SPONSOR: Brown (70)
COMMITTEE ACTION: Voted "Do Pass" by the Standing Committee on Elementary and Secondary Education by a vote of 16 to 0.
This bill requires the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to develop a model policy, by January 1, 2022 relating to accommodations for breastfeeding. Public school districts must adopt a written policy by July 1, 2022.
The policy must include provisions to provide accommodations to lactating employees, teachers, and students to express, or breast- feed for each public school building within the district for at least a year after the birth of a child. Accommodations must meet requirements as specified in bill and districts must provide a minimum of three opportunities during a school day to express or breast-feed.
This bill is the same as HB 1490 and HB 1279 (2020).
PROPONENTS: Supporters say that this bill will help attract teachers to the profession and help retain teachers that become mothers, which is a large percentage of those that leave the workforce within the first five years. There should not be barriers to being a woman in the workplace.
Testifying for the bill were Representative Brown; Arnie C. Dienoff; Jaime Schwartz; Missouri State Teachers Association; United We; Missouri National Education Association; American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; and Shelly Parks .
OPPONENTS: There was no opposition voiced to the committee.
Written testimony has been submitted for this bill. The full written testimony can be found under Testimony on the bill page on the House website.
Statutes affected: