[NFBMT] Service Animal Protection Bill Tabled

[Jim Marks]

The criminalization of fake service animals is proceeding through the
Legislature, but it's not approved yet.  It has survived all the hurdles so
far, though, and it looks as though the bill may become law.

The NFB-MT opposes the criminalization of fake service animals because we
felt the bill does more harm than good.  Yes, fake service animal fraud is
annoying, but the zeal to criminalize the fraud will only make the use of
legitimate service animals more difficult.  Plus, federal rules already
cover fake service animal fraud, and the bill complicates the issue when it
strays from federal rules.  To be fair, the bill has been amended to protect
the rights of legitimate service animal users, but the concerns we raised
persist nonetheless.

Our bill to protect service animals was tabled yesterday in the House
Judiciary Committee, and it almost certainly will not move forward this
session.

Jim Marks
Blind.grizzly at gmail.com
(406) 438-1421

-----Original Message-----
From: NFBMT <nfbmt-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of d m gina via NFBMT
Sent: Wednesday, March 27, 2019 3:33 AM
To: nfbmt at nfbnet.org
Cc: d m gina <dmgina at mysero.net>
Subject: Re: [NFBMT] Service Animal Protection Bill Tabled

As it stands then, everything still is the same, all fake animals can strole
the streets as well as going into shops and so on?
Is that how I read this message?
Thanks,

Original message:
> Well, here's so-called legislative leadership for you.  The Montana 
> Legislature trips all over itself to criminalize the use of fake 
> service animals, but it will not grant protections for legitimate service
animals.
> This morning, the Montana House Judiciary Committee tabled HB 659, a 
> bill that would provide protections for service animals.  The 10-9 
> vote to kill the bill occurred a few minutes after the Committee 
> conducted a public hearing on HB 659.  Several people with 
> disabilities, including multiple members of the National Federation of 
> the Blind of Montana, testified in favor of the protections.  No one 
> opposed our bill.  There is no recourse when others deliberately or
negligently harm or kill our service animals.
> Mostly, the problem concerns loose aggressive dogs who are not 
> properly supervised, but plenty of instances exist in which others 
> intentionally hurt, harass, and steal our service animals.  The 
> Judiciary Committee sent its message loud and clear.  The Committee 
> clearly thinks that the rights of shop owners are more important than 
> those of people with disabilities.  The fake service animal thing is a 
> red herring that will likely be used to make it more difficult for 
> legitimate service animal users to make our way in this world.  Not to 
> worry, though.  We will be back, and we will not rest until our 
> Legislature does the right thing.  We are both angry and patient, and 
> that often proves to be an effective frame of mind to accomplish basic
human rights.  So, it's on to the next session, eh?

> Jim Marks
> Blind.grizzly at gmail.com
> (406) 438-1421



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--
--Dar
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every saint has a past
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