BILL NUMBER:  S3295

 TITLE OF BILL :  An act to amend the public health law, in relation
to enacting the Crohn's and colitis fairness act

 PURPOSE :

To make toilet facilities that are for employee use only, in places of
business open to the general public, accessible to those who have an
eligible medical condition such as Crohn's disease, ulcerative
colitis, or other medical conditions that require immediate access to
a bathroom.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

Section one provides that this act shall be known and may be cited as
"The Crohn's and Colitis Fairness Act."

Section two amends the public health law by adding a new article 19.

Section 1900 of article nineteen provides the definition for "eligible
medical condition." Section 1901 of article nineteen provides that a
place of business that is open to the general public and has a toilet
facility for its employees shall allow a person who is lawfully on the
premises during normal business hours access to the employee toilet
facility as long as the person requesting use of the employee toilet
              

has an eligible medical condition or utilizes an ostomy device,
provided that the place of business may require the individual to
present reasonable evidence that he or she has an eligible medical
condition or uses an ostomy device; two or more employees of the place
of business are working at the time the individual requests use of the
employee toilet facility; the place of business does not normally make
the employee toilet facility available to the public; the employee
toilet facility is located in at area where there would be no obvious
health safety or security risk; use of the toilet facility would not
create an obvious health or safety risk to the requesting individual;
and a public restroom is not immediately accessible to the requesting
person

Section 1902 of article nineteen provides that a place of business
open to the public for the sale of goods or services is not required
to make physical changes to its employee toilet facility.

Section three provides the effective date.

 JUSTIFICATION :

Increasing numbers of people are being diagnosed with inflammatory
bowel diseases. It is estimated that over 600,000 Americans suffer
from Crohn's disease alone, which is an ongoing disorder of the
gastrointestinal tract. It causes swelling of the intestines, creating
pain and diarrhea. People who suffer from such diseases often need
urgent and sudden access to a toilet facility.

In Illinois, a teenaged girl named Ally Bain, who has Crohn's disease,
had a humiliating incident in public when she was denied access to an
employee-only restroom. She was, bravely, instrumental in the passage
of Illinois's Restroom Access Act, also known as Ally's Law. In
addition to Illinois, fourteen other states have passed the Restroom
Access Act: Texas, Wisconsin, Connecticut, Minnesota, Michigan,
Washington, Tennessee, Colorado, Ohio, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts,
Maryland, and Oregon.

This legislation creates a compassionate system for those who suffer
from gastrointestinal diseases by making it possible for those who
have an eligible medical condition, as defined in the bill, to have
access to an employee-only toilet facility in a place of business that
is already open to the public when there are at least two employees
working at the time of the request, and using that facility would not
create a health, safety, or security risk.

This legislation would not create any additional cost to businesses as
they are not required to alter their toilet facility. Also, a business
would not be required to provide access to their toilet facility when
another facility is immediately accessible to the requesting person.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

2015-2016: S.4918
2014: 4803-A

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

None.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after it
shall have become law, provided that the addition, amendment and/or
repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of
this act on its effective date are authorized and directed to be made
and completed on or before such effective date.