F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
HB 149 2023
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to the issuance and renewal of
3 permanent disabled parking permits; amending s.
4 320.0848, F.S.; requiring the Department of Highway
5 Safety and Motor Vehicles to issue a permanent
6 disabled parking permit to a person who has a long -
7 term mobility impairment; removing provisions that
8 require such a person to renew a disabled parking
9 permit and that require such permit to bear a
10 validation sticker; revising provisions relating to
11 the appearance of disabled parking permits; conforming
12 provisions to changes made by the act; amending ss.
13 320.08035, 320.084, 320.0842, and 320.0843, F.S.;
14 conforming provisions to changes made by the act;
15 providing an effective date.
16
17 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
18
19 Section 1. Section 320.0848, Florida Statutes, is amended
20 to read:
21 320.0848 Persons who have disabilities; issuance of
22 permanent or temporary disabled parking permits; temporary
23 permits; permits for certain providers of transportation
24 services to persons who have disabilities.—
25 (1) ISSUANCE OF DISABLED PARKING PERMIT; REQUIREMENTS. —
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26 (a) The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles or
27 its authorized agents shall, upon application and receipt of the
28 appropriate fee, issue a permanent disabled parking permit to a
29 for a period of up to 4 years, which period ends on the
30 applicant's birthday, to any person who has a long-term mobility
31 impairment, or a temporary disabled parking permit for a period
32 of up not to exceed 6 months to a any person who has a temporary
33 mobility impairment. A No person is not will be required to pay
34 a fee for a temporary disabled parking permit for disabled
35 persons more than once in a 12-month period from the date of the
36 prior fee payment.
37 (b)1. The person must be currently certified as being
38 legally blind or as having any of the following disabilities
39 that render him or her unable to walk 200 feet without stopping
40 to rest:
41 a. Inability to walk without the use of or assistance from
42 a brace, cane, crutch, prosthetic device, or other assistive
43 device, or without the assistance of another person. If the
44 assistive device significantly restores the person's ability to
45 walk to the extent that the person is able to can walk without
46 severe limitation, the person is not eligible for a disabled the
47 exemption parking permit.
48 b. The need to permanently use a wheelchair.
49 c. Restriction by lung disease to the extent that the
50 person's forced (respiratory) expiratory volume for 1 second,
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51 when measured by spirometry, is less than 1 liter, or the
52 person's arterial oxygen is less than 60 mm/hg on room air at
53 rest.
54 d. Use of portable oxygen.
55 e. Restriction by cardiac condition to the extent that the
56 person's functional limitations are classified in severity as
57 Class III or Class IV according to standards set by the American
58 Heart Association.
59 f. Severe limitation in the person's ability to walk due
60 to an arthritic, neurological, or orthopedic condition.
61 2. The certificate certification of disability which is
62 required under subparagraph 1. must be provided by a physician
63 licensed under chapter 458, chapter 459, or chapter 460, by a
64 podiatric physician licensed under chapter 461, by an
65 optometrist licensed under chapter 463, by an advanced practice
66 registered nurse licensed under chapter 464 under the protocol
67 of a licensed physician as stated in this subparagraph, by a
68 physician assistant licensed under chapter 458 or chapter 459,
69 or by a similarly licensed physician from another state if the
70 application is accompanied by documentation of the physician's
71 licensure in the other state and a form signed by the out-of-
72 state physician verifying his or her knowledge of this state's
73 eligibility guidelines.
74 (c) The certificate of disability must include, but need
75 not be limited to:
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76 1. The disability of the applicant; the certifying
77 practitioner's name and address; the practitioner's
78 certification number; the eligibility criteria for the disabled
79 parking permit; the penalty for falsification by either the
80 certifying practitioner or the applicant; the duration of the
81 disability condition that entitles the person to the disabled
82 parking permit; and, if applicable, justification for the
83 issuance of an additional disabled parking permit placard
84 pursuant to paragraph (2)(c) subsection (2).
85 2. The statement, in bold letters: "A disabled parking
86 permit may be issued only for a medical necessity that severely
87 affects mobility."
88 3. The signatures of:
89 a. The applicant's physician or other certifying
90 practitioner.
91 b. The applicant or the applicant's parent or guardian.
92 c. The employee of the department's authorized agent ,
93 which employee is processing the application.
94 (d) The department shall renew the disabled parking permit
95 of any person certified as permanently disabled on the
96 application if the person provides a certificate of disability
97 issued within the last 12 months pursuant to this subsection. A
98 veteran who has been previously evaluated and certified by the
99 United States Department of Veterans Affairs or any branch of
100 the United States Armed Forces as permanently and totally
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101 disabled from a service-connected disability may provide a
102 United States Department of Veterans Affairs Form Letter 27-333,
103 or its equivalent, issued within the last 12 months in lieu of a
104 certificate of disability.
105 (e) The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
106 shall, in consultation with the Commission for the
107 Transportation Disadvantaged, adopt rules, in accordance with
108 chapter 120, for the issuance of a disabled parking permit to
109 any organization that can adequately demonstrate a bona fide
110 need for such a permit because the organization provides regular
111 transportation services to persons who have disabilities and are
112 certified as provided in this subsection.
