By Merritt                                            H.B. No. 1429
         76R5305 DWS-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to a physician's statement required to obtain disabled
 1-3     parking privileges.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Section 502.253, Transportation Code, is amended
 1-6     by amending Subsection (e) and adding Subsection (i) to read as
 1-7     follows:
 1-8           (e)  The first application for registration must be
 1-9     accompanied by a written statement of a physician [licensed to
1-10     practice medicine in this state] certifying to the department that
1-11     the person making the application or on whose behalf the
1-12     application is made is legally blind or has a mobility problem that
1-13     substantially impairs the person's ability to ambulate.  The
1-14     statement must include a certification of whether a mobility
1-15     problem, if applicable, is temporary or permanent.  A written
1-16     statement from a physician is not required as acceptable medical
1-17     proof if:
1-18                 (1)  the person with a disability:
1-19                       (A)  has had a limb, hand, or foot amputated; or
1-20                       (B)  must use a wheelchair; and
1-21                 (2)  the applicant and the county assessor-collector
1-22     issuing the special license plates execute an affidavit attesting
1-23     to the person's disability.
1-24           (i)  The physician's statement under Subsection (e) must be
 2-1     from a physician:
 2-2                 (1)  licensed to practice medicine in this state; or
 2-3                 (2)  licensed to practice medicine in a state bordering
 2-4     this state and employed by a Veterans Administration medical
 2-5     facility.
 2-6           SECTION 2.  Section 681.003, Transportation Code, is amended
 2-7     by amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (e) to read as
 2-8     follows:
 2-9           (c)  The first application must be accompanied by a notarized
2-10     written statement or written prescription of a physician [licensed
2-11     to practice medicine in this state] certifying and providing
2-12     evidence acceptable to the department that the person making the
2-13     application or on whose behalf the application is made is legally
2-14     blind or has a mobility problem that substantially impairs the
2-15     person's ability to ambulate.  The statement or prescription must
2-16     include a certification of whether the disability is temporary or
2-17     permanent.  The department shall determine a person's eligibility
2-18     based on evidence provided by the applicant establishing legal
2-19     blindness or mobility impairment.
2-20           (e)  The physician's statement or prescription under
2-21     Subsection (c) must be from a physician:
2-22                 (1)  licensed to practice medicine in this state; or
2-23                 (2)  licensed to practice medicine in a state bordering
2-24     this state and employed by a Veterans Administration medical
2-25     facility.
2-26           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-27     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
 3-1     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
 3-2     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
 3-3     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
 3-4     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
 3-5     passage, and it is so enacted.