HB 0063

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to disabled parking permits; amending s.
3	320.0848, F.S.; revising requirements for certification of
4	disability; providing an effective date.
5
6	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
7
8	Section 1.  Paragraphs (b) and (c) of subsection (1) of
9	section 320.0848, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
10	320.0848  Persons who have disabilities; issuance of
11	disabled parking permits; temporary permits; permits for certain
12	providers of transportation services to persons who have
13	disabilities.--
14	(1)
15	(b)1.  The person must be currently certified as being
16	legally blind or as having any of the following disabilities
17	that render him or her unable to walk 200 feet without stopping
18	to rest:
19	a.  Inability to walk without the use of or assistance from
20	a brace, cane, crutch, prosthetic device, or other assistive
21	device, or without the assistance of another person. If the
22	assistive device significantly restores the person's ability to
23	walk to the extent that the person can walk without severe
24	limitation, the person is not eligible for the exemption parking
25	permit.
26	b.  The need to permanently use a wheelchair.
27	c.  Restriction by lung disease to the extent that the
28	person's forced (respiratory) expiratory volume for 1 second,
29	when measured by spirometry, is less than 1 liter, or the
30	person's arterial oxygen is less than 60 mm/hg on room air at
31	rest.
32	d.  Use of portable oxygen.
33	e.  Restriction by cardiac condition to the extent that the
34	person's functional limitations are classified in severity as
35	Class III or Class IV according to standards set by the American
36	Heart Association.
37	f.  Severe limitation in the person's ability to walk due
38	to an arthritic, neurological, or orthopedic condition.
39	2.  The certification of disability which is required under
40	subparagraph 1. must be provided by a physician licensed under
41	chapter 458, chapter 459, or chapter 460, by a podiatric
42	physician licensed under chapter 461, by an optometrist licensed
43	under chapter 463, by an advanced registered nurse practitioner
44	licensed under chapter 464 in a facility operated by the United
45	States Department of Veterans Affairs under the protocol of a
46	licensed physician as stated in this subparagraph, by a
47	physician assistant licensed under chapter 458 or chapter 459 in
48	a facility operated by the United States Department of Veterans
49	Affairs, by the Adjudication Office of the United States
50	Department of Veterans Affairs or its predecessor, or by a
51	similarly licensed physician from another state if the
52	application is accompanied by documentation of the physician's
53	licensure in the other state and a form signed by the out-of-
54	state physician verifying his or her knowledge of this state's
55	eligibility guidelines.
56	(c)  The certificate of disability must include, but need
57	not be limited to:
58	1.  The disability of the applicant; the certifying
59	practitioner's physician's name and address; the practitioner's
60	physician's certification number; the eligibility criteria for
61	the permit; the penalty for falsification by either the
62	certifying practitioner physician or the applicant; the duration
63	of the condition that entitles the person to the permit; and
64	justification for the additional placard pursuant to subsection
65	(2).
66	2.  The statement, in bold letters: "A disabled parking
67	permit may be issued only for a medical necessity that severely
68	affects mobility."
69	3.  The signatures of:
70	a.  The applicant's physician or other certifying
71	practitioner.;
72	b.  The applicant or the applicant's parent or guardian.;
73	and
74	c.  The employee of the department's authorized agent which
75	employee is processing the application.
76	Section 2.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.