81R12419 JD-F
By: Uresti S.B. No. 1984
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to certification of a person as eligible for disabled
parking privileges.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 681.001(5), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(5) "Mobility problem that substantially impairs a
person's ability to ambulate" means that the person:
(A) cannot walk 200 feet without stopping to
rest;
(B) cannot walk without the use of or assistance
from an assistance device, including a brace, a cane, a crutch,
another person, or a prosthetic device;
(C) cannot ambulate without a wheelchair or
similar device;
(D) is restricted by lung disease to the extent
that the person's forced respiratory expiratory volume for one
second, measured by spirometry, is less than one liter, or the
arterial oxygen tension is less than 60 millimeters of mercury on
room air at rest;
(E) uses portable oxygen;
(F) has a cardiac condition to the extent that
the person's functional limitations are classified in severity as
Class III or Class IV according to standards set by the American
Heart Association;
(G) is severely limited in the ability to walk
because of an arthritic, neurological, or orthopedic condition;
(H) has a disorder of the foot that, in the
opinion of a person licensed to practice podiatry in this state or
in a state adjacent to this state, limits or impairs the person's
ability to walk; or
(I) has another debilitating condition that
limits or impairs the person's ability to walk, in the opinion of:
(i) a physician licensed to practice
medicine in this state or a state adjacent to this state, or
authorized by applicable law to practice medicine in a hospital or
other health facility of the Veterans Administration; or
(ii) a physician assistant licensed to
practice in this state acting as the agent of a licensed physician
under Section 204.202(e), Occupations Code[, limits or impairs the
person's ability to walk].
SECTION 2. Section 681.003(c), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(c) Subject to Subsection (e), the first application must be
accompanied by a notarized written statement or written
prescription of a physician licensed to practice medicine in this
state or a state adjacent to this state[,] or authorized by
applicable law to practice medicine in a hospital or other health
facility of the Veterans Administration or a physician assistant
licensed to practice in this state acting as the agent of a licensed
physician under Section 204.202(e), Occupations Code, certifying
and providing evidence acceptable to the department that the person
making the application or on whose behalf the application is made is
legally blind or has a mobility problem that substantially impairs
the person's ability to ambulate. The statement or prescription
must include a certification of whether the disability is temporary
or permanent and information acceptable to the department to
determine the type of disabled parking placard for which the
applicant is eligible. The department shall determine a person's
eligibility based on evidence provided by the applicant
establishing legal blindness or mobility impairment.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2009.