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Republican 47% 33% 19% 21 total votes

Democrat 82% 0% 17% 17 total votes

Comments

1) Re: They should take it further  by Rayne on October 16, 2012 
" I want to know why EVERY retail style business with a bathroom is not required to make it available to the public"

I'll tell you why...it's VERY expensive to put in a handicapped accessible bathroom. And, if you are required to have a public restroom you are required to make it meet ADA standards. In some buildings it is impossible to retrofit an existing bathroom to make it accessible. I own a 120+ year old building that has retail space on the main floor and private studios upstairs. There is no way to make the main floor bathroom handicapped accessible. We would have to add an entire new room, complete with running the plumbing to it, in order to meet ADA regulations. Not only would this cost upwards of $15,000 but it would also drop our revenue significantly due to the lost floor space. Now, I am not unsympathetic. I have ischemic colitis and never know when I will have an attack. And yes, I have asked to use non-public facilities on more than one occasion and have generally been accommodated. And, of course, I would let someone use our private bathroom if necessary. I just can't afford to have a public one. If I had to provide one, I would not be able to have retail space in the building.

Only businesses with sit-down food service are required by law to have public restrooms. They are SUPPOSED to have them handicapped accessible yet I know of at least one restaurant in my area that does not have accessible facilities. I don't know how they get away with it because the ADA regulations have been around since well before they started business. Additionally, I know of several retail stores in my area (one of which used to have a pharmacy in it) that have no handicapped access at all! At least my business has an up-to-code access! If you come to my business and need the bathroom while you are there, I will be happy to let you use it. I will NOT, however, allow people to walk in off the street just to use a bathroom. If you need wheelchair access to a bathroom there is a McDonald's, a bar and a gas station/convenience store right down the street- all of which have public, accessible restrooms.

I don't know what the KFC was like that you went to. If they just do walk-in business they are also not required to have facilities for the public. And, under this new law, being a small child is not grounds for getting access. That said, I can't imagine anyone denying a child access...yet I have seen it at the retail stores in Frankenmuth where my sister-in-law found herself in the same situation you did. NONE of the businesses in Frankenmuth had public restrooms (at the time, this may have changed) except the restaurants and THEY don't have to let you use the facilities unless you are eating there. So it's the public restrooms or nothing.

2) Research what it means to have IBD  by Anonymous Citizen on October 6, 2008 
The reason why AMerica is suffering is because we have unintelligent people arguing for the sake of arguing. A bill wouldn't be passed if the restroom issue was not a problem amongst people suffering from these terrible conditions. Living a normal life under these horrible and embarassing diseases is no walk in the park. It destroys any hope of a normal life. I myself have Ulcerative Colitis and worry constantly about going shopping without using the bathroom. It;s so funny to me that people are calling this bill stupid. WHy don't they see how difficult it is to live with such a horrible condition and than we'll see if they still fight against the bill. They obvioulsy have no clue what it's like.

3) They should take it further  by Anonymous Citizen on September 18, 2008 
Perhaps if more of the "typical" businesses were required to have restrooms available to the general public then there would be less need to make "all" businesses have restrooms available for "special needs individuals- by the way, who wants to go to the doctor to get a "bathroom pass".

I want to know why EVERY retail style business with a bathroom is not required to make it available to the public- ESPECIALLY gas stations- they sell 50 oz big gulps- but you can't use the restroom!! Seriously. I have children and sometimes they don't know until the last minute that they need to go. Or worse yet, when we are on a road trip and I go to fill up and they don't have a public restroom. I have even gone so far as to yell back out the front door of the gas station and tell my husband to stop pumping gas because they won't let my crying child use the bathroom.

It might sound like I'm ranting but I once had an afternoon in Ann Arbor where I went to 3 gas stations AND a KFC with a screaming child and finally made it to a McDonald's but by then he had wet his pants. It's absolutely ridiculous! I've bordered on being violent with the gas station owners.

If an establishment sells food and drink (even packaged) they should have a restroom available for public use. Where else do they expect you to go??

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