| 1 | The Transportation Committee recommends the following: |
| 2 |
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| 3 | Council/Committee Substitute |
| 4 | Remove the entire bill and insert: |
| 5 | A bill to be entitled |
| 6 | An act relating to disabled parking permits; amending s. |
| 7 | 320.0848, F.S.; revising requirements for certification of |
| 8 | disability; providing for disciplinary action for |
| 9 | violation by certain certifying practitioners; providing |
| 10 | an effective date. |
| 11 |
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| 12 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 13 |
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| 14 | Section 1. Paragraphs (b) and (c) of subsection (1) and |
| 15 | subsection (9) of section 320.0848, Florida Statutes, are |
| 16 | amended to read: |
| 17 | 320.0848 Persons who have disabilities; issuance of |
| 18 | disabled parking permits; temporary permits; permits for certain |
| 19 | providers of transportation services to persons who have |
| 20 | disabilities.-- |
| 21 | (1) |
| 22 | (b)1. The person must be currently certified as being |
| 23 | legally blind or as having any of the following disabilities |
| 24 | that render him or her unable to walk 200 feet without stopping |
| 25 | to rest: |
| 26 | a. Inability to walk without the use of or assistance from |
| 27 | a brace, cane, crutch, prosthetic device, or other assistive |
| 28 | device, or without the assistance of another person. If the |
| 29 | assistive device significantly restores the person's ability to |
| 30 | walk to the extent that the person can walk without severe |
| 31 | limitation, the person is not eligible for the exemption parking |
| 32 | permit. |
| 33 | b. The need to permanently use a wheelchair. |
| 34 | c. Restriction by lung disease to the extent that the |
| 35 | person's forced (respiratory) expiratory volume for 1 second, |
| 36 | when measured by spirometry, is less than 1 liter, or the |
| 37 | person's arterial oxygen is less than 60 mm/hg on room air at |
| 38 | rest. |
| 39 | d. Use of portable oxygen. |
| 40 | e. Restriction by cardiac condition to the extent that the |
| 41 | person's functional limitations are classified in severity as |
| 42 | Class III or Class IV according to standards set by the American |
| 43 | Heart Association. |
| 44 | f. Severe limitation in the person's ability to walk due |
| 45 | to an arthritic, neurological, or orthopedic condition. |
| 46 | 2. The certification of disability which is required under |
| 47 | subparagraph 1. must be provided by a physician licensed under |
| 48 | chapter 458, chapter 459, or chapter 460, by a podiatric |
| 49 | physician licensed under chapter 461, by an optometrist licensed |
| 50 | under chapter 463, by an advanced registered nurse practitioner |
| 51 | licensed under chapter 464 in a facility operated by the United |
| 52 | States Department of Veterans Affairs under the protocol of a |
| 53 | licensed physician as stated in this subparagraph, by a |
| 54 | physician assistant licensed under chapter 458 or chapter 459 in |
| 55 | a facility operated by the United States Department of Veterans |
| 56 | Affairs, by the Adjudication Office of the United States |
| 57 | Department of Veterans Affairs or its predecessor, or by a |
| 58 | similarly licensed physician from another state if the |
| 59 | application is accompanied by documentation of the physician's |
| 60 | licensure in the other state and a form signed by the out-of- |
| 61 | state physician verifying his or her knowledge of this state's |
| 62 | eligibility guidelines. |
| 63 | (c) The certificate of disability must include, but need |
| 64 | not be limited to: |
| 65 | 1. The disability of the applicant; the certifying |
| 66 | practitioner's physician's name and address; the practitioner's |
| 67 | physician's certification number; the eligibility criteria for |
| 68 | the permit; the penalty for falsification by either the |
| 69 | certifying practitioner physician or the applicant; the duration |
| 70 | of the condition that entitles the person to the permit; and |
| 71 | justification for the additional placard pursuant to subsection |
| 72 | (2). |
| 73 | 2. The statement, in bold letters: "A disabled parking |
| 74 | permit may be issued only for a medical necessity that severely |
| 75 | affects mobility." |
| 76 | 3. The signatures of: |
| 77 | a. The applicant's physician or other certifying |
| 78 | practitioner.; |
| 79 | b. The applicant or the applicant's parent or guardian.; |
| 80 | and |
| 81 | c. The employee of the department's authorized agent which |
| 82 | employee is processing the application. |
| 83 | (9) A violation of this section is grounds for |
| 84 | disciplinary action under s. 458.331, s. 459.015, s. 460.413, or |
| 85 | s. 461.013, or s. 464.018, as applicable. |
| 86 | Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. |