This bill amends existing law (RCW 49.60.215) to revise what constitutes unfair practices by places of public accommodation and to add detailed rules about service animals, service animal trainees, and service animal trainers. It lists prohibited discriminatory acts (distinction, restriction, or discrimination; charging higher prices than uniform rates; and refusing or withholding admission or lodging) and clarifies that places may enforce lawfully established, uniformly applied conditions and limitations regardless of listed protected characteristics. The amendment states that places are not required by this section to make structural accessibility changes except as otherwise required by law, and that behavior or actions that pose a risk to property or persons can justify refusal of access. The bill modifies liability and procedural responsibilities: a school district is not liable for actions of its agents or employees that violate the section unless the district itself commits a negligent act or omission that proximately causes the violation. It requires reasonable modifications to policies or practices to allow use of a trained miniature horse for a person with a disability (citing RCW 49.60.040(25)), and it requires places of public accommodation to make reasonable modifications to permit a person with a disability who uses a dog guide or service animal to obtain goods and services, subject to removal rules. Places may impose safety requirements based on actual risks, may charge a service animal trainer for damages if they customarily charge for damages, and are not required to provide care or supervision for service animals or trainees. The bill sets rules for service animal trainers and trainees: trainers must maintain control of a trainee (normally by harness, leash, or tether, or by voice/commands if those interfere with the animal’s work), places may consider an uncontrolled animal as subject to removal, and access may not be denied to trainers or trainees except where the animal is not trained to eliminate appropriately or is out of control and not effectively controlled. The bill also allows posting signage that misrepresenting an animal as a service animal or trainee may be a civil infraction up to $500 under chapter 7.80 RCW, and it clarifies that these protections do not limit other federal, state, or local remedies or rights. The text references RCW 28A.315.025(7) for the definition of "school district," RCW 49.60.040(25) for miniature horses, and chapter 7.80 RCW for civil infractions. The extracted text does not provide definitions for "place of public accommodation," "service animal trainer," "service animal trainee," or other key terms, does not include an effective date or full enforcement procedures, and does not show the pre-amendment version of RCW 49.60.215 for comparison. The bill was prefiled 12/12/25 and read for the first time 01/12/26.

If enacted, businesses and other places open to the public will have to allow people with disabilities to be accompanied by service animals and miniature horses and must make reasonable policy modifications to permit them, but they are not required to make structural accessibility changes. Those businesses can set and enforce safety-based requirements, remove animals that are out of control, charge a trainer for damages caused by a trainee, and rely on a civil penalty (up to $500) against people who falsely claim an animal is a service animal; service animal trainers will therefore face clearer obligations to keep trainees under control and potential financial liability for damage. School districts will be less likely to be held liable for discriminatory acts by their employees or agents unless the district itself was negligent and that negligence was a proximate cause of the violation, which should lower some legal and financial risk for districts but still leaves exposure where district policies or omissions contributed; important details such as definitions, enforcement procedures, and the bill’s effective date are not included in the extracted text.