Wisconsin 2025-2026 Regular Session

Wisconsin Assembly Bill AB238 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	2025 - 2026 LEGISLATURE
2	2	LRB-1379/1
3	3	MIM:cdc
4	4	2025 ASSEMBLY BILL 238
5	5	May 2, 2025 - Introduced by Representatives GREEN, ANDRACA, MURSAU,
6	6	O'CONNOR and PIWOWARCZYK, cosponsored by Senators JAMES and
7	7	WANGGAARD. Referred to Committee on Commerce.
8	8	AN ACT to create 106.52 (1) (ce), 106.52 (1) (fe) and 106.52 (3) (as) of the
9	9	statutes; relating to: prohibiting hotels, inns, and motels from discriminating
10	10	against dog handlers who are accompanied by search and rescue dogs.
11	11	Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
12	12	This bill prohibits hotels, inns, and motels from discriminating against dog
13	13	handlers who are accompanied by search and rescue dogs in the provision of
14	14	accommodations.
15	15	Under current law, a public place of accommodation, including a lodging
16	16	establishment, may not refuse entrance into, or use of, or otherwise deny the full
17	17	and equal enjoyment of the establishment to a person with a disability or to a
18	18	service animal trainer because the person is accompanied by a service animal,
19	19	unless accommodation of the service animal would result in a fundamental
20	20	alteration in the nature of the accommodations, goods, or services provided or
21	21	would jeopardize the safe operation of the public accommodation. Also under
22	22	current law, a public accommodation may not charge a person with a disability or a
23	23	trainer a higher price than the regular rate, including a deposit or surcharge, for
24	24	the full and equal enjoyment of the public accommodation because the person is
25	25	accompanied by a service animal, and a public accommodation is prohibited from
26	26	communicating, in writing, that entrance into, the use of, or the full and equal
27	27	enjoyment of the public accommodation will be denied to a person with a disability
28	28	1
29	29	2
30	30	3 2025 - 2026 Legislature
31	31	ASSEMBLY BILL 238
32	32	- 2 - LRB-1379/1
33	33	MIM:cdc
34	34	SECTION 1
35	35	or a trainer because he or she is accompanied by a service animal or that the
36	36	patronage of such a person is unwelcome, objectionable, or unacceptable because he
37	37	or she is accompanied by a service animal.
38	38	In addition, current law requires a public accommodation to modify its
39	39	policies, practices, and procedures to allow the full and equal enjoyment of the
40	40	public accommodation by a person with a disability or a trainer who is accompanied
41	41	by a service animal and requires those policies, practices, and procedures to ensure
42	42	that a person with a disability or a trainer who is accompanied by a service animal
43	43	is not separated from the service animal, that the service animal is allowed to
44	44	accompany the person with a disability or the trainer to all areas of the public
45	45	accommodation that are open to the general public, and that the person with a
46	46	disability or the trainer is not segregated from other patrons of the public
47	47	accommodation.
48	48	This bill provides the same protections for a dog handler who is accompanied
49	49	by a search and rescue dog that is wearing a harness or cape to identify the dog as
50	50	a search and rescue dog in a public accommodation that is a hotel, inn, or motel.
51	51	The bill also provides that a dog handler who is accompanied by a search and rescue
52	52	dog in a hotel, inn, or motel is responsible for any damage the dog causes to the
53	53	establishment.
54	54	The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
55	55	enact as follows:
56	56	SECTION 1. 106.52 (1) (ce) of the statutes is created to read:
57	57	106.52 (1) (ce) XDog handlerY means an individual who is trained to work
58	58	with a search and rescue dog.
59	59	SECTION 2. 106.52 (1) (fe) of the statutes is created to read:
60	60	106.52 (1) (fe) XSearch and rescue dogY means a dog that is trained or is being
61	61	trained by a state or nationally recognized search and rescue agency to locate lost or
62	62	missing individuals and victims of disasters in search and rescue activities.
63	63	SECTION 3. 106.52 (3) (as) of the statutes is created to read:
64	64	106.52 (3) (as) 1. In this paragraph, Xhotel,Y Xinn,Y and XmotelY have the
65	65	meaning given for XhotelY in s. 97.01 (7).
66	66	2. Subject to subds. 3. to 6., no person may do any of the following:
67	67	1
68	68	2
69	69	3
70	70	4
71	71	5
72	72	6
73	73	7
74	74	8
75	75	9
76	76	10
77	77	11 2025 - 2026 Legislature
78	78	ASSEMBLY BILL 238
79	79	- 3 - LRB-1379/1
80	80	MIM:cdc
81	81	SECTION 3
82	82	a. Refuse to allow entrance into, or use of, or otherwise deny the full and equal
83	83	enjoyment of a hotel, inn, or motel to a dog handler because the dog handler is
84	84	accompanied by a search and rescue dog.
85	85	b. Charge an individual a higher price than the regular rate, including a
86	86	deposit or surcharge, for the full and equal enjoyment of a hotel, inn, or motel
87	87	because the individual is a dog handler and is accompanied by a search and rescue
88	88	dog.
89	89	c. Directly or indirectly publish, circulate, display, or mail any written
90	90	communication that the communicator knows is to the effect that entrance into, or
91	91	use of, or the full and equal enjoyment of any of the facilities of the hotel, inn, or
92	92	motel will be denied to an individual because the individual is a dog handler
93	93	accompanied by a search and rescue dog or that the patronage of such an individual
94	94	is unwelcome, objectionable, or unacceptable because the individual is accompanied
95	95	by a search and rescue dog.
96	96	3. The prohibitions specified in subd. 2. apply only if the dog accompanying
97	97	the dog handler is wearing a harness or cape that indicates that the dog is a search
98	98	and rescue dog and the search and rescue dog is leashed. Subdivision 2. does not
99	99	prohibit a dog handler who is accompanied by a dog from being asked whether the
100	100	dog is a search and rescue dog and does not prohibit the dog handler from being
101	101	required to produce a certification or other credential that verifies that the dog is a
102	102	search and rescue dog.
103	103	4. A person may exclude a search and rescue dog from a hotel, inn, or motel if
104	104	accommodation of the search and rescue dog would result in a fundamental
105	105	1
106	106	2
107	107	3
108	108	4
109	109	5
110	110	6
111	111	7
112	112	8
113	113	9
114	114	10
115	115	11
116	116	12
117	117	13
118	118	14
119	119	15
120	120	16
121	121	17
122	122	18
123	123	19
124	124	20
125	125	21
126	126	22
127	127	23 2025 - 2026 Legislature
128	128	ASSEMBLY BILL 238
129	129	- 4 - LRB-1379/1
130	130	MIM:cdc
131	131	SECTION 3
132	132	alteration in the nature of the accommodations provided or would jeopardize the
133	133	safe operation of the hotel, inn, or motel. If a search and rescue dog must be
134	134	separated from the dog handler accompanying the search and rescue dog, it is the
135	135	responsibility of that dog handler to arrange for the care and supervision of the
136	136	search and rescue dog during the period of separation.
137	137	5. A dog handler who is accompanied by a search and rescue dog in a hotel,
138	138	inn, or motel is liable for sanitation with respect to the search and rescue dog and
139	139	damage to the establishment caused by the search and rescue dog.
140	140	6. A hotel, inn, or motel shall modify its policies, practices, and procedures to
141	141	permit the full and equal enjoyment of the hotel, inn, or motel by a dog handler who
142	142	is accompanied by a search and rescue dog. Those policies, practices, and
143	143	procedures shall ensure that a dog handler who is accompanied by a search and
144	144	rescue dog is not separated from the search and rescue dog, that the search and
145	145	rescue dog is allowed to accompany the dog handler to all areas of the hotel, inn, or
146	146	motel that are open to the general public, and that the dog handler is not segregated
147	147	from other patrons of the hotel, inn, or motel.
148	148	(END)
149	149	1
150	150	2
151	151	3
152	152	4
153	153	5
154	154	6
155	155	7
156	156	8
157	157	9
158	158	10
159	159	11
160	160	12
161	161	13
162	162	14
163	163	15
164	164	16
165	165	17