NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A876A
SPONSOR: Benedetto TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the executive law and the civil rights
law, in relation to service animals, guide dogs, hearing dogs or service
dogs; and to repeal certain provisions of the executive law relating
thereto
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
The purpose of this bill is to amend chapter 536 of the laws of 2014
pursuant to approval memo number 29 of 2014.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section one repeals subdivision 31 of section 292 of the executive law,
which defines the terms "guide dog", "hearing dog" or "service dog" to
have the same meaning as those terms are defined in section forty-sev-
en-b of the civil rights law.
Section two amends subdivision 14 of section 296 of the executive law to
clarify that for the workplace it shall be an unlawful discriminatory
practice to deny access or otherwise discriminate against persons with
disabilities on the basis that they are accompanied by a dog that has
been professionally trained to assist a person with a disability.
Section three amends paragraph (d) of subdivision 2 of section 296 of
the executive law to add a definition of "reasonable modifications in
policies, practices, procedures" to make New York State law consistent
with the Americans with Disabilities Act in terms of public accommo-
dations.
Section four amends subdivisions one, four, and seven of section 47-b of
the civil rights law to clarify that in instances of employment, service
dogs accompanying persons with a disability need to be trained by a
qualified person and to define "guide dog", "hearing dog", and "service
dog" to be consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
JUSTIFICATION:
This bill ensures that New York State laws are more consistent with
federal law related to service dogs, and would ensure that service dogs
in the workplace have been trained by a qualified person.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
This is a new bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately and shall be deemed to have been
in full force and effect on the same date chapter 536 of the laws of
2014 took effect.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
876--A
2015-2016 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 7, 2015
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BENEDETTO -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Governmental Operations -- committee discharged, bill
amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
tee
AN ACT to amend the executive law and the civil rights law, in relation
to service animals, guide dogs, hearing dogs or service dogs; and to
repeal certain provisions of the executive law relating thereto
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 31 of section 292 of the executive law is
2 REPEALED.
3 § 2. Subdivision 14 of section 296 of the executive law, as amended by
4 chapter 536 of the laws of 2014, is amended to read as follows:
5 14. [It] In addition to reasonable modifications in policies, prac-
6 tices, or procedures, including those defined in subparagraph (iv) of
7 paragraph (d) of subdivision two of this section or reasonable accommo-
8 dations for persons with disabilities as otherwise provided in this
9 section, including the use of an animal as a reasonable accommodation,
10 it shall be an unlawful discriminatory practice for any person engaged
11 in any activity covered by this section to deny access or otherwise to
12 discriminate against a blind person, a hearing impaired person or a
13 person with another disability [on the basis of his or her use of a
14 guide dog, hearing dog or service dog] because he or she is accompanied
15 by a dog that has been trained to work or perform specific tasks for the
16 benefit of such person by a professional guide dog, hearing dog or
17 service dog training center or professional guide dog, hearing dog or
18 service dog trainer, or to discriminate against such professional guide
19 dog, hearing dog or service dog trainer engaged in such training of a
20 dog for use by a person with a disability, whether or not accompanied by
21 the person for whom the dog is being trained.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07412-03-5
A. 876--A 2
1 § 3. Paragraph (d) of subdivision 2 of section 296 of the executive
2 law is amended by adding a new subparagraph (iv) to read as follows:
3 (iv) "Reasonable modifications in policies, practices, procedures"
4 includes modification to permit the use of a service animal by a person
5 with a disability, consistent with federal regulations implementing the
6 Americans with Disabilities Act, Title III, at 28 CFR 36.302(c).
7 § 4. Subdivisions 1, 4 and 7 of section 47-b of the civil rights law,
8 subdivision 1 as amended by chapter 404 of the laws of 1986 and subdivi-
9 sion 4 as amended and subdivision 7 as added by chapter 536 of the laws
10 of 2014, are amended to read as follows:
11 1. Persons with a disability accompanied by guide dogs, hearing dogs
12 or service dogs shall be guaranteed the right to have such dogs in their
13 immediate custody while exercising any of the rights and privileges set
14 forth in this article, provided that in instances of employment pursuant
15 to section forty-seven-a of this article, such dog has been trained by a
16 qualified person. Blind persons shall, further, have the right to carry
17 a cane in their immediate custody while exercising any of the rights and
18 privileges set forth in this section.
19 4. The term "guide dog", or "hearing dog" shall mean a dog that is
20 under the control, consistent with federal regulations implementing the
21 Americans with Disabilities Act, Title III, at 28 CFR 36.302(c), of the
22 person using or training it and has been or is being trained to guide or
23 otherwise to aid a person with a disability.
24 7. "Service dog" means any dog under the control, consistent with
25 federal regulations implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act,
26 Title III, at 28 CFR 36.302(c), of the person using or training it, and
27 that has been or is being individually trained to do work or perform
28 tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability.
29 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately and shall be deemed to
30 have been in full force and effect on the same date chapter 536 of the
31 laws of 2014 took effect.
