City council members are introducing a series of Mother's Day-inspired bills that would require lactation rooms in most workplaces and provide diapers in homeless shelters and subsidized daycares.
New York City Council Speaker Cory Johnson and Majority Leader Laurie Cumbo announced the package of 10 bills on Sunday and said the measures would be introduced this week.
“They say that it takes a village to raise a child, but sadly we all too often fall short when it comes to supporting parents and caregivers,” Johnson said in a statement. “This groundbreaking ‘Mother’s Day Legislative Package’ will help provide New York City families with the support they need."
The proposals include:
- Requiring businesses with more than 15 employees to provide lactation spaces and refrigerators to store breast milk
- Require lactation rooms in all schools, police precincts, and jails that house women or allow women visitors
- Assess the need for free and low-cost doula services in the city
- Create a report on maternal mortality
- Require that inmates be able to choose the gender of their doctor
- Require the city to provide diapers at shelters, subsidized child care centers and other locations
- Create a study and pilot program for on-site childcare for city employees
- Allow campaign funds to be used for certain childcare costs of candidates who are primary caregivers
