1-1 By: Barrientos S.B. No. 777
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed February 19, 2001; February 20, 2001,
1-3 read first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
1-4 March 14, 2001, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 8,
1-5 Nays 0; March 14, 2001, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to applications for disabled parking placards.
1-9 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-10 SECTION 1. Section 681.003, Transportation Code, is amended
1-11 by amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (e) to read as
1-12 follows:
1-13 (c) Subject to Subsection (e), the [The] first application
1-14 must be accompanied by a notarized written statement or written
1-15 prescription of a physician licensed to practice medicine in this
1-16 state or a state adjacent to this state, or authorized by
1-17 applicable law to practice medicine in a hospital or other health
1-18 facility of the Veterans Administration, certifying and providing
1-19 evidence acceptable to the department that the person making the
1-20 application or on whose behalf the application is made is legally
1-21 blind or has a mobility problem that substantially impairs the
1-22 person's ability to ambulate. The statement or prescription must
1-23 include a certification of whether the disability is temporary or
1-24 permanent and information acceptable to the department to determine
1-25 the type of disabled parking placard for which the applicant is
1-26 eligible. The department shall determine a person's eligibility
1-27 based on evidence provided by the applicant establishing legal
1-28 blindness or mobility impairment.
1-29 (e) If a first application for a permit under this section
1-30 is made by or on behalf of a person with a mobility problem caused
1-31 by a disorder of the foot, the notarized written statement or
1-32 written prescription required by Subsection (c) may be issued by a
1-33 person licensed to practice podiatry in this state or a state
1-34 adjacent to this state. In this subsection, "podiatry" has the
1-35 meaning assigned by Section 202.001, Occupations Code.
1-36 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
1-37 * * * * *