BILL ANALYSIS ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2131| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ 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 CONTINUED AB 2131 Page 2 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 CONTINUED AB 2131 Page 3 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. CONTINUED AB 2131 Page 4 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 CONTINUED AB 2131 Page 5 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. CONTINUED AB 2131 Page 6 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 **** END **** CONTINUED