113 (2) PERMANENT DISABLED PARKING PERMIT; PERSONS WITH LONG-
114 TERM MOBILITY IMPAIRMENT PROBLEMS.—
115 (a) The permanent disabled parking permit is a placard
116 that can be placed in a motor vehicle so as to be visible from
117 the front and rear of the vehicle. Each side of the placard must
118 have the international symbol of accessibility in a contrasting
119 color in the center so as to be visible. One side of the placard
120 must display the applicant's driver license number or state
121 identification card number along with a warning that the
122 applicant must possess have such identification at all times
123 while using the placard parking permit. However, in those cases
124 in which where the severity of the disability prevents a
125 disabled person from physically visiting or being transported to
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126 a driver license or tax collector's collector office to obtain a
127 driver license or identification card, a certifying physician
128 may sign the exemption section of the department's disabled
129 person parking permit application to exempt the disabled person
130 from the requirement that his or her being issued a driver
131 license or identification card for the number to be displayed on
132 the placard parking permit. A validation sticker must also be
133 issued with each disabled parking permit, showing the month and
134 year of expiration on each side of the placard. Validation
135 stickers must be of the size specified by the Department of
136 Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and must be affixed to the
137 disabled parking permits. The disabled parking permits must use
138 the same colors as license plate validations.
139 (b) License plates issued under ss. 320.084, 320.0842,
140 320.0843, and 320.0845 are valid for the same parking privileges
141 and other privileges provided under ss. 316.1955, 316.1964, and
142 526.141(5)(a).
143 (c) The department may shall not issue an additional
144 disabled parking permit unless the applicant states that he or
145 she is a frequent traveler or a quadriplegic. The department may
146 not issue to any one eligible applicant more than two disabled
147 parking permits except to an organization in accordance with
148 paragraph (1)(e). Subsections (1), (5), and (6), and (7) apply
149 to this subsection.
150 (d) To obtain a replacement for a disabled parking permit
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151 that has been lost or stolen, a person must submit an
152 application on a form prescribed by the department, provide a
153 certificate of disability issued within the last 12 months
154 pursuant to subsection (1), and pay a replacement fee in the
155 amount of $1, to be retained by the issuing agency. If the
156 person submits with the application a police report documenting
157 that the permit was stolen, there is no replacement fee. A
158 veteran who has been previously evaluated and certified by the
159 United States Department of Veterans Affairs or any branch of
160 the United States Armed Forces as permanently and totally
161 disabled from a service-connected disability may provide a
162 United States Department of Veterans Affairs Form Letter 27-333,
163 or its equivalent, issued within the last 12 months in lieu of a
164 certificate of disability.
165 (e) A person who qualifies for a disabled parking permit
166 under this section may be issued an international wheelchair
167 user symbol license plate under s. 320.0843 in lieu of the
168 disabled parking permit; or, if the person qualifies for a "DV"
169 license plate under s. 320.084, such a license plate may be
170 issued to him or her in lieu of a disabled parking permit.
171 (3) DISABLED PARKING PERMIT; TEMPORARY.—
172 (a) The temporary disabled parking permit is a placard of
173 a different color different from the color of the permanent
174 long-term disabled parking permit placard, and must clearly
175 display the date of expiration in large print and with color
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176 coding, but is identical to the permanent long-term disabled
177 parking permit placard in all other respects, including, but not
178 limited to, the inclusion of a state identification card number
179 or driver license number on one side of the placard temporary
180 permit. Validation stickers must also be issued with each The
181 temporary disabled parking permit so as placard must be designed
182 to conspicuously display the month and year of expiration date
183 of the permit on each side the front and back of the placard.
184 Validation stickers must be of the size specified by the
185 department, must use the same colors as license plate validation
186 stickers, and must be affixed to the placard.
187 (b) The department shall issue the temporary disabled
188 parking permit for the period of the disability as stated by the
189 certifying physician, but not to exceed 6 months.
190 (c) The fee for a temporary disabled parking permit is
191 $15.
192 (4) FEE DISTRIBUTION.—From the proceeds of the temporary
193 disabled parking permit fees:
194 (a) The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
195 must receive $3.50 for each temporary permit, to be deposited
196 into the Highway Safety Operating Trust Fund and used for
197 implementing the real-time disabled parking permit database and
198 for administering the disabled parking permit program.
199 (b) The tax collector, for processing, must receive $2.50
200 for each temporary permit.
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201 (c) The remainder must be distributed monthly as follows:
202 1. To be deposited in the Grants and Donations Trust Fund
203 of the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation of the Department
204 of Education for the purpose of improving employment and
205 training opportunities for persons who have disabilities, with
206 special emphasis on removing transportation barriers, $4.
207 2. To be deposited in the Transportation Disadvantaged
208 Trust Fund to be used for funding matching grants to counties
209 for the purpose of improving transportation of persons who have
210 disabilities, $5.
211 (5) REQUIRED STATEMENT.—The applications for permanent
212 disabled parking permits and temporary disabled parking permits
213 are official state documents