BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2131|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2131
Author: Niello (R), et al
Amended: 6/17/08 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 5-0, 6/10/08
AYES: Romero, Margett, Cedillo, Cogdill, Perata
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-0, 4/21/08 (Consent) - See last page
for vote
SUBJECT : Peace officers and firefighters: dogs
SOURCE : Sacramento County Sheriffs Association
DIGEST : This bill specifies that to discriminate against
police officers and police dogs, as specified, by charging
higher rates than to other customers, in hotels, lodging
establishments, eating establishments or public
transportation, when those officers and their dogs are
assigned duty away from their home jurisdiction because of
a declared emergency is subject to a civil fine of up to
$1000.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law provides that individuals with disabilities
shall be entitled to full and equal access, as other
members of the general public, to accommodations,
advantages, facilities, medical facilities, including
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hospitals, clinics, and physicians' offices, and privileges
of all common carriers, airplanes, motor vehicles, railroad
trains, motorbuses, streetcars, boats, or any other public
conveyances or modes of transportation (whether private,
public, franchised, licensed, contracted, or otherwise
provided), telephone facilities, adoption agencies, private
schools, hotels, lodging places, places of public
accommodation, amusement, or resort, and other places to
which the general public is invited, subject only to the
conditions and limitations established by law, or state or
federal regulation, and applicable alike to all persons.
Existing law provides that every individual with a
disability has the right to be accompanied by a guide dog,
signal dog, or service dog, especially trained for the
purpose, in any of the places specified in Section 54.1
without being required to pay an extra charge or security
deposit for the guide dog, signal dog, or service dog.
However, the individual shall be liable for any damage done
to the premises or facilities by his or her dog.
Existing law provides that any blind person, deaf person,
or disabled person, who is a passenger on any common
carrier, airplane, motor vehicle, railway train, motorbus,
streetcar, boat, or any other public conveyance or mode of
transportation operating within this state, shall be
entitled to have with him/her a specially trained guide
dog, signal dog, or service dog. Furthermore:
1.No blind person, deaf person, or disabled person and
his/her specially trained guide dog, signal dog, or
service dog shall be denied admittance to accommodations,
advantages, facilities, medical facilities, including
hospitals, clinics, and physicians' offices, telephone
facilities, adoption agencies, private schools, hotels,
lodging places, places of public accommodation,
amusement, or resort, and other places to which the
general public is invited within this state because of
that guide dog, signal dog, or service dog.
2.Any person, firm, association, or corporation, or the
agent of any person, firm, association, or corporation,
who prevents a disabled person from exercising, or
interferes with a disabled person in the exercise of, the
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rights specified in this section is guilty of a
misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not exceeding two
thousand five hundred dollars ($2500).
3.As used in this section, "guide dog" means any guide dog
or Seeing Eye dog that was trained by a person licensed
under Chapter 9.5 (commencing with Section 7200) of
Division 3 of the Business and Professions Code or that
meets the definitional criteria under federal regulations
adopted to implement Title III of the Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-336).
4.As used in this section, "signal dog" means any dog
trained to alert a deaf person, or a person whose hearing
is impaired, to intruders or sounds.
5.As used in this section, "service dog" means any dog
individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the
benefit of an individual with a disability, including,
but not limited to, minimal protection work, rescue work,
pulling a wheelchair, or fetching dropped items.
6.This section is intended to provide equal accessibility
for all owners or trainers of animals that are trained as
guide dogs, signal dogs, or service dogs in a manner that
is no less than that provided by the Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-336) and the Air
Carrier Access Act of 1986 (Public Law 99-435).
7.The exercise of rights specified in subdivisions (a) and
(b) by any person may not be conditioned upon payment of
any extra charge, provided that the person shall be
liable for any provable damage done to the premises or
facilities by his/her dog.
