HF 2150 (LSB 5547HH (1) 83)

HOUSE FILE 2150

BY  HEDDENS

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to rights of persons with disabilities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 216B.3, subsection 9, Code Supplement 2009, is amended to read as follows:
   9.  Provide library services to persons who are blind and persons with physical disabilities.
    Sec. 2.  Section 216B.4, unnumbered paragraph 1, Code 2009, is amended to read as follows:
   The director may accept financial aid from the government of the United States for carrying out rehabilitation and physical restoration of the blind and for providing library, news, and information services to persons who are blind and persons with physical disabilities.
    Sec. 3.  Section 216C.1, Code 2009, is amended to read as follows:
   216C.1  Participation by persons with disabilities.
   1.  It is the policy of this state to encourage and enable persons who are blind or partially blind and persons with physical disabilities to participate fully in the social and economic life of the state and to engage in remunerative employment.
   2.  To encourage participation by persons with disabilities, it is the policy of this state to ensure compliance with federal requirements concerning persons with disabilities.
    Sec. 4.  Section 216C.2, Code 2009, is amended to read as follows:
   216C.2  Public employment.

   Persons who are blind or partially blind and persons with physical disabilities shall be employed in the state service, the service of the political subdivisions of the state, the public schools, and all other employment supported in whole or in part by public funds, on the same terms and conditions as other persons, unless it is shown that the particular disability prevents the performance of the work required.
    Sec. 5.  Section 216C.3, Code 2009, is amended to read as follows:
   216C.3  Free use of public facilities.

   Persons who are blind or partially blind and persons with physical disabilities have the same right as other persons to the full and free use of the streets, highways, sidewalks, walkways, public buildings, public elevators, public facilities, and other public places.
    Sec. 6.  Section 216C.4, Code 2009, is amended to read as follows:
   216C.4  Accommodations.

   Persons who are blind or partially blind and persons with physical disabilities are entitled to full and equal accommodations, facilities, and privileges of all common carriers, airplanes, motor vehicles, railroad trains, motorbuses, streetcars, boats, other public conveyances or modes of transportation, hotels, lodging places, eating 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 and applicable alike to all persons.
    Sec. 7.  Section 216C.9, Code 2009, is amended to read as follows:
   216C.9  Curb cutouts and ramps and sloped areas for persons with disabilities.
   1.  Curbs constructed along any public street in this state, when the street is paralleled or intersected by sidewalks, or when city ordinances or other lawful regulations will require the construction of sidewalks parallel to or intersecting the street, shall be constructed with not less than two curb cuts or ramps per lineal block which shall be located on or near the crosswalks at intersections. Each curb cut or ramp shall be at least thirty inches wide, shall be sloped at not greater than one inch of rise per twelve inches lineal distance, except that a slope no greater than one inch of rise per eight inches lineal distance may be used where necessary, shall have a nonskid surface, and shall otherwise be so constructed as to allow reasonable access to the crosswalk for persons with physical disabilities using the sidewalk.  If a street, road, or highway in this state is newly built or altered, a curb ramp or sloped area shall be constructed or installed at each intersection of the street, road, or highway with a sidewalk or path. If a sidewalk or path in this state is newly built or altered, a curb ramp or sloped area shall be constructed or installed at each intersection of the sidewalk or path with a street, highway, or road.
   2.  The requirements of subsection 1 shall apply after January 1, 1975, to all new curbs constructed and to all replacement curbs constructed at any point along a public street which gives reasonable access to a crosswalk.
   3.  2.  Curbs constructed Curb ramps and sloped areas that are subject to the requirements of required pursuant to this section shall comply be constructed or installed in compliance with applicable federal requirements concerning persons with disabilities adopted in accordance with the federal Americans With Disabilities Act, including but not limited to the guidelines issued by the federal architectural and transportation barriers compliance board.
    Sec. 8.  Section 216C.10, Code 2009, is amended to read as follows:
   216C.10  Use of hearing dog.

   A deaf or hard-of-hearing person has the right to be accompanied by a hearing dog, under control and especially trained at a recognized training facility to assist the deaf or hard-of-hearing by responding to sound, in any place listed in sections 216C.3 and 216C.4 without being required to make additional payment for the hearing dog. A landlord shall waive lease restrictions on the keeping of dogs for a deaf or hard-of-hearing person with a hearing dog. The deaf or hard-of-hearing person is liable for damage done to any premise or facility by a hearing dog.

   A person who denies or interferes with the right of a deaf or hard-of-hearing person under this section is, upon conviction, guilty of a simple misdemeanor.
    Sec. 9.  Section 216C.11, Code Supplement 2009, is amended to read as follows:
   216C.11  Service dogs and assistive animals.
   1.  For purposes of this section, “service dog” means a dog specially trained at a recognized training facility to assist a person with a disability, whether described as a service dog, a support dog, an independence dog, or otherwise. “Assistive animal” means a simian or other animal specially trained or in the process of being trained under the auspices of a recognized training facility to assist a person with a disability.
   2.  A person with a disability, a person assisting a person with a disability by controlling an assistive animal, or a person training an assistive animal has the right to be accompanied by a service dog or an assistive animal, under control, in any of the places listed in sections 216C.3 and 216C.4 without being required to make additional payment for the service dog or assistive animal. A landlord shall waive lease restrictions on the keeping of animals for the service dog or assistive animal of a person with a disability. The person is liable for damage done to any premises or facility by a service dog or assistive animal.
   3.  A person who knowingly denies or interferes with the right of a person under this section is, upon conviction, guilty of a simple misdemeanor.
    Sec. 10.  Section 321.445, subsection 5, Code 2009, is amended to read as follows:
   5.  The department shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A providing exceptions from application of subsections 1 and 2 for front seats and front seat passengers of motor vehicles owned, leased, rented, or primarily used by persons with physical disabilities who use collapsible wheelchairs.
    Sec. 11.  Section 331.324, subsection 1, paragraph n, Code 2009, is amended to read as follows:
   n.  Employ persons who are blind or partially blind and persons with physical disabilities in accordance with section 216C.2.
    Sec. 12.  Section 331.361, subsection 5, paragraph g, Code 2009, is amended to read as follows:
   g.  Comply with section 216C.9 if curbs and curb ramps and sloped areas are constructed.
    Sec. 13.  Section 331.461, subsection 2, paragraph g, Code 2009, is amended to read as follows:
   g.  Housing for persons who are elderly or persons with physical disabilities.
    Sec. 14.  Section 335.32, Code 2009, is amended to read as follows:
   335.32  Homes for persons with physical disabilities.

