Bill > S778

This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish dedicated lactation spaces in all VA medical centers, ensuring these spaces are hygienic, private, and accessible to women veterans and the public who need to express breast milk. Specifically, the lactation spaces must be shielded from view, free from intrusion, accessible to disabled individuals (including those using wheelchairs), contain a chair and working surface, be easy to locate, clearly signed, and not located in a bathroom. The bill mandates that by two years after enactment, at least 80% of VA medical centers must comply with these requirements, and within three years, all medical centers must be compliant. The VA Secretary is required to submit annual reports to congressional veterans' affairs committees detailing which medical centers have lactation spaces, which do not, and the plans for creating spaces in non-compliant facilities. The reporting requirement will cease once all VA medical centers have implemented a lactation space. This legislation aims to support breastfeeding mothers, particularly women veterans, by providing dedicated, comfortable spaces to express breast milk in VA healthcare facilities.

Military Affairs and Security

https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/778/all-info