Florida Senate - 2015                              CS for SB 414
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Commerce and Tourism; and Senator Altman
       
       
       
       
       
       577-03102-15                                           2015414c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to service animals; amending s.
    3         413.08, F.S.; providing and revising definitions;
    4         requiring a public accommodation to permit use of a
    5         service animal by an individual with a disability
    6         under certain circumstances; prohibiting a public
    7         accommodation from inquiring about the nature or
    8         extent of an individual’s disability; providing
    9         conditions for a public accommodation to exclude or
   10         remove a service animal; revising penalties for
   11         certain persons or entities who interfere with use of
   12         a service animal in specified circumstances;
   13         specifying that the act does not limit certain rights
   14         or remedies granted under federal or state law;
   15         providing a penalty for knowing and willful
   16         misrepresentation with respect to use or training of a
   17         service animal; providing an effective date.
   18          
   19  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   20  
   21         Section 1. Section 413.08, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   22  read:
   23         413.08 Rights and responsibilities of an individual with a
   24  disability; use of a service animal; prohibited discrimination
   25  in public employment, public accommodations, and or housing
   26  accommodations; penalties.—
   27         (1) As used in this section and s. 413.081, the term:
   28         (a) “Housing accommodation” means any real property or
   29  portion thereof which is used or occupied, or intended,
   30  arranged, or designed to be used or occupied, as the home,
   31  residence, or sleeping place of one or more persons, but does
   32  not include any single-family residence, the occupants of which
   33  rent, lease, or furnish for compensation not more than one room
   34  therein.
   35         (b) “Individual with a disability” means a person who has a
   36  physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or
   37  more major life activities of the individual is deaf, hard of
   38  hearing, blind, visually impaired, or otherwise physically
   39  disabled. As used in this paragraph, the term:
   40         1. “Major life activity” means a function such as caring
   41  for one’s self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing,
   42  hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, and working “Hard of
   43  hearing” means an individual who has suffered a permanent
   44  hearing impairment that is severe enough to necessitate the use
   45  of amplification devices to discriminate speech sounds in verbal
   46  communication.
   47         2. “Physical or mental impairment” means:
   48         a. A physiological disorder or condition, disfigurement, or
   49  anatomical loss that affects one or more bodily functions; or
   50         b. A mental or psychological disorder that meets one of the
   51  diagnostic categories specified in the most recent edition of
   52  the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
   53  published by the American Psychiatric Association, such as an
   54  intellectual or developmental disability, organic brain
   55  syndrome, traumatic brain injury, posttraumatic stress disorder,
   56  or an emotional or mental illness “Physically disabled” means
   57  any person who has a physical impairment that substantially
   58  limits one or more major life activities.
   59         (c) “Public accommodation” means a common carrier,
   60  airplane, motor vehicle, railroad train, motor bus, streetcar,
   61  boat, or other public conveyance or mode of transportation;
   62  hotel; a timeshare that is a transient public lodging
   63  establishment as defined in s. 509.013; lodging place; place of
   64  public accommodation, amusement, or resort; and other places to
   65  which the general public is invited, subject only to the
   66  conditions and limitations established by law and applicable
   67  alike to all persons. The term does not include air carriers
   68  covered by the Air Carrier Access Act of 1986, 49 U.S.C. s.
   69  41705, and by regulations that implement such act that are
   70  adopted by the United States Department of Transportation.
   71         (d) “Service animal” means an animal that is trained to do
   72  work or perform tasks for an individual with a disability,
   73  including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or
   74  other mental disability. The work done or tasks performed must
   75  be directly related to the individual’s disability and may
   76  include, but are not limited to, guiding an individual a person
   77  who is visually impaired or blind, alerting an individual a
   78  person who is deaf or hard of hearing, pulling a wheelchair,
   79  assisting with mobility or balance, alerting and protecting an
   80  individual a person who is having a seizure, retrieving objects,
   81  alerting an individual to the presence of allergens, providing
   82  physical support and assistance with balance and stability to an
   83  individual with a mobility disability, helping an individual
   84  with a psychiatric or neurological disability by preventing or
   85  interrupting impulsive or destructive behaviors, reminding an
   86  individual with mental illness to take prescribed medications,
   87  calming an individual with posttraumatic stress disorder during
   88  an anxiety attack, or doing other specific work or performing
   89  other special tasks. For purposes of subsections (2), (3), and
   90  (4), the term is limited to a dog or miniature horse. A service
   91  animal is not a pet. The crime-deterrent effect of an animal’s
   92  presence and the provision of emotional support, well-being,
   93  comfort, or companionship do not constitute work or tasks for
   94  purposes of this definition.
   95         (2) An individual with a disability is entitled to full and
   96  equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, and privileges in
   97  all public accommodations. A public accommodation must modify
   98  its policies, practices, and procedures to permit use of a
   99  service animal by an individual with a disability. This section
  100  does not require any person, firm, business, or corporation, or
  101  any agent thereof, to modify or provide any vehicle, premises,
  102  facility, or service to a higher degree of accommodation than is
  103  required for a person not so disabled.
  104         (3) An individual with a disability has the right to be
  105  accompanied by a service animal in all areas of a public
  106  accommodation that the public or customers are normally
  107  permitted to occupy.
  108         (a) The service animal must be under the control of its
