PRINTER'S NO. 940

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE BILL

No.

840

Session of

2019

INTRODUCED BY MURT, HOWARD, SIMMONS, READSHAW, BARRAR, ISAACSON,

HEFFLEY, HILL-EVANS, KIRKLAND, FREEMAN AND MARKOSEK,

MARCH 14, 2019

organizations and others as herein defined; creating the

Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission in the Governor's

Office; defining its functions, powers and duties; providing

for procedure and enforcement; providing for formulation of

an educational program to prevent prejudice; providing for

judicial review and enforcement and imposing penalties,"

further providing for findings and declaration of policy and

for right to freedom from discrimination in employment,

housing and public accommodation; and providing for therapy

dogs and public transportation and unlawful discriminatory

Section 2. Findings and Declaration of Policy.--

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(b.1) It is hereby declared to be the public policy of this

Commonwealth to safeguard the rights of all individuals with

disabilities, owners or handlers of therapy dogs and persons

licensed to train therapy dogs to use all forms of public

transportation regardless of the use of accompanying therapy

dogs because of disabilities of the users or because the users

are handlers or trainers of therapy dogs.

* * *

housing accommodation and commercial property without

discrimination because of race, color, familial status,

religious creed, ancestry, handicap or disability, age, sex,

national origin, the use of a guide or support animal because of

the blindness, deafness or physical handicap of the user or

because the user is a handler or trainer of support or guide

animals is hereby recognized as and declared to be a civil right

which shall be enforceable as set forth in this act.

(b) The opportunity for an individual with a disability, an

owner or handler of a therapy dog or a person licensed to train

as and declared to be a civil right which shall be enforceable

as set forth in this act.

Section 3. The act is amended by adding a section to read:

Section 5.4. Therapy Dogs and Public Transportation and

Unlawful Discriminatory Practices.--(a) It shall be an unlawful

discriminatory practice for any form of public transportation

to:

(1) Deny, limit, discourage or attempt to discourage or

impose burdens or penalties on an individual with a disability,

an owner or handler of a therapy dog or a person licensed to

train therapy dogs with respect to accessing any accommodations,

advantages, facilities or privileges of any form of public

transportation because of the use of an accompanying therapy dog

properly harnessed for purposes of aiding and guiding an

individual with a disability and riding on all vehicles operated

or to charge a fee for the transportation of the therapy dog.

(b) The Department of Agriculture shall establish criteria

and standards with which a recognized therapy dog training

organization must comply regarding the certification and

registration of therapy dogs and their handlers.

(c) As used in this section, the following words and phrases

shall have the meanings given to them in this subsection unless

the context clearly indicates otherwise:

(1) The term "recognized therapy dog training organization"

means an organization which certifies or registers therapy dogs

the Department of Agriculture under subsection (b).

(2) The term "therapy dog" means any dog that is trained to

work or perform specific tasks for the benefit of persons,

including those with special needs, autism, drug addiction,

distress due to emotional and physical abuse and clinical

depression or bipolar disease by a recognized therapy dog

training organization and is actually used for such purpose.