83R16456 KKR-F
 
  By: Menendez H.B. No. 489
 
  Substitute the following for H.B. No. 489:
 
  By:  Sheffield of Bell C.S.H.B. No. 489
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to rights and responsibilities of persons with
  disabilities, including with respect to the use of assistance
  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.  ASSISTANCE ANIMALS. (a) A food service
  establishment, retail food store, or other entity regulated under
  this chapter may not deny an assistance 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 assistance animal is accompanied and
  controlled by a person with a disability; or
               (2)  the assistance animal is in training and is
  accompanied and controlled by an approved trainer.
         (b)  If an assistance 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 assistance animal is required because
  the person has a disability; and
               (2)  what type of work the assistance animal is trained
  to perform.
         (c)  In this section, "assistance animal" means an animal
  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 an assistance animal under this section.
  The tasks that an assistance 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" 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 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 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)  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 an assistance animal for
  purposes of admittance to a public facility except to determine the
  basic type of assistance provided by the assistance 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 an assistance
  animal, a staff member or manager of the facility may inquire about:
               (1)  whether the assistance animal is required because
  the person has a disability; and
               (2)  what type of work or task the assistance 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 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 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 Assistance 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.