Sen. Thom Tillis’ constituents might want to think twice before shaking his hand. The Republican senator from North Carolina said on Monday that he’d support letting restaurants opt out of hand-washing requirements for employees…. Tillis used the rather alarming anecdote to illustrate his larger beliefs on government regulation. The freshman senator said he was at a North Carolina Starbucks in 2010 with a constituent when she challenged his views on allowing businesses to opt out of certain regulations. They were sitting next to the coffee shop’s restroom when an employee emerged. “She said, for example, don’t you believe that the regulation that requires this gentleman to wash his hands before he serves your food is important, that it should be on the books?” Tillis recalled. Tillis replied: “I don’t have any problem with Starbucks if they choose to opt out of this policy as long as they post a sign that says ‘We don’t require our employees to wash their hands after leaving the restroom.’”…. Instead, Tillis believes that full disclosure of such lax hygiene policies would be a strong enough deterrent on its own to put the store out of business. “The market would take care of that,” he said.
Yes, people don’t like being told by government what they must do, but when it comes to things like requiring food service workers to wash their hands after using the told, it’s about enforcing common sense. It’s been proven that hand washing is a simple and easy way to prevent the spread of disease. Anyone who’s ever had any sort of food poisoning understands the importance of this. Sometimes it’s about government doing the right thing by protecting society from itself.
Requiring food service workers to wash their hands after using the toilet is a no-brainer. It shouldn’t be the subject of debate among quasi-libertarian sorts who define ANY sort of government-mandated behavior as the very essence of tyranny. No, it shouldn’t left to the free market to “take care of that.” Sometimes, it really IS necessary to require specific behaviors in the name of the greater good- in this case protecting the public health.
To call Tillis’ beliefs as misguided as they are dangerous (and dumb) would be something of an understatement. Certainly, there are things government doesn’t do well. However, protecting the public health is something government actually is pretty good at. The incidence of widespread food-borne illnesses is blessedly rather low…a success story directly attributable to government food service regulations regarding proper hygiene and sanitation.
Tillis may be willing to risk public health in the name of a libertarian ideal, but I suspect most rational Americans aren’t. Barney Frank once said that government is merely what we decide to do together, and food service sanitation regulations are something we’ve decided is a good idea. Government is us…and I’d hazard a guess that most of us like not having to wonder if the barista behind the counter washed her hands after using the toilet. That should be a given, and despite Tillis’ silly suggestion to the contrary, it’s not something that should be left to the free market.
