74R10061 E
By Driver, Naishtat H.B. No. 238
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the use of assistance dogs for persons with
1-3 disabilities; providing an offense.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 121.002, Human Resources Code, is amended
1-6 by amending Subdivision (2) and adding Subdivisions (6) and (7) to
1-7 read as follows:
1-8 (2) "Assistance dog" <"Support dog"> means a dog that
1-9 is specially trained or equipped to help a blind or handicapped
1-10 person, and that:
1-11 (A) is used by a blind or handicapped person who
1-12 has satisfactorily completed a specific course of training in the
1-13 use of the dog; and
1-14 (B) has been trained by an organization
1-15 generally recognized by agencies involved in the rehabilitation of
1-16 the blind or handicapped as reputable and competent to provide dogs
1-17 with training of this type.
1-18 (6) "Employer" means:
1-19 (A) a person, firm, association, or corporation;
1-20 (B) a state agency, commission, department, or
1-21 institution, a political subdivision of this state, or a school
1-22 district; or
1-23 (C) a business supported in whole or in part by
1-24 public funds and employing one or more persons on a full- or
2-1 part-time, permanent or temporary basis.
2-2 (7) "Harass" means any conduct that:
2-3 (A) is directed at an assistance dog that
2-4 impedes or interferes with, or is intended to impede or interfere
2-5 with, the dog's performance of its duties; or
2-6 (B) places a blind or handicapped person who is
2-7 using an assistance dog, or a trainer who is training an assistance
2-8 dog, in danger of injury.
2-9 SECTION 2. Section 121.003, Human Resources Code, is amended
2-10 by amending Subsections (b), (c), (d), (j), and (k) and adding
2-11 Subsections (l) and (m) to read as follows:
2-12 (b) No common carrier, airplane, railroad train, motor bus,
2-13 streetcar, boat, or other public conveyance or mode of
2-14 transportation operating within the state may refuse to accept as a
2-15 passenger a person who is blind or physically handicapped solely
2-16 because of the person's blindness or handicap, nor may a blind or
2-17 handicapped person be required to pay an additional fare because of
2-18 his or her use of an assistance <a support> dog, wheelchair,
2-19 crutches, or other device used to assist the blind or handicapped
2-20 person in travel.
2-21 (c) No person who is blind or physically handicapped may be
2-22 denied admittance to any public facility in the state because of
2-23 the blind or handicapped person's use of a white cane, assistance
2-24 <support> dog, wheelchair, crutches, or other device of assistance
2-25 in mobility, or because the person is blind or handicapped.
2-26 (d) The discrimination prohibited by this section includes
2-27 discrimination through an open and obvious refusal to allow a blind
3-1 or handicapped person to use or be admitted to any public facility,
3-2 as well as discrimination based on a ruse or subterfuge calculated
3-3 to prevent or discourage a blind or handicapped person from using
3-4 or being admitted to a public facility. Regulations relating to
3-5 the use of public facilities by any designated class of persons
3-6 from the general public may not prohibit the use of particular
3-7 public facilities by blind or handicapped persons who, except for
3-8 their blindness or handicaps or use of assistance <support> dogs or
3-9 other devices for assistance in travel, would fall within the
3-10 designated class. Lists containing the names of persons who desire
3-11 to use particular public facilities may not be composed or
3-12 manipulated so as to deny a blind or handicapped person a fair and
3-13 equal opportunity to use or be admitted to any public facility.
3-14 (j) A totally or partially blind or handicapped person who
3-15 has or obtains an assistance <a support> dog is entitled to full
3-16 and equal access to all housing accommodations provided for in this
3-17 section, and may not be required to pay extra compensation for the
3-18 dog but is liable for damages done to the premises by the dog.
3-19 (k) An assistance <A> dog <guide> in training shall not be
3-20 denied admittance to any public facility when accompanied by an
3-21 approved trainer who is an agent of an organization generally
3-22 recognized by agencies involved in the rehabilitation of persons
3-23 who are <the> blind or disabled as reputable and competent to
3-24 provide training for assistance <of such> dogs, and/or their blind
3-25 handlers.
3-26 (l) An employer may not:
3-27 (1) deny employment to a blind or handicapped person
4-1 because of the blind or handicapped person's use of a white cane,
4-2 assistance dog, wheelchair, crutches, or other device that assists
4-3 a person's mobility;
4-4 (2) restrict or interfere, directly or indirectly, in
4-5 any way with a blind or handicapped person's use of an assistance
4-6 dog; or
4-7 (3) refuse to allow a blind or handicapped person to
4-8 keep an assistance dog with the person at all times at the place of
4-9 employment.
4-10 (m) A person may not assault, harass, or injure in any way,
4-11 or attempt to assault, harass, or injure in any way, an assistance
4-12 dog.
4-13 SECTION 3. Section 121.004(a), Human Resources Code, is
4-14 amended to read as follows:
4-15 (a) A person, firm, association, corporation, or other
4-16 organization, or the agent of a person, firm, association,
4-17 corporation, or other organization who violates a provision of
4-18 Section 121.003 commits an offense. An offense under this
4-19 subsection is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than
4-20 $300 or more than $1,000 <of this chapter is guilty of a
4-21 misdemeanor and on conviction shall be punished by a fine of not
4-22 less than $100 nor more than $300>.
4-23 SECTION 4. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
4-24 (b) The change in law made by Section 121.003(k), Human
4-25 Resources Code, as amended by this Act, applies only to the denial
4-26 of admission of an assistance dog to a public facility on or after
4-27 that date. The denial of admission of an assistance dog to a
5-1 public facility before September 1, 1995, is governed by the law as
5-2 it existed immediately before the effective date of this Act, and
5-3 that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
5-4 (c) The change in law made by this Act applies only to an
5-5 offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. For
5-6 purposes of this section, an offense is committed before the
5-7 effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs
5-8 before that date.
5-9 (d) An offense committed before the effective date of this
5-10 Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
5-11 and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
5-12 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
5-13 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-14 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-15 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-16 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.