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 equivalent or superior to the examination required by Section 3.01
2-11 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.
_______________________________ _______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2394 was passed by the House on May
11, 1999, by a non-record vote; and that the House concurred in
Senate amendments to H.B. No. 2394 on May 26, 1999, by a non-record
vote.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2394 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 24, 1999, by a viva-voce vote.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor