May 21, 2009
UW staffer pivotal in passing law for retail bathroom access
Lois Fink says she has learned that one person really can make a difference in this world.
She felt that especially last Monday in Olympia, when Fink, an administrative assistant in the UW College of Forest Resources, watched Gov. Christine Gregoire sign House Bill 1138 into law.
The bill, similar to legislation passed in other states, requires most store owners to open employee bathrooms to use by persons with inflammatory bowel disease such as ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease, as well as those with irritable bowel syndrome or who use an ostomy device.
Fink said, “I remember thinking, ‘I am actually in the same room with Gov. Gregoire, standing to her right and watching her sign this bill that I never thought would come to pass. I can’t believe it’s actually happening.'”
You see, Fink has Crohn’s Disease. It’s a condition that causes inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, which can create swelling and an urgent need to use a bathroom. She was diagnosed when she was 17 years old, and is not shy or embarrassed about telling her story to help others with similar conditions. She even went on the nationally televised Sally Jesse Raphael Show in 1989 to spread information about these conditions.
Fink said, “My feeling is that it’s more embarrassing not to talk about this.”
Her inspiration came from Ally Bain, a Crohn’s patient who at 14 and in the company of her mother requested to use the bathroom of a Chicago Old Navy store. She was refused and, unable to wait, had an accident in the store. Her mother decided that Ally should never suffer another such humiliation and contacted a state representative. In 2005, Illinois passed the Restroom Access Act, more commonly known as Ally’s Law.
Fink said she knows exactly what Ally went through. “I have had that experience.”
So she decided to e-mail her own state representative — she lives in Edmonds — to ask that an Ally’s Law be considered in Washington State. But she honestly didn’t think anything would come of just one little e-mail.
She was surpised, then, when Rep. Marko Liias called her cell phone as she rode the bus home from work that day. “I remember thinking, ‘My God, people actually read these e-mails?” Fink said. She also checked her watch and thought, “He’s still at work?”
He sure was, and he liked her idea. Liias invited Fink to come to Olympia to testify on the matter before a legislative committee, which she did three times during 2008. “The last meeting I pulled in a wound ostomy nurse from Olympia,” Fink said. “She was able to talk to the committee about the needs of the ostomy community, and why they need to be included.”
She said Liias “did everything he was supposed to,” including lining up necessary support from statewide lobbies for both retailers and small businesses. The bill was assigned a number, and HB1138 went to the judiciary committees of the House and then the Senate, with Fink testifying both times.
She also had some help from a well-known music personality she’s known for some time. Mike McCready, lead guitarist for Pearl Jam, was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease at 21 and publicly supports increased awareness and education about inflammatory bowel conditions. McCready even performs an annual concert to raise money for the Northwest chapter of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America. “He was very eager to get involved,” Fink said, “very eager to testify.” A member of that foundation’s board also testified on behalf of the legislation.
Fink said when it came her time to talk she knew that “I had to illustrate to the committee what it was like being denied access in a store — how it felt. And that this was really a bill about compassion, about raising awareness.”
But she added, “It was also about money. Because if I feel that I will be treated humanely in a store in an emergency situation, I will come back to that store and continue shopping there, and will encourage my friends to. The alternative is to stay home and shop on the Internet, and a valuable resource goes out of the state.”
Testifying, she said, was “an amazing experience. And I knew I had to be very short, succinct and powerful. And I guess we all were, because it passed!” On Monday, May 11, she stood alongside Gov. Gregoire when HB1138 was signed into law. Click here for details of the history and content of HB1138.
Fink said she came away from the process with greater respect for lawmakers in general and Rep. Liias in particular. “I was so impressed with his skills,” she said. “I think he has quite the career in politics ahead of him. And he really seems to care about people.”
And of course one has to ask: Now that she has learned how much a single individual can accomplish, doe Fink have other legislative ideas? Oh yes.
“I think we need a lemon law for people who purchase new, residential construction” to protect against shoddy methods and materials. “I’ve walked that road, and it’s pretty ugly,” she said. Fink added with a laugh that she has yet to discuss this with Rep. Liias.
Fink is proud to have stood up for treating people with a “basic human need” with the respect they deserve. And she’s learned a lot about state politics along the way.
“Our elected officials do listen to us,” she said. “But we have to make the first move. They’re not mind-readers!”
