Bill Text: TX HB489 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Enrolled

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Bill Title: Relating to rights and responsibilities of persons with disabilities, including with respect to the use of service animals that provide assistance to those persons; providing penalties.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2)

Status: (Passed) 2013-06-14 - Effective on 1/1/14 [HB489 Detail]

Download: Texas-2013-HB489-Enrolled.html

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H.B. No. 489

AN ACT
relating to rights and responsibilities of persons with
disabilities, including with respect to the use of service animals
that provide assistance to those persons; providing penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 437, Health and Safety Code, is amended
by adding Section 437.023 to read as follows:
Sec. 437.023. SERVICE ANIMALS. (a) A food service
establishment, retail food store, or other entity regulated under
this chapter may not deny a service animal admittance into an area
of the establishment or store or of the physical space occupied by
the entity that is open to customers and is not used to prepare food
if:
(1) the service animal is accompanied and controlled
by a person with a disability; or
(2) the service animal is in training and is
accompanied and controlled by an approved trainer.
(b) If a service animal is accompanied by a person whose
disability is not readily apparent, for purposes of admittance to a
food service establishment, retail food store, or physical space
occupied by another entity regulated under this chapter, a staff
member of the establishment, store, or entity may only inquire
about:
(1) whether the service animal is required because the
person has a disability; and
(2) what type of work the service animal is trained to
perform.
(c) In this section, "service animal" means a canine that is
specially trained or equipped to help a person with a disability.
An animal that provides only comfort or emotional support to a
person is not a service animal under this section. The tasks that a
service animal may perform in order to help a person with a
disability must be directly related to the person's disability and
may include:
(1) guiding a person who has a visual impairment;
(2) alerting a person who has a hearing impairment or
who is deaf;
(3) pulling a wheelchair;
(4) alerting and protecting a person who has a seizure
disorder;
(5) reminding a person who has a mental illness to take
prescribed medication; and
(6) calming a person who has post-traumatic stress
disorder.
SECTION 2. Sections 121.002(1), (4), and (5), Human
Resources Code, are amended to read as follows:
(1) "Assistance animal" and "service animal" mean a
canine [means an animal] that is specially trained or equipped to
help a person with a disability and that [:
[(A)] is used by a person with a disability [who
has satisfactorily completed a specific course of training in the
use of the animal; and
[(B) has been trained by an organization
generally recognized by agencies involved in the rehabilitation of
persons with disabilities as reputable and competent to provide
animals with training of this type].
(4) "Person with a disability" means a person who has:
(A) a mental or physical disability;
(B) an intellectual or developmental disability;
(C) a [, including mental retardation,] hearing
impairment;
(D) [,] deafness;
(E) a [,] speech impairment;
(F) a [,] visual impairment;
(G) post-traumatic stress disorder; [,] or
(H) any health impairment that requires special
ambulatory devices or services.
(5) "Public facility [facilities]" includes a street,
highway, sidewalk, walkway, common carrier, airplane, motor
vehicle, railroad train, motor bus, streetcar, boat, or any other
public conveyance or mode of transportation; a hotel, motel, or
other place of lodging; a public building maintained by any unit or
subdivision of government; a retail business, commercial
establishment, or office building to which the general public is
invited; a college dormitory or other educational facility; a
restaurant or other place where food is offered for sale to the
public; and any other place of public accommodation, amusement,
convenience, or resort to which the general public or any
classification of persons from the general public is regularly,
normally, or customarily invited.
SECTION 3. Section 121.003, Human Resources Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (b), (d), (h), and (i) and adding
Subsections (k) and (l) to read as follows:
(b) No common carrier, airplane, railroad train, motor bus,
streetcar, boat, or other public conveyance or mode of
transportation operating within the state may refuse to accept as a
passenger a person with a disability [solely] because of the
person's disability, nor may a person with a disability be required
to pay an additional fare because of his or her use of a service [an
assistance] animal, wheelchair, crutches, or other device used to
assist a person with a disability in travel.
(d) The discrimination prohibited by this section includes
a refusal to allow a person with a disability to use or be admitted
to any public facility, a ruse or subterfuge calculated to prevent
or discourage a person with a disability from using or being
admitted to a public facility, and a failure to:
(1) comply with Chapter 469, Government Code [Article
9102, Revised Statutes];
(2) make reasonable accommodations in policies,
practices, and procedures; or
(3) provide auxiliary aids and services necessary to
allow the full use and enjoyment of the public facility.
(h) A person with a total or partial disability who has or
obtains a service [an assistance] animal is entitled to full and
equal access to all housing accommodations provided for in this
section, and may not be required to pay extra compensation or make a
deposit for the animal but is liable for damages done to the
premises by the animal except for reasonable wear and tear.
(i) A service [An assistance] animal in training shall not
be denied admittance to any public facility when accompanied by an
approved trainer [who is an agent of an organization generally
recognized by agencies involved in the rehabilitation of persons
who are disabled as reputable and competent to provide training for
assistance animals, and/or their handlers].
