HB 63

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; removing certain restrictions on certification
5	of disability by an advanced registered nurse practitioner
6	or a physician assistant; providing for disciplinary
7	action for violation by certain certifying practitioners;
8	providing an effective date.
9
10	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
11
12	Section 1.  Paragraphs (b) and (c) of subsection (1) and
13	subsection (9) of section 320.0848, Florida Statutes, are
14	amended to read:
15	320.0848  Persons who have disabilities; issuance of
16	disabled parking permits; temporary permits; permits for certain
17	providers of transportation services to persons who have
18	disabilities.--
19	(1)
20	(b)1.  The person must be currently certified as being
21	legally blind or as having any of the following disabilities
22	that render him or her unable to walk 200 feet without stopping
23	to rest:
24	a.  Inability to walk without the use of or assistance from
25	a brace, cane, crutch, prosthetic device, or other assistive
26	device, or without the assistance of another person. If the
27	assistive device significantly restores the person's ability to
28	walk to the extent that the person can walk without severe
29	limitation, the person is not eligible for the exemption parking
30	permit.
31	b.  The need to permanently use a wheelchair.
32	c.  Restriction by lung disease to the extent that the
33	person's forced (respiratory) expiratory volume for 1 second,
34	when measured by spirometry, is less than 1 liter, or the
35	person's arterial oxygen is less than 60 mm/hg on room air at
36	rest.
37	d.  Use of portable oxygen.
38	e.  Restriction by cardiac condition to the extent that the
39	person's functional limitations are classified in severity as
40	Class III or Class IV according to standards set by the American
41	Heart Association.
42	f.  Severe limitation in the person's ability to walk due
43	to an arthritic, neurological, or orthopedic condition.
44	2.  The certification of disability which is required under
45	subparagraph 1. must be provided by a physician licensed under
46	chapter 458, chapter 459, or chapter 460, by a podiatric
47	physician licensed under chapter 461, by an optometrist licensed
48	under chapter 463, by an advanced registered nurse practitioner
49	licensed under chapter 464 in a facility operated by the United
50	States Department of Veterans Affairs under the protocol of a
51	licensed physician as stated in this subparagraph, by a
52	physician assistant licensed under chapter 458 or chapter 459 in
53	a facility operated by the United States Department of Veterans
54	Affairs, by the Adjudication Office of the United States
55	Department of Veterans Affairs or its predecessor, or by a
56	similarly licensed physician from another state if the
57	application is accompanied by documentation of the physician's
58	licensure in the other state and a form signed by the out-of-
59	state physician verifying his or her knowledge of this state's
60	eligibility guidelines.
61	(c)  The certificate of disability must include, but need
62	not be limited to:
63	1.  The disability of the applicant; the certifying
64	practitioner's physician's name and address; the practitioner's
65	physician's certification number; the eligibility criteria for
66	the permit; the penalty for falsification by either the
67	certifying practitioner physician or the applicant; the duration
68	of the condition that entitles the person to the permit; and
69	justification for the additional placard pursuant to subsection
70	(2).
71	2.  The statement, in bold letters: "A disabled parking
72	permit may be issued only for a medical necessity that severely
73	affects mobility."
74	3.  The signatures of:
75	a.  The applicant's physician or other certifying
76	practitioner.;
77	b.  The applicant or the applicant's parent or guardian.;
78	and
79	c.  The employee of the department's authorized agent which
80	employee is processing the application.
81	(9)  A violation of this section is grounds for
82	disciplinary action under s. 458.331, s. 459.015, s. 460.413, or
83	s. 461.013, s. 463.016, or s. 464.018, as applicable.
84	Section 2.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.

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