NY State Senate Bill 2017-S6620

Senate Bill S6620

2017-2018 Legislative Session

Relates to requiring that all single occupancy bathrooms in state owned or operated buildings be designated as gender neutral

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Investigations And Government Operations Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

Please enter your contact information

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

A valid email address is required.

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 03, 2018	referred to investigations and government operations
Jun 07, 2017	referred to rules

2017-S6620 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A5137
Current Committee:: Senate Investigations And Government Operations
Law Section:: Public Buildings Law
Laws Affected:: Add §144, Pub Bldg L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2015-2016: A8634
2019-2020: S5922, A109

2017-S6620 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Requires that all single occupancy bathrooms in state owned or operated buildings and office space be designated as gender neutral.

2017-S6620 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S6620              Revised 1/18/18

SPONSOR: LANZA
 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the public buildings law, in relation
to requiring that all single occupancy bathrooms in state owned or oper-
ated buildings be designated as gender neutral

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

The purpose of this bill is to require single occupancy bathrooms in
state owned or operated buildings be designated as gender neutral.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 adds a new section 144 to the public building law to require
single occupancy bathrooms in state owned or operated buildings be
designated as gender neutral.

Section 2 provides for the effective date.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ORIGINAL AND AMENDED VERSION (IF APPLICABLE):

The amendments provide clarifying and technical changes.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Gender identity is personal to an individual and not based on how the
public views the individual's appearance. Many individuals are subjected
to institutional hostility and made to feel uncomfortable when required
to access facilities that match an outward appearance.  Providing a
gender neutral single use bathroom is a step toward acceptance of
differences and avoiding segregated groupings. A gender neutral single
use bathroom would eliminate the stigma an individual experiences by
imposing the need to choose a facility based on an outward appearance
when that appearance does not match how the individual feels inside.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2017: S.6620 - Referred to Rules / A.5137A - Passed Assembly

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have
become a law; provided, however, that the addition, amendment and/or
repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of
this act on its effective date is authorized to be made and completed on
or before such effective date.

2017-S6620 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   6620
 
                        2017-2018 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               June 7, 2017
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  LANZA  -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
 
 AN ACT to amend the public buildings law, in relation to requiring  that
   all single occupancy bathrooms in state owned or operated buildings be
   designated as gender neutral

   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. The public buildings law is amended by adding a new section
 144 to read as follows:
   § 144. GENDER NEUTRAL SINGLE OCCUPANCY BATHROOMS. THE COMMISSIONER  OF
 GENERAL SERVICES SHALL HAVE THE POWER AND IT SHALL BE HIS OR HER DUTY TO
 ENSURE  THAT  ALL  SINGLE OCCUPANCY BATHROOMS IN STATE OWNED OR OPERATED
 BUILDINGS BE DESIGNATED AS GENDER NEUTRAL  SINGLE  OCCUPANCY  BATHROOMS.
 FOR  PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION: "STATE OWNED OR OPERATED BUILDINGS" SHALL
 MEAN ANY STATE OWNED PROPERTY USED  FOR  OFFICIAL  STATE  BUSINESS,  AND
 SHALL  INCLUDE ANY BUILDING OR OFFICE SPACE, NOT OWNED BY THE STATE, BUT
 WHICH IS PRIMARILY USED FOR OFFICIAL STATE BUSINESS; AND  "SINGLE  OCCU-
 PANCY"  SHALL  MEAN  INTENDED  FOR USE BY NO MORE THAN ONE OCCUPANT AT A
 TIME OR FOR FAMILY OR ASSISTED USE.
   § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day  after  it  shall
 have  become  a  law;  provided,  however,  that the addition, amendment
 and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation
 of this act on its effective date is authorized to be made and completed
 on or before such effective date.
 
 
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD05127-03-7

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.