BATHROOM BILL: Solution in search of a problem

The Idaho Senate committee’s recent decision to advance a bill mandating sex-separated facilities in both government and private businesses is a staggering example of government overreach disguised as “safety.” (Coeur d’Alene Press Feb. 12 front page)

Sponsored by Rep. Ted Hill and backed by the Idaho Family Policy Center, this legislation targets the heart of Idaho’s small business community.

The fiscal reality of this bill is disqualifying.

For a small business currently operating with a single, inclusive restroom, the cost of compliance — estimated between $15,000 and $30,000 — is a devastating unfunded mandate. In an era where small businesses are already fighting rising costs, forcing an entrepreneur to cough up five figures for a second restroom is not “pro-business”; a death sentence for some.

The Idaho Family Policy Center claims this is about “safety.” They provide no empirical evidence that our current private business practices are a threat to anyone. It is ironic that a group preaching “limited government” is eager to march into private establishments to dictate how to manage plumbing.

If an individual’s personal anxieties are so profound that they cannot share a hallway or a sink area with another human being, the solution is simple: they can stay home. It is not the responsibility of Idaho’s taxpayers or small business owners to subsidize the prejudices or neuroses of an vocal minority.

Our legislators should focus on actual infrastructure, not the ideological policing of our bathrooms.

PAMELA NORDBY

Coeur d’Alene