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The halls of the state capitol are flush with chuckles over legislation to require restaurant inspectors to determine if there is an adequate supply of toilet paper in rest rooms. But despite the bathroom humor, Mike Vasilinda tells us the bill is rolling on.

We’ve all been there… the restaurant bathroom that is so disgusting you’d rather suffer than do your duty.  Under legislation rolling thru the capitol, the same people who inspect restaurant kitchens would also have to examine the bathrooms.  Kim Hicks hopes the idea doesn’t stall. “If I go into the rest room and I don’t feel comfortable in the restroom, it’ll make you think twice about the food.”

The cheeky idea was floated this past summer after State Senator Victor Crist and his family had an unpleasant experience. The legislation hopes to wipe away a potential serious problem. For Crist, it is priority number 2.  “I was in a rest room over the summer…at a restaurant. Not only did the water not work, but there wasn’t any toilet paper and the toilets didn’t function. In walks the chef, uses the… goes into the stall, comes out of the stall and goes back into the kitchen.” says Crist.

There is soft opposition from the Restaurant Association over government going too far. But café manager Dave Rainey says most will have nothing to fear. “I think it’s just a reflection on the restaurant overall and says something about the cleanliness and the performance of the restaurant and their staff.”

And for the few establishments that don’t keep up the new standards… well, their ranking from health inspectors will go down the drain.

In the last year, the Department of Business and Professional Regulation has logged 262 bathroom complaints.  If the bill passes, the agency will be responsible to make sure toilet paper is stocked, the water works and there is soap and something with which to dry your hands.