8.Any trainer or individual with a disability may take dogs
in any of the places specified in subdivisions (a) and
(b) for the purpose of training the dogs as guide dogs,
signal dogs, or service dogs. The person shall ensure
that the dog is on a leash and tagged as a guide dog,
signal dog, or service dog by an identification tag
issued by the county clerk or animal control department
as authorized by Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section
30850) of Division 14 of the Food and Agricultural Code.
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In addition, the person shall be liable for any provable
damage done to the premises or facilities by his/her dog.
This bill provides that a peace officer or firefighter
assigned to a canine unit assigned to duty away from
his/her home jurisdiction because of a declared federal,
state, or local emergency, and in the course and scope of
his/her duties shall not be discriminated against in
hotels, lodging establishments, eating establishments, or
public transportation by being required to pay an extra
charge or security deposit for the peace officer's or
firefighter's dog. Any person, firm, association or agent
or any person that violates this provision is subject to a
civil fine of up to $1000.
This bill provides that the peace officer's law enforcement
agency or the firefighter's fire agency will nevertheless
be liable for any damages to the premises or facilities
caused by the peace officer's or firefighter's dog.
This bill defines a "peace officer's or firefighter's dog"
as a dog owned by a public law enforcement agency or fire
department and under the control of a peace officer or
firefighter assigned to a canine unit that has been trained
in matters including, but not limited to, discovering
controlled substances, explosives, cadavers, victims in
collapsed structures, and peace officer on-command searches
for suspects and victims at crime scenes.
This bill defines a "declared emergency" as any emergency
declared by the President of the United States, the
Governor of a state, or local authorities.
This bill states that it is not intended to affect any
civil remedies available for a violation of this new crime.
This bill states that it is intended to provide
accessibility without discrimination to a peace officer or
firefighter with a trained, public-owned dog in hotels,
lodging places, eating establishments, and public
transportation during declared emergencies.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
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SUPPORT : (Verified 6/27/08)
Sacramento County Sheriff's Association (source)
Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs
California Narcotic Officers Association
California Peace Officers' Association
California Police Chiefs Association
Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
Los Angeles Police Protective League
PetPAC
Riverside Sheriffs' Association
Sacramento County Sheriff's Department
San Bernardino County Sheriff
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
existing law does not protect peace officer canine units
against discrimination in accessing public
transportation/accommodations when traveling outside of
their jurisdiction. This bill will protect K-9 units from
being discriminated against in hotels, lodging
establishments, eating establishments and or public
transportation by requiring them to pay an extra charge or
security deposit for their dog. By eliminating any
discrimination, these canine units can travel with their
officers to assist in disasters like the recent fires in
southern California.
The Riverside Sheriffs' Association states, this bill
recognizes there are times when canine officers and their
dogs are sought, due to emergencies (such as 9-11 or the
Southern California wildfires) to leave their own
jurisdictions to perform their services under new and
stressful special circumstances. Unlike other
highly-trained canines such as "seeing-eye" dogs, these law
enforcement canines have not been accorded similar
privileges of transportation, hotel accommodations, etc.
Law enforcement dogs keep long hours in travel and service
in stressful new environments. They merit proper food,
rest, exercise, grooming, and housing. The dogs do not
deserve to be separated from their canine peace officers
when off-duty.
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ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Aghazarian, Arambula, Bass, Beall, Benoit,
Berg, Berryhill, Blakeslee, Brownley, Caballero, Charles
Calderon, Carter, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De
Leon, DeSaulnier, DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson, Eng, Evans,
Feuer, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garcia,
Garrick, Hancock, Hayashi, Hernandez, Horton, Houston,
Huff, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Karnette, Keene,
Krekorian, La Malfa, Laird, Leno, Levine, Lieber, Lieu,
Ma, Maze, Mendoza, Mullin, Nakanishi, Nava, Niello,
Parra, Plescia, Portantino, Price, Sharon Runner, Ruskin,
Salas, Saldana, Silva, Smyth, Solorio, Spitzer,
Strickland, Swanson, Torrico, Tran, Walters, Wolk, Nunez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Anderson, Dymally, Fuentes, Soto,
Villines
RJG:do 6/27/08 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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