Bill Text: TX HB489 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Enrolled
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.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Passed) 2013-06-14 - Effective on 1/1/14 [HB489 Detail]
Download: Texas-2013-HB489-Enrolled.html
H.B. No. 489 |
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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 [ |
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help a person with a disability and that [ |
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(4) "Person with a disability" means a person who has: | ||
(A) a mental or physical disability; | ||
(B) an intellectual or developmental disability; | ||
(C) a [ |
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impairment; | ||
(D) [ |
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(E) a [ |
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(F) a [ |
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(G) post-traumatic stress disorder; [ |
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(H) any health impairment that requires special | ||
ambulatory devices or services. | ||
(5) "Public facility [ |
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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 [ |
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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 [ |
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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 [ |
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(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 [ |
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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 [ |
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be denied admittance to any public facility when accompanied by an | ||
approved trainer [ |
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(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 [ |
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an offense. An offense under this subsection is a misdemeanor | ||
punishable by: | ||
(1) a fine of not [ |
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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 [ |
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(b) In addition to the penalty provided in Subsection (a) | ||
[ |
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corporation, or other public or private organization, or the agent | ||
of the [ |
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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 [ |
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SECTION 5. Section 121.006(a), Human Resources Code, is | ||
amended to read as follows: | ||
(a) A person who uses a service [ |
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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 [ |
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animal when training [ |
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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 [ |
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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 [ |
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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 | ||
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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 [ |
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the request of state agencies responsible for the rehabilitation of | ||
persons with disabilities and at least [ |
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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 |