[NFBMT] HB364

[Bruce&Joy Breslauer]

This is from the Disability Rights Montana newsletter from about a month ago.
I think it is a good explanation of why disability organizations are against
the passage of HB364.  The latest I have been able to find about its status
is that it was sent to the Senate somewhere in the middle of March and
nothing else has happened to it yet.  Joy 

 

Snip snip 

HB 364 Would Encourage Scrutiny and Possible Criminal Prosecution of
Legitimate Service Animal Owners

 

On Monday, February 13, 2017, the 

House Human Services Committee

 heard, HB 364 "Revise service animal laws." Sponsored by Rep. Denley Loge,

this bill attempts to ensure that people who misrepresent their animals as
service animals are dissuaded from doing so. This is a reasonable goal, but
we are concerned that the state of federal law and the language of this bill
would encourage confrontations and investigations of people with disabilities

who legitimately use service animals.

 

Federal law currently does not allow a business owner to require proof that a
service animal is a service animal. There are a number of reasons for this,
but one significant reason is that there is no generally accepted
certification for service animals. Thus, no legitimate user has the ability
to show a

generally accepted document that proves that a service animal is a service
animal. Some are trained by private entities who do it for a living, who may
or may not provide their own "certification." Others are trained by their
owners to assist them. Thus, many legitimate users of service animals may
have

no document at all that proves that their animals are service animals, thus
have no way to defend themselves against a criminal charge.

 

This is problematic as HB 364 assumes that there is a clear way to prove that
one's service animal is not "fraudulent." It enacts a misdemeanor penalty for
misrepresenting an animal as a service animal. Inevitably, this will
encourage business owners and law enforcement to make inquiries of people
with service animals about the legitimacy of that animal. This inquiry is not
allowed by federal law, which allows business owners only to ask if the
animal is a service animal for a disability and what tasks the animal
performs. Even so, if the inquiry occurs, many legitimate service animal
users will not have documentation to defend themselves.  

 

We believe this will create unnecessary conflict and confrontation which is
not the result that anyone wants. Although we, as a disability rights law
firm,

have heard stories of frustration about individuals who have misidentified
their animals as service animals, our firm has received far more reports of

people with legitimate service animals having difficulty using their animals
in schools, at work, and in private businesses.

 

We don't believe that law enforcement should be injected into these disputes,
nor would it be a positive step to apply a criminal penalty. We are
especially

concerned that individuals that do not have obvious disabilities, such as
serious mental illness, will be subjected to greater scrutiny.

Snip snip 

 

 

Joy Breslauer, President

National Federation of the Blind of Montana 

Web Site: http://www.nfbofmt.org <http://www.nfbofmt.org/> 

 

Live the life you want

 

The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the
characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the
expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles
between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want;
blindness is not what holds you back.