3 Wisconsin Lawmakers - All Men - Introduce 'Baby Bathroom Bill'

MILWAUKEE, WI — Three Wisconsin lawmakers — all men — have introduced a new bill aimed at helping parents who find themselves changing their baby's diaper on the floor of a public bathroom for lack of a proper changing table.

On Monday, state Reps. Jonathan Brostoff (D-Milwaukee) and David Crowley (D-Milwaukee) and state Sen. Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee) introduced a new measure intended to guarantee gender-equal access to baby changing tables in public buildings.

The bill would require baby diaper changing stations to be installed in most newly built or substantially renovated public buildings. It also would ensure gender parity in access to changing tables by requiring their installation in either unisex restrooms or both men’s and women’s restrooms.

“As a new dad, this legislation hits close to home for me,” Brostoff said in a statement Monday. “When I take my son with me outside of the house, I am consistently struck by how few businesses have changing stations available for parents. What’s even more notable is that, in a lot of cases, the businesses that do have diaper changing tables only have them in women’s restrooms. As a father who has spent the last year changing countless diapers, I can’t tell you how frustrating that lack of access can be.”

Crowley said their bill is one of a number of pieces of changing-table-related legislation introduced around the country in recent years. He said similar bills have passed with broad, bipartisan support in states as diverse as Arizona, Utah, California, Illinois and New Mexico.