Bill
H 3317
Enacts gender‑neutral bathroom facilities in Massachusetts by updating the Uniform State Plumbing Code to permit and designate such facilities in new and renovated buildings.
Note on source materials
- The documents provided appear to contain text from two different measures combined into one file:
1. Massachusetts House Docket No. 3317 (filed Jan 15, 2025) — An Act providing for gender‑neutral bathrooms (amendment to Chapter 142, Uniform State Plumbing Code).
2. A separate South Carolina draft bill (filed Dec 5, 2024) proposing additions to that state’s Comprehensive Health Education Act to require dating‑violence education and related policies.
- Below is an objective summary of each measure and the procedural status items provided.
Purpose and intent
- Require the Uniform State Plumbing Code to permit gender‑neutral toilet and bathing facilities statewide.
Key provisions
- Adds Section 13A to Chapter 142 of the Massachusetts General Laws.
- The plumbing code must include regulations allowing gender‑neutral toilet and bathing facilities, including multi‑occupant rooms (more than one toilet, urinal, or shower) separated by privacy walls or partitions, with separate or grouped handwashing fixtures.
- These facilities may be designated or installed in any “use group” under the state building code and for both new construction and repair/renovation/alteration work.
Who is affected
- State building code regulators, plumbing inspectors, architects, designers, building owners/operators, and all facilities subject to the Uniform State Plumbing Code.
Procedural status (from supplied actions)
- Prefiled: 12/05/2024
- Introduced and read first time: 01/14/2025
- Referred to Committee on Education and Public Works (also appears before State Administration & Regulatory Oversight)
- Senate concurred; hearing scheduled 09/09/2025 (10:00 AM–1:00 PM; A‑1 and virtual).
Potential impact
- Enables (and requires the plumbing code to allow) installation/designation of gender‑neutral single‑ and multi‑occupant restroom and bathing facilities, which may change design standards and compliance paths for new and renovated buildings.
Purpose and intent
- Add definitions and require K–12 and public higher‑education institutions to teach dating‑violence education and adopt/report related policies.
Key provisions
- New definitions:
- “Dating violence”: physical, sexual, psychological, or emotional violence between persons 18 or younger within a dating relationship.
- “Dating” / “dating relationship”: an ongoing romantic/intimate social relationship (excludes casual or business/social fraternization).
- Curriculum requirements:
- The State Board (through the Department) must develop/make available an instructional unit that includes dating‑violence education.
- Dating‑violence education is mandated as part of comprehensive health instruction for middle school grades (6–8) and must be included at least once during grades 9–12 (the 9–12 requirement is listed alongside existing reproductive health minutes).
- Local boards may use state materials or develop their own; advisory committee composition is specified for curriculum selection.
- Local and higher‑education policies and reporting:
- Local school boards must develop and implement a policy on dating violence and annually report to the State Board of Education and Department of Public Health listing schools offering compliant dating‑violence education and the number of reported/addressed instances per school.
- Public institutions of higher learning must adopt policies on dating violence and annually maintain a compliance report identifying reported/addressed instances.
- Conforming and other amendments:
- Existing restrictions on curriculum content (e.g., limits on discussing alternate sexual lifestyles) are clarified to permit discussion in the context of STDs or dating violence.
Who is affected
- State education department and board, local school districts and boards, individual K–12 schools, students (particularly ages ≤18), parents, public higher‑education institutions, and public‑health agencies.
Procedural status (as provided)
- Filed: 12/05/2024 (draft text included in materials). No single consolidated procedural timeline for this South Carolina draft was provided beyond the filing dates in the text.
Potential impact
- Establishes a statewide expectation that dating‑violence prevention/education is incorporated into health curricula, formalizes local and higher‑education policy requirements, and requires annual reporting of program delivery and incident counts — potentially increasing prevention efforts, data collection, and local administrative duties.
If you want, I can:
- Produce a single consolidated comparison of the two measures’ likely implementation challenges and costs; or
- Draft a concise one‑page fact sheet for stakeholders (school administrators, building code officials, legislators).
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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