  109  handler and must have a harness, leash, or other tether, unless
  110  either the handler is unable because of a disability to use a
  111  harness, leash, or other tether, or the use of a harness, leash,
  112  or other tether would interfere with the service animal’s safe,
  113  effective performance of work or tasks, in which case the
  114  service animal must be otherwise under the handler’s control by
  115  means of voice control, signals, or other effective means.
  116         (b)(a) Documentation that the service animal is trained is
  117  not a precondition for providing service to an individual
  118  accompanied by a service animal. A public accommodation may not
  119  ask about the nature or extent of an individual’s disability. To
  120  determine the difference between a service animal and a pet, a
  121  public accommodation may ask if an animal is a service animal
  122  required because of a disability and what work or what tasks the
  123  animal has been trained to perform in order to determine the
  124  difference between a service animal and a pet.
  125         (c)(b) A public accommodation may not impose a deposit or
  126  surcharge on an individual with a disability as a precondition
  127  to permitting a service animal to accompany the individual with
  128  a disability, even if a deposit is routinely required for pets.
  129         (d)(c) An individual with a disability is liable for damage
  130  caused by a service animal if it is the regular policy and
  131  practice of the public accommodation to charge nondisabled
  132  persons for damages caused by their pets.
  133         (e)(d) The care or supervision of a service animal is the
  134  responsibility of the individual owner. A public accommodation
  135  is not required to provide care or food or a special location
  136  for the service animal or assistance with removing animal
  137  excrement.
  138         (f)(e) A public accommodation may exclude or remove any
  139  animal from the premises, including a service animal, if the
  140  animal is out of control and the animal’s handler does not take
  141  effective action to control it, the animal is not housebroken,
  142  or the animal’s behavior poses a direct threat to the health and
  143  safety of others. Allergies and fear of animals are not valid
  144  reasons for denying access or refusing service to an individual
  145  with a service animal. If a service animal is excluded or
  146  removed for being a direct threat to others, the public
  147  accommodation must provide the individual with a disability the
  148  option of continuing access to the public accommodation without
  149  having the service animal on the premises.
  150         (4) Any person, firm, or corporation, or the agent of any
  151  person, firm, or corporation, who denies or interferes with
  152  admittance to, or enjoyment of, a public accommodation or, with
  153  regard to a public accommodation, otherwise interferes with the
  154  rights of an individual with a disability or the trainer of a
  155  service animal while engaged in the training of such an animal
  156  pursuant to subsection (8), commits a misdemeanor of the second
  157  degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083, and
  158  must perform 30 hours of community service for an organization
  159  that serves individuals with disabilities, or for another entity
  160  or organization at the discretion of the court, to be completed
  161  in not more than 6 months.
  162         (5) It is the policy of this state that an individual with
  163  a disability be employed in the service of the state or
  164  political subdivisions of the state, in the public schools, and
  165  in all other employment supported in whole or in part by public
  166  funds, and an employer may not refuse employment to such a
  167  person on the basis of the disability alone, unless it is shown
  168  that the particular disability prevents the satisfactory
  169  performance of the work involved.
  170         (6) An individual with a disability is entitled to rent,
  171  lease, or purchase, as other members of the general public, any
  172  housing accommodations offered for rent, lease, or other
  173  compensation in this state, subject to the conditions and
  174  limitations established by law and applicable alike to all
  175  persons.
  176         (a) This section does not require any person renting,
  177  leasing, or otherwise providing real property for compensation
  178  to modify her or his property in any way or provide a higher
  179  degree of care for an individual with a disability than for a
  180  person who is not disabled.
  181         (b) An individual with a disability who has a service
  182  animal or who obtains a service animal is entitled to full and
  183  equal access to all housing accommodations provided for in this
  184  section, and such a person may not be required to pay extra
  185  compensation for such the service animal. However, such a person
  186  is liable for any damage done to the premises or to another
  187  person on the premises by the such an animal. A housing
  188  accommodation may request proof of compliance with vaccination
  189  requirements.
  190         (c) This subsection does not limit the rights or remedies
  191  of a housing accommodation or an individual with a disability
  192  that are granted by federal law or another law of this state
  193  with regard to other assistance animals.
  194         (7) An employer covered under subsection (5) who
  195  discriminates against an individual with a disability in
  196  employment, unless it is shown that the particular disability
  197  prevents the satisfactory performance of the work involved, or
  198  any person, firm, or corporation, or the agent of any person,
  199  firm, or corporation, providing housing accommodations as
  200  provided in subsection (6) who discriminates against an
  201  individual with a disability, commits a misdemeanor of the
  202  second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s.
  203  775.083.
  204         (8) Any trainer of a service animal, while engaged in the
  205  training of such an animal, has the same rights and privileges
  206  with respect to access to public facilities and the same
  207  liability for damage as is provided for those persons described
  208  in subsection (3) accompanied by service animals.
  209         (9) A person who knowingly and willfully misrepresents
  210  herself or himself, through conduct or verbal or written notice,
  211  as using a service animal and being qualified to use a service
  212  animal or as a trainer of a service animal commits a misdemeanor
  213  of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s.
  214  775.083, and must perform 30 hours of community service for an
  215  organization that serves individuals with disabilities, or for
  216  another entity or organization at the discretion of the court,
  217  to be completed in not more than 6 months.
  218         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2015.