81R12419 JD-F
 
  By: King of Zavala H.B. No. 4349
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to certification of a person as eligible for disabled
  parking privileges.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 681.001(5), Transportation Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
               (5)  "Mobility problem that substantially impairs a
  person's ability to ambulate" means that the person:
                     (A)  cannot walk 200 feet without stopping to
  rest;
                     (B)  cannot walk without the use of or assistance
  from an assistance device, including a brace, a cane, a crutch,
  another person, or a prosthetic device;
                     (C)  cannot ambulate without a wheelchair or
  similar device;
                     (D)  is restricted by lung disease to the extent
  that the person's forced respiratory expiratory volume for one
  second, measured by spirometry, is less than one liter, or the
  arterial oxygen tension is less than 60 millimeters of mercury on
  room air at rest;
                     (E)  uses portable oxygen;
                     (F)  has a cardiac condition to the extent that
  the person's functional limitations are classified in severity as
  Class III or Class IV according to standards set by the American
  Heart Association;
                     (G)  is severely limited in the ability to walk
  because of an arthritic, neurological, or orthopedic condition;
                     (H)  has a disorder of the foot that, in the
  opinion of a person licensed to practice podiatry in this state or
  in a state adjacent to this state, limits or impairs the person's
  ability to walk; or
                     (I)  has another debilitating condition that
  limits or impairs the person's ability to walk, in the opinion of:
                           (i)  a physician licensed to practice
  medicine in this state or a state adjacent to this state, or
  authorized by applicable law to practice medicine in a hospital or
  other health facility of the Veterans Administration; or
                           (ii)  a physician assistant licensed to
  practice in this state acting as the agent of a licensed physician
  under Section 204.202(e), Occupations Code[, limits or impairs the
  person's ability to walk].
         SECTION 2.  Section 681.003(c), Transportation Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (c)  Subject to Subsection (e), the first application must be
  accompanied by a notarized written statement or written
  prescription of a physician licensed to practice medicine in this
  state or a state adjacent to this state[,] or authorized by
  applicable law to practice medicine in a hospital or other health
  facility of the Veterans Administration or a physician assistant
  licensed to practice in this state acting as the agent of a licensed
  physician under Section 204.202(e), Occupations Code, certifying
  and providing evidence acceptable to the department that the person
  making the application or on whose behalf the application is made is
  legally blind or has a mobility problem that substantially impairs
  the person's ability to ambulate. The statement or prescription
  must include a certification of whether the disability is temporary
  or permanent and information acceptable to the department to
  determine the type of disabled parking placard for which the
  applicant is eligible. The department shall determine a person's
  eligibility based on evidence provided by the applicant
  establishing legal blindness or mobility impairment.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
  a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
  provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
  Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
  Act takes effect September 1, 2009.