterosexual couples where men and women share child rearing responsibilities equally. In 2016, fathers reported spending eighthours a week on childcare. That’s triple the time they spent in 1965. The picture is still unequal – mothers reported spending 14 hours per week on childcare – but we can start to right this wrong by asking every new building built in Connecticut and everysubstantially renovated building in the state to install diaper changing stations in both men’s and women’s restrooms.”
Additional legislative proposals in the “A Connecticut for All” agenda discussed today included:
Planned Parenthood Funding
To provide state funding for Planned Parenthood to counter the loss of federal Title X funding due to the Trump administration’s gag order.
Preventing Youth Suicide
To increase awareness, education and services to our youth around suicide prevention.
Diaper Changing Stations
To improve the health and safety of children by requiring all new or substantially renovated buildings that have public restrooms to provide at least one diaper changing table to women and men on each building floor that is accessible to the public.
Non-Disclosure Agreements
To stop employers from using non-disclosure agreements to silence victims of sexual harassment.
Captive Audience Meetings
To prohibit an employer from coercing employees into attending or participating in meetings sponsored by the employer concerning the employer’s views on religious or political matters.
Age Discrimination
To increase job protections for older workers in our state.
Narcan and Epi-Pens for Public Safety Officers
To increase the number of municipal and state police officers who carry life-saving Narcan
and EpiPens.
Read background information on the proposed legislation here.