AN ACT 1-1 relating to the requirements for the issuance of special license 1-2 plates or vehicle parking placards to persons with disabilities. 1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-4 SECTION 1. Subsection (e), Section 502.253, Transportation 1-5 Code, is amended to read as follows: 1-6 (e) The first application for registration must be 1-7 accompanied by a written statement of a physician licensed to 1-8 practice medicine in this state or a state adjacent to this state, 1-9 or authorized by applicable law to practice medicine in a hospital 1-10 or other health facility of the Veterans Administration, certifying 1-11 to the department that the person making the application or on 1-12 whose behalf the application is made is legally blind or has a 1-13 mobility problem that substantially impairs the person's ability to 1-14 ambulate. The statement must include a certification of whether a 1-15 mobility problem, if applicable, is temporary or permanent. A 1-16 written statement from a physician is not required as acceptable 1-17 medical 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 SECTION 2. Subdivision (5), Section 681.001, Transportation 2-1 Code, is amended to read as follows: 2-2 (5) "Mobility problem that substantially impairs a 2-3 person's ability to ambulate" means that the person: 2-4 (A) cannot walk 200 feet without stopping to 2-5 rest; 2-6 (B) cannot walk without the use of or assistance 2-7 from an assistance device, including a brace, a cane, a crutch, 2-8 another person, or a prosthetic device; 2-9 (C) cannot ambulate without a wheelchair or 2-10 similar device; 2-11 (D) is restricted by lung disease to the extent 2-12 that the person's forced respiratory expiratory volume for one 2-13 second, measured by spirometry, is less than one liter, or the 2-14 arterial oxygen tension is less than 60 millimeters of mercury on 2-15 room air at rest; 2-16 (E) uses portable oxygen; 2-17 (F) has a cardiac condition to the extent that 2-18 the person's functional limitations are classified in severity as 2-19 Class III or Class IV according to standards set by the American 2-20 Heart Association; 2-21 (G) is severely limited in the ability to walk 2-22 because of an arthritic, neurological, or orthopedic condition; or 2-23 (H) has another debilitating condition that, in 2-24 the opinion of a physician licensed to practice medicine in this 2-25 state or a state adjacent to this state, or authorized by 2-26 applicable law to practice medicine in a hospital or other health 3-1 facility of the Veterans Administration, limits or impairs the 3-2 person's ability to walk. 3-3 SECTION 3. Subsection (c), Section 681.003, Transportation 3-4 Code, is amended to read as follows: 3-5 (c) The first application must be accompanied by a notarized 3-6 written statement or written prescription of a physician licensed 3-7 to practice medicine in this state or a state adjacent to this 3-8 state, or authorized by applicable law to practice medicine in a 3-9 hospital or other health facility of the Veterans Administration, 3-10 certifying and providing evidence acceptable to the department that 3-11 the person making the application or on whose behalf the 3-12 application is made is legally blind or has a mobility problem that 3-13 substantially impairs the person's ability to ambulate. The 3-14 statement or prescription must include a certification of whether 3-15 the disability is temporary or permanent. The department shall 3-16 determine a person's eligibility based on evidence provided by the 3-17 applicant establishing legal blindness or mobility impairment. 3-18 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the 3-19 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an 3-20 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the 3-21 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several 3-22 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended, 3-23 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its 3-24 passage, and it is so enacted. _______________________________ _______________________________ President of the Senate Speaker of the House I hereby certify that S.B. No. 132 passed the Senate on March 25, 1999, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0. _______________________________ Secretary of the Senate I hereby certify that S.B. No. 132 passed the House on May 26, 1999, by the following vote: Yeas 144, Nays 0, two present not voting. _______________________________ Chief Clerk of the House Approved: _______________________________ Date _______________________________ Governor