(k) Except as provided by Subsection (l), a person is not
entitled to make demands or inquiries relating to the
qualifications or certifications of a service animal for purposes
of admittance to a public facility except to determine the basic
type of assistance provided by the service animal to a person with a
disability.
(l) If a person's disability is not readily apparent, for
purposes of admittance to a public facility with a service animal, a
staff member or manager of the facility may inquire about:
(1) whether the service animal is required because the
person has a disability; and
(2) what type of work or task the service animal is
trained to perform.
SECTION 4. Section 121.004, Human Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 121.004. PENALTIES FOR AND DAMAGES RESULTING FROM
DISCRIMINATION. (a) A person, including a firm, association,
corporation, or other public or private organization, or the agent
of the [a] person, [firm, association, corporation, or other
organization] who violates a provision of Section 121.003 commits
an offense. An offense under this subsection is a misdemeanor
punishable by:
(1) a fine of not [less than $300 or] more than $300;
and
(2) 30 hours of community service to be performed for a
governmental entity or nonprofit organization that primarily
serves persons with visual impairments or other disabilities, or
for another entity or organization at the discretion of the court,
to be completed in not more than one year [$1,000].
(b) In addition to the penalty provided in Subsection (a)
[of this section], a person, including a firm, association,
corporation, or other public or private organization, or the agent
of the [a] person, [firm, association, corporation, or other
organization,] who violates the provisions of Section 121.003 [of
this chapter] is deemed to have deprived a person with a disability
of his or her civil liberties. The person with a disability
deprived of his or her civil liberties may maintain a cause of
action for damages in a court of competent jurisdiction, and there
is a conclusive presumption of damages in the amount of at least
$300 [$100] to the person with a disability.
SECTION 5. Section 121.006(a), Human Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) A person who uses a service [an assistance] animal with
a harness or leash of the type commonly used by persons with
disabilities who use trained animals, in order to represent that
his or her animal is a specially trained service [assistance]
animal when training [of the type described in Section
121.002(1)(B) of this chapter] has not in fact been provided, is
guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction shall be punished by:
(1) a fine of not more than $300; and
(2) 30 hours of community service to be performed for a
governmental entity or nonprofit organization that primarily
serves persons with visual impairments or other disabilities, or
for another entity or organization at the discretion of the court,
to be completed in not more than one year [$200].
SECTION 6. Section 121.008, Human Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 121.008. DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION RELATING TO
PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES. (a) To ensure maximum public awareness
of the policies set forth in this chapter, the governor shall [may]
issue a proclamation each year taking suitable public notice of
October 15 as White Cane Safety and Service Animal Recognition Day.
The proclamation must contain appropriate comment about the
significance of various devices and animals used by persons with
disabilities to assist them in traveling, and must call to the
attention of the public the provisions of this chapter and of other
laws relating to the safety and well-being of this state's citizens
with disabilities.
(b) The comptroller, the secretary of state, and other state
[State] agencies that regularly mail [mailing] forms or information
to significant numbers of public facilities and businesses
operating within the state shall cooperate with state agencies
responsible for the rehabilitation of persons with disabilities by
sending information about this chapter to those to whom regular
mailings are sent. The information, which must be sent at [only on]
the request of state agencies responsible for the rehabilitation of
persons with disabilities and at least [not more than] once each
year, may be included in regular mailings or sent separately. If
sent separately, the cost of mailing is borne by the state
rehabilitation agency or agencies requesting the mailing and,
regardless of whether sent separately or as part of a regular
mailing, the cost of preparing information about this chapter is
borne by the state rehabilitation agency or agencies requesting
distribution of this information.
SECTION 7. The changes in law made by this Act to Sections
121.004 and 121.006, Human Resources Code, apply only to an offense
committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An offense
committed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
law in effect when the offense was committed, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this section,
an offense was committed before the effective date of this Act if
any element of the offense occurred before that date.
SECTION 8. This Act takes effect January 1, 2014.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 489 was passed by the House on May 1,
2013, by the following vote: Yeas 120, Nays 21, 1 present, not
voting; that the House refused to concur in Senate amendments to
H.B. No. 489 on May 24, 2013, and requested the appointment of a
conference committee to consider the differences between the two
houses; and that the House adopted the conference committee report
on H.B. No. 489 on May 26, 2013, by the following vote: Yeas 140,
Nays 5, 1 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 489 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 22, 2013, by the following vote: Yeas 29, Nays
2; at the request of the House, the Senate appointed a conference
committee to consider the differences between the two houses; and
that the Senate adopted the conference committee report on H.B. No.
489 on May 26, 2013, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 1.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor