Senate committee advances bill to protect service-dog trainers from HOA rules

The Minnesota Senate Human Services Committee on Feb. 24 recommended passage of Senate File 1317, a bill that would extend housing protections for people with fully trained assistance dogs to people who are hosting service dogs in training.

The bill’s supporters told the committee the change would remove a barrier to recruiting volunteer hosts who raise and socialize assistance dogs that later are placed with people with disabilities. Jeff Johnson, executive director of Can Do Canines, told the committee the nonprofit relies heavily on volunteers across Minnesota to raise and socialize dogs over a two- to three-year period and that those volunteers sometimes are prevented from participating by homeowners association or landlord pet restrictions. “We estimate that it costs about $45,000 to raise and train each of these dogs,” Johnson said. “We give them away free of charge because few of our clients could even come close to affording to buy a dog at that cost.”

The bill defines a “service dog in training” as a canine in a program supervised by an Assistance Dogs International or International Guide Dog Federation–accredited organization, prohibits charging additional housing fees for a dog in training, and allows landlords or HOA boards to request written certification from the supervising organization. The sponsor and testifiers said they negotiated language with homeowners association representatives and included measures to reduce false claims that a pet is a service dog in training.

Committee members moved to recommend the bill be passed and re-referred to the Judiciary and Public Safety Committee; the committee approved the motion by voice vote. The motion in the transcript is recorded as made by “Senator Ikey” and the committee moved it forward on an aye voice vote (no roll-call tally recorded in the transcript).

Supporters, including Can Do Canines, said the change would expand the volunteer pool and allow organizations to train and place more service dogs for Minnesotans with mobility challenges, seizure disorders, hearing loss, diabetes and autism. The testimony emphasized that assistance dog organizations in Minnesota are accredited by Assistance Dogs International and that the bill’s affiliation requirement (requiring a recognized training organization) was intended to prevent abuse of the law by pet owners.

What happens next: The committee’s recommendation sends Senate File 1317 to the Judiciary and Public Safety Committee for further consideration. The motion and the voice vote were the only formal committee action on the bill recorded in the transcript.