BILL ANALYSIS
By: Hegar
Committee Report (Substituted)
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Rural health clinics are usually staffed solely by advanced nurse practitioners and physicians assistants. The federal rural health clinic criteria requires a physician to be present once every 10 days and to review 10 percent of medical charts, while nurse practitioners and physicians assistants perform the rest of the necessary duties. However, these health care personnel, unlike licensed physicians, do not have the authority to provide disabled parking permits to qualified disabled persons. Since physicians are only on-site a small percentage of the time, these health care personnel need the authority to issue such parking permits in the absence of a physician.
C.S.S.B. 985 authorizes an advanced practice nurse or physician assistant acting under the delegation and supervision of a licensed physician to provide the necessary notarized written statement for a disabled parking placard.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
ANALYSIS
SECTION 1. Amends Section 681.003(c), Transportation Code, to authorize an advanced practice nurse or physician assistant acting under the delegation and supervision of a licensed physician in conformance with Subchapter B, Chapter 157, Occupations Code, to provide the necessary notarized written statement required to accompany the first application for a disabled parking placard. Makes a conforming change.
SECTION 2. Effective date.
EFFECTIVE DATE
Upon passage, or, if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act takes effect September 1, 2007.
COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE
The substitute removes SECTION 1 from the original bill, which defined "disability" and "expectant or new mother" and renumbers subsequent sections accordingly.
The substitute removes the provision that an application for a disabled parking placard by an expectant or new mother must be accompanied by evidence of the date the person is due to give birth provided by the person's physician. The substitute makes a conforming change.