5474 AMH JUD SHEL 03

SB 5474 - H COMM AMD ADOPTED 4-17-93

By Committee on Judiciary

     On page 6, after line 15, insert the following new section:

     "NEW SECTION. Sec. 5.  A new section is added to chapter 49.60 RCW to read as follows:

     (1) For purposes of the term "disability" as used in this chapter, homosexuality and bisexuality are not impairments and as such are not disabilities under this act.  Under this chapter, the term "disability" shall not include:

     (a) Transvestism, transsexualism, pedophilia, exhibitionism, voyeurism, gender identity disorders not resulting from physical impairments, or other sexual behavior disorders;

     (b) Compulsive gambling, kleptomania, or pyromania; or

     (c) Psychoactive substance use disorders resulting from current illegal use of drugs.

     (2)(a) For purposes of this chapter, a person who is currently engaging in the illegal use of drugs, when the covered entity acts on the basis of such use, shall not be considered to have a disability.

     (b) Nothing in (a) of this subsection may be construed to exclude as an individual with a disability an individual who:

     (i) Has successfully completed a supervised drug rehabilitation program and is no longer engaging in the illegal use of drugs, or has otherwise been rehabilitated successfully and is no longer engaging in such use;

     (ii) Is participating in a supervised rehabilitation program and is no longer engaging in such use; or

     (iii) Is erroneously regarded as engaging in such use, but is not engaging in such use;

except that it shall not be a violation of this chapter for a covered entity to adopt or administer reasonable policies or procedures, including but not limited to drug testing, designed to ensure that an individual described in (b) (i) or (ii) of this subsection is no longer engaging in the illegal use of drugs; however, nothing in this section may be construed to encourage, prohibit, restrict, or authorize the conducting of testing for the illegal use of drugs."

EFFECT: Certain conditions are explicitly excluded from the meaning of the phrase, "sensory, mental, or physical disability." Those exclusions match the exclusions from the scope of the term "disability" in the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.  The amendment is identical to an amendment the Judiciary committee adopted when considering HB 1300.