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                                  * * * * *