[Tall-Corn] Fwd: TIME SENSITIVE INFORMATION: Iowa bill SF2268, an act relating to assistance and service animals

[Don Wirth]

Has the legislative committee any thought on this?

Don


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: ICUB News <news at icublind.org>
Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2024 17:34:26 -0600
Subject: TIME SENSITIVE INFORMATION: Iowa bill SF2268, an act relating
to assistance and service animals
To: secretary at icublind.org

*Iowa bill SF2268, A bill for an act relating to assistance animals and
service animals, including reasonable accommodations for housing and
requirements for findings of disabilities.*



*Passed out of subcommittee last week and crossed over to the House for
passage. The Senate has asked the House to pass it. It adds more hoops and
potential discrimination for people who are disabled and use service
animals to be able to rent housing with the service animal. It affects all
of us who use service animals. Here’s a summary of the bill:*



*Bill Summary*

*This bill relates to reasonable housing accommodations for persons with
assistance animals or service animals. The bill provides that a housing
provider may deny an accommodation request when granting the request would
impose undue financial and administrative burden on the housing provider,
would fundamentally change the nature of the housing provider’s operations,
the specific animal in question poses a threat to the health or safety of
others that cannot be reduced or eliminated or would cause substantial
physical damage to the property of others, or an accommodation is not
otherwise reasonable. Under current law, a person who knowingly denies or
interferes with the right of a person with a disability, upon conviction,
is guilty of a simple misdemeanor. The bill removes this criminal penalty.
The bill requires that a written finding that an assistance animal or
service animal is a reasonable accommodation in housing from an approved
licensee must include express confirmation that the licensee has met with
the person within the past 30 days, the pair has a provider-patient
relationship, the licensee is familiar with the person and the disability
prior to providing the written finding, provides the issuance and
expiration date of the licensee’s finding, provides the licensee’s license
number and type of license held by the licensee, and that the licensee has
not received compensation for making the finding. The bill provides that
the written finding shall be made within 12 months of the start of a rental
agreement and is valid for a period of 12 months or the term of the rental
agreement, whichever is greater. The bill instructs the commission on civil
rights to create a form in compliance with Code section 216.8C that is
available on the commission’s website. The commission is also required to
offer training and consultation to the governing boards of the license
under Code chapter 148 (medicine and surgery and osteopathic medicine and
surgery), 148C (physician assistants), 152 (nursing), 154B (psychology),
154C (social work), or 154D (behavioral science).*



*The bill is being fast-tracked, and has passed the Senate now and gone to
the House. Please take a moment and write to your representatives. **There
is still time to contact the state representatives from your area with a
letter and/or a phone call.  If you have questions, or need anything else,
please feel free to reach out to Bettina or Karen Keninger**.  *


*Thanks so much!*


*Bettina Dolinsek*

*BD/ls*