Fairness For Breastfeeding Mothers Act of 2019
Public Law 116-30 · H.R. 866 · 116th Congress · began in the House
Signed by Donald Trump (R) on Jul 25, 2019 · Government Operations and Politics
Sponsor: Rep. Eleanor Norton (D-DC)
Cosponsors (4): Rep. Steve Cohen, Rep. Elaine Luria,
Passage votes
- HouseVoice vote
- SenateVoice vote
Data notes
The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.
Summary
The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.
Fairness For Breastfeeding Mothers Act of 2019
(Sec. 2) This bill requires that certain public buildings that are open to the public and contain a public restroom provide a lactation room, other than a bathroom, that is hygienic and is available for use by members of the public to express milk. The lactation room must be shielded from public view, be free from intrusion, and contain a chair, a working surface, and (if the building is supplied with electricity) an electrical outlet.
A public building may be excluded from such requirement at the discretion of the official responsible for its operation if
• it does not contain a lactation room for employees and does not have a space that could be repurposed as one or that could be made private by using portable materials, at a reasonable cost; or
• the cost of new construction required to create a lactation room is not feasible.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Data notes
A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.
Related bills
1 bill the Library of Congress relates to this one.
S. 528Related bill
Fairness For Breastfeeding Mothers Act of 2019
Data notes
Related bills are identified by the Congressional Research Service, the House and the Senate: companion and identical bills, bills with similar text, bills that were folded into this law, and rules that brought it to the floor. A bill that is itself a public law in this site’s data links here; the others link to Congress.gov.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 15 actions.
- Jul 25, 2019Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 116-30.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Jul 15, 2019FloorFloor · Presented to President.
- Jun 27, 2019FloorFloor · Message on Senate action sent to the House.
- Jun 26, 2019FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote.
- CommitteeCommittee · Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works discharged by Unanimous Consent.
- Feb 7, 2019CommitteeCommittee · Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
- Feb 6, 2019FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
- FloorFloor · On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote.
- FloorFloor · DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 866.
- FloorFloor · Considered under suspension of the rules.
- FloorFloor · Ms. Norton moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill.
- Jan 30, 2019CommitteeCommittee · Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
- CommitteeCommittee · Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E111)
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in House
Data notes
Every action the Library of Congress lists for the bill, from introduction to signing, plus the dated committee hearings. The source lists many steps twice (the chamber’s own entry and the Library of Congress copy, or a presidential and a became-law entry with the same words); those are shown once. Amendments are listed in their own section.
Amendments
No amendments to this bill are on record.
Data notes
Amendments offered to this bill in either chamber, as the Library of Congress records them: each with a status read from its last recorded step: agreed to, rejected, withdrawn, ruled out of order, fell with another amendment, or offered with no vote recorded (most Senate amendments are only ever offered). The wording of each amendment is the source’s. Amendments to amendments and amendments to other bills are not listed.
Official record
The bill’s full text is on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.