[Coagdu] FW: [nagdu] Fwd: [Nfb-legislative-directors] Proposed Changes to Service Animal Law Defeated

[melissa R green]

This law was defeated.  Read on.
Blessings,
Melissa R. Green and Pj
“Listen to God with a broken heart. He is not only the doctor who mends it,
but also the father who wipes away the tears.”

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of David Andrews via
nagdu
Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2015 10:34 PM
To: david.andrews at nfbnet.org
Subject: [nagdu] Fwd: [Nfb-legislative-directors] Proposed Changes to
Service Animal Law Defeated


>This message was posted to our private list for Legislative Directors 
>and helps answer the question:  why the NFB?


Dave



>On Tuesday, February 18, the National Federation of the Blind of 
>Arizona and other disability groups were alerted that an amended bill 
>was scheduled for a committee hearing in the Arizona House of 
>Representatives at 9:00 a.m. on the 19th. The bill (HB 2179) included a 
>“Strike-all”
>amendment, which meant that the original language of the bill would be 
>replaced with new and unrelated language.  If the bill were passed out 
>of committee and subsequently passed into law, it would have 
>fundamentally altered Arizona’s service animal law (A.R.S. §11-1024). 
>Proposed changes would have:
>
>    * Required that individuals who use service animals obtain a permit 
> from the Arizona Department of health Services in order to take their 
> service animal in to a public place and that such permit be renewed on 
> a regular basis.
>    * As part of the permit process, an individual will be required to 
> apply to the Department of Health Services and provide documentation 
> from a medical professional certifying the applicant has a disability.
>    * Required that a service animal wear a vest, also issued by the 
> Department of Health Services at all times when in a public place.
> This vest will display permit information.
>    * Allowed restaurants to block access for persons with service 
> animals in order to meet local and or state health code regulations.
>    * Required the Department of Health services develop a sign for 
> restaurants to display indicating that service animals are not 
> permitted and that a separate sign for other public businesses not 
> serving food be created that indicates service animals are allowed.
>    * Required the Arizona Department of Health Services to petition 
> the United States Department of Justice requesting that the Americans 
> with Disabilities Act be updated to comply with state law.
>
>The National Federation of the Blind of Arizona and several other 
>disability groups reacted quickly and organized an effective response 
>to the proposed legislation. NFBA  has an active legislative committee, 
>and along with members from the Tucson, Phoenix and East Valley 
>chapters and its new guide dog division  appeared at the Arizona state 
>Capitol building prior to the start of the meeting in order to register 
>as many people as possible to speak against the bill in the committee 
>hearing.  In addition, the legislative committee appealed to members 
>that could not personally attend the meeting and asked them to email 
>the committee chair and other committee members urging them to vote 
>against the legislation.  We were able to send out approximately thirty 
>emails before the committee hearing started.
>
>During the hearing, the committee chair made it clear that his intent 
>was not to pass legislation that imposed greater restrictions on 
>persons with disabilities that require the use of service animals.  He 
>intended to craft a bill that punished “bad actors,” or those 
>individuals who masquerade their pets as service animals for the sole 
>purpose of taking them into places that prohibit pets.  This intent was 
>not evident in the wording of the bill.
>
>Many members of the NFBA and the other disability groups testified in 
>opposition to the bill.  All testimony given by the public indicated 
>that the stated intent differed from that of the actual bill and that, 
>as written, this bill violated the Americans with Disability Act.  
>Testimony suggested that rather than advance a “bad” bill, a bill 
>should be written that focused on the “bad actors” rather than persons 
>with disabilities.
>
>Due to effective grass-roots advocacy by the NFBA and the other 
>disability groups this bill was defeated with a unanimous vote of 8 – 
>0.  The committee members who commented on their votes cited the 
>testimony given by the public as strongly influencing their votes.
>
>My thanks and gratitude goes out to everyone who participated in the 
>committee hearing, sent emails and made phone calls.
>
>Donald Porterfield, Esq.
>First Vice President and Legislative Director National Federation of 
>the Blind of Arizona 
><mailto:donaldpfield at gmail.com>donaldpfield at gmail.com
>520-850-2180

         David Andrews and long white cane Harry.
E-Mail:  dandrews at visi.com or david.andrews at nfbnet.org
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