Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1724 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	81R11876 ALB-F
2	2	By: Van de Putte S.B. No. 1724
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the promotion of breast-feeding and the prohibition
8	8	against interference with or restriction of the right to
9	9	breast-feed; providing a civil penalty.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Sections 165.001 and 165.002, Health and Safety
12	12	Code, are amended to read as follows:
13	13	Sec. 165.001. LEGISLATIVE FINDING. The legislature finds
14	14	that breast-feeding a baby is an important and basic act of nurture
15	15	that must be encouraged in the interests of maternal and child
16	16	health and family values. In compliance with the breast-feeding
17	17	promotion program established under the federal Child Nutrition Act
18	18	of 1966 (42 U.S.C. Section 1771 et seq.), the legislature
19	19	recognizes breast-feeding as the best method of infant nutrition.
20	20	The legislature intends that all persons be informed of the rights
21	21	of a breast-feeding mother and child and be prohibited from
22	22	interfering with those rights.
23	23	Sec. 165.002. RIGHT TO BREAST-FEED. (a) A mother is
24	24	entitled to breast-feed her baby in any location in which the mother
25	25	is otherwise authorized to be. A mother's authority to be in a
26	26	location may not be revoked for the sole reason that she begins to
27	27	breast-feed.
28	28	(b) A person may not interfere with or restrict the right of
29	29	a mother to breast-feed in accordance with this section.
30	30	SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 165, Health and Safety
31	31	Code, is amended by adding Section 165.005 to read as follows:
32	32	Sec. 165.005. STATE AGENCY "MOTHER-FRIENDLY" WORKSITE. To
33	33	the extent reasonably practicable, each state agency shall develop
34	34	a policy supporting the practice of worksite breast-feeding under
35	35	Section 165.003.
36	36	SECTION 3. Chapter 165, Health and Safety Code, is amended
37	37	by adding Subchapter C to read as follows:
38	38	SUBCHAPTER C. NOTIFICATION AND PENALTY
39	39	Sec. 165.101. NOTIFICATION BY COMPTROLLER. (a) The
40	40	comptroller at least annually shall include in the comptroller's
41	41	tax policy e-newsletter notification of the right of a mother to
42	42	breast-feed and the prohibition against interference with or
43	43	restriction of that right as provided by Section 165.002.
44	44	(b) The comptroller shall make the notice required by
45	45	Subsection (a) available at each taxpayer seminar offered by the
46	46	office of the comptroller.
47	47	(c) The comptroller may also provide the notification
48	48	required by this section with any other notice or document mailed to
49	49	an entity described by this section.
50	50	Sec. 165.102. CIVIL PENALTY. (a) The district or county
51	51	attorney for the county in which a violation of Section 165.002 is
52	52	alleged to have occurred may issue a letter to the person alleged to
53	53	have violated that section. The letter must advise the person of
54	54	the requirements of Section 165.002 and state that the person may be
55	55	liable for a civil penalty under this section for a subsequent
56	56	violation.
57	57	(b) A person who violates Section 165.002 after receiving a
58	58	warning letter under Subsection (a) is liable to the state for a
59	59	civil penalty of $250 for each violation that occurs after the
60	60	letter is received.
61	61	(c) The district or county attorney for the county in which
62	62	a violation of this section is alleged to have occurred, or the
63	63	attorney general, if requested by the district or county attorney
64	64	for that county, may file suit for the collection of the penalty.
65	65	(d) A civil penalty recovered under this section shall be
66	66	deposited:
67	67	(1) in the state treasury if the attorney general
68	68	brings the suit; or
69	69	(2) in the general fund of the county in which the
70	70	violation occurred if a district or county attorney brings the
71	71	suit.
72	72	Sec. 165.103. PRIVATE CAUSE OF ACTION. (a) An interested
73	73	person alleging that a violation of Section 165.002 occurred may
74	74	send a certified letter described by Section 165.102(a) to the
75	75	person alleged to have violated that section if:
76	76	(1) the district or county attorney for the county in
77	77	which the violation is alleged to have occurred did not send a
78	78	letter authorized by Section 165.102; and
79	79	(2) at least 60 days have passed since the date the
80	80	district or county attorney was notified of the alleged violation.
81	81	(b) A person who violates Section 165.002 after receiving a
82	82	warning letter under Subsection (a) is liable to the interested
83	83	person who sent the letter for civil damages of $250 for each
84	84	violation that occurs after the letter is received.
85	85	(c) In this section, "interested person" means a parent,
86	86	foster parent, or other person related by blood or marriage to a
87	87	child who was breast-feeding at the time the mother's rights were
88	88	alleged to have been violated.
89	89	SECTION 4. As soon as practicable after the effective date
90	90	of this Act, but not later than September 1, 2010, the comptroller
91	91	shall provide the notification required by Section 165.101, Health
92	92	and Safety Code, as added by this Act, to each business entity with
93	93	which the comptroller communicates in existence on the effective
94	94	date of this Act.
95	95	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.