A United States senator is facing ridicule after he suggested that restaurants should not have to make their employees wash their hands after toilet visits.

But in their rising tide of scorn, the jeer-leaders are missing the point the senator was trying to make.

Sen. Thom Tillis, a freshman Republican from North Carolina, made the comment during an appearance Monday at the Bipartisan Policy Center. Criticizing the proliferation of business regulations, Tillis volunteered a story about his “bias when it comes to regulatory reform.”

He’s the same Thom Tillis who defeated Democrat incumbent Sen. Kay Hagan in November, capping the most expensive senatorial campaign in history — both parties and outside groups spent a combined $115 million. Now the pundits are asking: Did the voters of North Carolina elect a high-priced dope?

For the record, here’s an account of the senator’s remarks from the Washington Post:

Tillis said he was at a Starbucks in 2010 talking to a woman about regulations and where businesses should be allowed to opt out. The woman challenged him, asking whether employees there should be required to wash their hands.

“As a matter of fact I think this is one where I think I can illustrate the point,” he recalled telling her. “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. The market will take care of that. It’s one example.”

Tillis concluded saying most businesses that posted signs telling customers their food workers didn’t have to wash their hands would go out of business. “Let them decide” such issues, he said. “But I think it’s good to illustrate the point, that that’s the sort of mentality we need to have to reduce the regulatory burden on this country.”

The senator was not questioning the need for soap-and-water hygiene; rather, it’s the mandatory sign advising employees to do what’s obvious — wash their hands. His suggestion — letting restaurants opt out if they post a sign notifying patrons that employees don’t need to wash — is intentionally ludicrous. His intention was to point out the folly of posting any sign about something as fundamentally sensible as handwashing.

Ultimately, Tillis was trying to say, do we really know that the food service employees washed their hands? Does the mandatory sign guarantee that they did?

The answer is no. The sign is a feel-good but unenforceable regulation, imposed on businesses that thrive or fail on the reputation of their name and record.

In that respect. Tillis is right.