By Isett                                              H.B. No. 1908
         77R5604 DWS-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to disabled parking placards issued to certain pregnant
 1-3     women.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1. Section 681.001(5), Transportation Code, is
 1-6     amended to read as follows:
 1-7                 (5)  "Mobility problem that substantially impairs a
 1-8     person's ability to ambulate" means that the person:
 1-9                       (A)  cannot walk 200 feet without stopping to
1-10     rest;
1-11                       (B)  cannot walk without the use of or assistance
1-12     from an assistance device, including a brace, a cane, a crutch,
1-13     another person, or a prosthetic device;
1-14                       (C)  cannot ambulate without a wheelchair or
1-15     similar device;
1-16                       (D)  is restricted by lung disease to the extent
1-17     that the person's forced respiratory expiratory volume for one
1-18     second, measured by spirometry, is less than one liter, or the
1-19     arterial oxygen tension is less than 60 millimeters of mercury on
1-20     room air at rest;
1-21                       (E)  uses portable oxygen;
1-22                       (F)  has a cardiac condition to the extent that
1-23     the person's functional limitations are classified in severity as
1-24     Class III or Class IV according to standards set by the American
 2-1     Heart Association;
 2-2                       (G)  is severely limited in the ability to walk
 2-3     because of an arthritic, neurological, or orthopedic condition;
 2-4     [or]
 2-5                       (H)  has another debilitating condition that, in
 2-6     the opinion of a physician licensed to practice medicine in this
 2-7     state or a state adjacent to this state, or authorized by
 2-8     applicable law to practice medicine in a hospital or other health
 2-9     facility of the Veterans Administration, limits or impairs the
2-10     person's ability to walk; or
2-11                       (I)  is in the third trimester of pregnancy.
2-12           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
2-13     a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
2-14     provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
2-15     Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
2-16     Act takes effect September 1, 2001.