By Maxey                                              H.B. No. 2394
         76R14172 SMH-F                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the regulation of the practice of optometry.
 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-4           SECTION 1.  Section 3.02(a), Texas Optometry Act (Article
 1-5     4552-3.02, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as
 1-6     follows:
 1-7           (a)  The applicant shall make application, furnishing to the
 1-8     executive director, on forms to be furnished by the board,
 1-9     satisfactory sworn evidence that the applicant has attained the age
1-10     of majority, is of good moral character, and has a preliminary
1-11     education equivalent to permit the applicant to matriculate in The
1-12     University of Texas, and that the applicant has attended and
1-13     graduated from a reputable college of optometry which meets with
1-14     the requirements of the board, and such other information as the
1-15     board may deem necessary for the enforcement of this Act.  An
1-16     applicant may take the examination without having graduated if:
1-17                 (1)  the dean of a college of optometry that meets the
1-18     requirements of the board notifies the board in writing that the
1-19     applicant is enrolled in good standing in the college and is in the
1-20     final semester before graduation; and
1-21                 (2)  the applicant meets the other requirements of this
1-22     subsection.
1-23           SECTION 2.  Article 3, Texas Optometry Act (Article 4552-3.01
1-24     et seq., Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by adding
 2-1     Section 3.085 to read as follows:
 2-2           Sec. 3.085.  LICENSE WITHOUT EXAMINATION.  The board may
 2-3     issue a license to practice therapeutic optometry without requiring
 2-4     the applicant to pass all or part of the examination required by
 2-5     Section 3.01 of this Act if:
 2-6                 (1)  the applicant is licensed in good standing as a
 2-7     therapeutic optometrist in another state, the District of Columbia,
 2-8     or a territory of the United States;
 2-9                 (2)  the applicant has passed an examination that is
2-10     substantially equivalent to the examination required by Section
2-11     3.01 of this Act;
2-12                 (3)  during at least five of the seven years preceding
2-13     the application date, the applicant has been:
2-14                       (A)  actively engaged in the practice of
2-15     therapeutic optometry; or
2-16                       (B)  engaged in full-time teaching at an
2-17     accredited college of optometry or medicine;
2-18                 (4)  there are no pending disciplinary actions against
2-19     the applicant in the state, district, or territory in which the
2-20     applicant is licensed; and
2-21                 (5)  the applicant's license has never been suspended
2-22     or revoked.
2-23           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
2-24           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-25     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-26     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-27     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
 3-1     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.