Yesterday the Los Angeles Times reported on some of the bills awaiting final action when the California legislature returns to work today after a month-long recess. One bill would require hotels to use only fitted sheets. The California Senate passed the bill in June. If the bill receives final passage, it will be crime to use a non-fitted sheet in a hotel in California.

Believe it or not, there is actually some logic behind this law.  Hotel cleaning staff have back injuries due to lifting heavy mattresses. The theory is that fitted sheets would make it unnecessary to lift the mattresses, thus saving the state money on workers’ compensation claims for injuries.

The article reports:

The hotel industry says that it would have to spend at least $30 million to replace sheets and buy appropriate laundry equipment, and that De Leon’s measure, SB 432, would open the door for more employee lawsuits. In response, De Leon is planning changes to his bill that would give hotels the option of adopting other methods of protecting housekeepers from back injuries, such as purchasing equipment to reduce strain.

I really don’t know what to say. I understand the plight of the housekeeping staff who are lifting heavy mattresses all day.  I also think that the idea of the state regulating the kind of sheets hotels use is invasive. Just for the record, Select Comfort mattresses don’t weigh much.  My husband and I have one, and our only objection to it is that it doesn’t weigh enough to keep the sheets tucked in.  Would hotels be willing to replace heavy mattresses with lighter ones?  Is that the answer?

California is going bankrupt, and the state legislators are considering a law that will hurt the hotel industry, one of the state’s leading businesses. I think there are more important concerns.