By Alex Paul
Albany Democrat-Herald | Posted: Wednesday, May 9, 2007 12:00 am
Mid-valley businesses with more than 25 employees will be required to accommodate breastfeeding mothers if Gov. Ted Kulongoski signs HB 2372, which he has pledged to do.
If the bill becomes law, employers will have to provide a private area for women to pump breast milk and give them unpaid breaks - up to 30 minutes - every four hours to do so. The legislation would take effect in January 2008.
The House passed the bill 47-6 on Tuesday. The Senate passed it Friday.
Members of the La Leche League of Albany, which supports and encourages breastfeeding mothers and mothers-to-be, are pleased with the proposal.
"This is wonderful," said Samantha Rounsavell, the group's co-leader. "The bill doesn't say moms can bring children to work. It only provides for a time and place to express milk. It's also important that a proper place be provided. Not a bathroom. It's not right to send moms off to a bathroom to do this."
The La Leche League meets the second Monday of each month at 6:30 p.m. at the fourth-floor conference room of Samaritan Albany General Hospital. Attendance ranges to upward of 10, Rounsavell said.
According to the Associated Press, Oregon "ranks as the top breastfeeding state in the nation, followed by Washington state. In 2005, Oregon, with 27 percent, was the only state with more than 25 percent of mothers exclusively breast-feeding at six months nn about twice the national average of 14 percent."
Overall, about 70 percent of the state's workers are employed at companies with 25 or more employees.
Supporters of the legislation say employers will profit in several ways. Benefits will include lower employee absenteeism because mothers with formula-fed children miss work more often since, on average, their children are three times more likely to become ill than children who are breastfed.
Alex Paul can be reached at alex.paul@lee.net or 812-6076.