Restroom Access Act of 2025
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Restroom Access Act creates a federal customer access rule for retail establishments. A retail business with a restroom not usually open to the public must let a customer use it during business hours if the customer has an eligible medical condition, presents an identification card issued through a Labor Department system, at least two employees are working, the restroom is not in an area where access creates an obvious health or safety risk, and no public restroom is available. Eligible medical conditions include inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, or irritable bowel syndrome, use of an ostomy device, pregnancy, or any other diagnosed condition requiring immediate restroom access. Labor must establish the card creation and distribution system within 180 days based on medical professional certification.
Who Benefits and How
Customers with inflammatory bowel disease benefit from a right to access employee-only retail restrooms when no public restroom is available. Ostomy device users benefit because the bill recognizes immediate restroom access as medically necessary. Pregnant customers benefit because pregnancy is expressly included as an eligible medical condition. Disability rights advocates benefit from a federal accommodation standard for restroom emergencies in retail settings.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Retail establishments must provide access to employee-only restrooms when the statutory conditions are met. Department of Labor staff must create and distribute medical restroom access cards within 180 days. Medical professionals must certify eligible medical conditions for card applicants. Retail employees must evaluate card presentation, staffing, public restroom availability, and obvious health or safety risks.
Key Provisions
- Requires retail restroom access for customers with eligible medical conditions when no public restroom is available.
- Establishes a Labor Department identification card system within 180 days.
- Covers inflammatory bowel disease, ostomy device use, pregnancy, and other diagnosed urgent-restroom conditions.
- Limits access to business hours when at least two employees are working and no obvious health or safety risk exists.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Requires retail establishments with employee-only restrooms to provide medically necessary restroom access during business hours when eligible customers show a Labor-issued medical card and no public restroom is available.
Key Policy Areas
Disability Rights, Retail, Labor
Primary Purpose
Requires retail establishments with employee-only restrooms to provide medically necessary restroom access during business hours when eligible customers show a Labor-issued medical card and no public restroom is available.
Policy Domains
Resolution provisions
Identified Gains
- Customers with inflammatory bowel disease
- Ostomy device users
- Pregnant customers
- Disability rights advocates
Identified Costs
- Retail establishments
- Department of Labor staff
- Medical professionals
- Retail employees
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMs. Norton introduced the following bill; which was referred to …
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Introduced in House
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E403)
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Customers with inflammatory bowel disease, Ostomy device users
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology