I have tried twice now to comment on the diary about Tom Tillis saying states should be allowed to opt out of mandatory hand-washing. Nothing works. So I am just going to post a new diary with the comments I would have made if I had been able to post them in the comment section.
I have two things to say - first that rules can go too far, and second, that toilets are not necessarily sources of scourges, plagues and death.
Number one (mostly sterile, not a source of infection, and a very good fertilizer): I can think of few areas in which I would ever agree with a Republican, especially one as radical as Tom Tillis, but I am with him on this one. It is not necessary for government at any level to mandate an activity that very likely happens anyway. He did not say that restaurant employees should not wash their hands; he said that it should not be a treasonable offense.
Most restaurant owners would like to keep their customers coming back for more. A sure fire way to guarantee that they do not is to give them food poisoning. To reduce that possibility, the restaurant owner will probably encourage the employees to exercise minimum levels of hygiene. Government mandates are not really necessary.
Number two (the stuff that you once willingly put in your mouth, chewed and swallowed) there is this thing called toilet paper. Not every visit to the bathroom involves feces, and even those that do seldom result in a transfer to hands - that toilet paper thing. In order for a restaurant worker to transmit a disease to the diners, you need three elements to be present:
1. Some disease needs to be present
2. Said employee is inept at wiping his butt
3. He does not wash his hands (ditto for she)
Legislation will not take care of 1 or 2. Three happens anyway. If you go to the toilet and you get shit on your hands, you are going to wash them, that I guarantee.