   A county board of supervisors or county zoning commission shall consider a home for persons with physical disabilities a family home, as defined in section 335.25, for the purposes of zoning, in accordance with chapter 504C.
    Sec. 15.  Section 384.24, subsection 2, paragraph k, Code Supplement 2009, is amended to read as follows:
   k.  Housing for persons who are elderly or persons with physical disabilities.
    Sec. 16.  Section 403A.7, subsection 1, paragraph c, subparagraph (1), subparagraph division (a), Code 2009, is amended to read as follows:
   (a)  The family size, composition, age, physical disabilities, and other factors which might affect the rent-paying ability of the person or family.
    Sec. 17.  Section 414.30, Code 2009, is amended to read as follows:
   414.30  Homes for persons with physical disabilities.

   A city council or city zoning commission shall consider a home for persons with physical disabilities a family home, as defined in section 414.22, for purposes of zoning in accordance with chapter 504C.
    Sec. 18.  Section 504C.1, subsections 1 and 2, Code 2009, are amended to read as follows:
   1.  For the purposes of this chapter, “physical disability” “disability” means a physical impairment that results in significant functional limitations in one or more areas of major life activity and in the need for specialized care, treatment, or training services of extended duration.
   2.  Individuals with physical disabilities may form nonprofit corporations pursuant to chapter 504 for the sole purpose of establishing homes for persons with disabilities which are intended to serve two to five residents who are members of the nonprofit corporation.
    Sec. 19.  Section 714.19, subsection 5, Code 2009, is amended to read as follows:
   5.  Nonprofit schools exclusively engaged in training persons with physical disabilities in the state of Iowa.
    Sec. 20.  IMPLEMENTATION OF ACT.  Section 25B.2, subsection 3, shall not apply to this Act.
EXPLANATION
   This bill relates to rights of persons with disabilities by changing Code references from “persons with physical disabilities” to “persons with disabilities”, revising the accessibility requirements for curb ramps and sloped areas in intersections with streets, roads, and highways, and eliminating certain penalties.
   The reference change is made in the following Code sections: section 216B.3, relating to the duties of the commission for the blind; section 216B.4, relating to federal aid accepted by the director of the department for the blind; section 216C.1, stating state policy regarding participation by persons with disabilities; section 216C.2, regarding public employment by persons with disabilities; section 216C.3, regarding full and free use of public facilities by persons with disabilities; section 216C.4, relating to the right of persons with disabilities to have full and equal accommodations, facilities, and privileges to access areas, transportation, and businesses to which the general public is invited; section 321.445, relating to required use of safety belts and safety harnesses in motor vehicles; section 331.324, relating to the duties and powers of county and township officers and employees; section 331.461, relating to the definition of the term “city enterprise” used for city general obligation bonds; section 335.32, relating to county zoning of homes for persons with disabilities; section 384.24, relating to the definition of the term “county enterprise” used for county revenue bonds; section 403A.7, relating to the income limits and rents set by a municipality for municipal housing projects by taking into consideration disabilities and other factors; section 414.30, relating to city zoning of homes for persons with disabilities; section 504C.1, relating to nonprofit corporations providing housing for persons with disabilities (also revises a defined term in that section to eliminate the reference to physical disability); and section 714.19, relating to inapplicability of certain fraud statutes to certain nonprofit schools training persons with disabilities.
   The bill also rewrites Code section 216C.9, relating to curbs and ramps for persons with disabilities to replace specific requirements with a general requirement to comply with the federal guidelines and requirements adopted under the federal Americans With Disabilities Act. The general requirement is applicable when streets, roads, highways, sidewalks, and paths are newly built or altered.
   Code section 216C.10, relating to the use of a hearing dog, is amended to eliminate the requirement that hearing dogs must be trained at a recognized training facility. In addition, the bill repeals the simple misdemeanor penalty for someone who denies or interferes with the right of a deaf or hard-of-hearing person to be accompanied by a hearing dog.
   Code section 216C.11, relating to service dogs and assistive animals, is amended to eliminate the requirement that service dogs must be trained at a recognized training facility. In addition, the bill repeals the simple misdemeanor penalty for someone who denies or interferes with the right of a person with a disability to be accompanied by a service dog or assistive animal.
   The bill may include a state mandate as defined in Code section 25B.3. The bill makes inapplicable Code section 25B.2, subsection 3, which would relieve a political subdivision from complying with a state mandate if funding for the cost of the state mandate is not provided or specified. Therefore, political subdivisions are required to comply with any state mandate included in the bill.