Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

       Florida Senate - 2023                                     SB 362
       
       
        
       By Senator Harrell
       
       
       
       
       
       31-00614-23                                            2023362__
                      A bill to be entitled                      
       An act relating to the issuance and renewal of
       permanent disabled parking permits; amending s.
       320.0848, F.S.; requiring the Department of Highway
       Safety and Motor Vehicles to issue a permanent
       disabled parking permit to a person who has a long
       term mobility impairment; removing provisions that
       require such a person to renew a disabled parking
       permit and that require such permit to bear a
       validation sticker; revising provisions relating to
       the appearance of disabled parking permits; conforming
       provisions to changes made by the act; amending ss.
       320.08035, 320.084, 320.0842, and 320.0843, F.S.;
       conforming provisions to changes made by the act;
       providing an effective date.
        
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

       Section 1. Section 320.0848, Florida Statutes, is amended
to read:
       320.0848 Persons who have disabilities; issuance of
permanent or temporary disabled parking permits; temporary
permits; permits for certain providers of transportation
services to persons who have disabilities.—
       (1) ISSUANCE OF DISABLED PARKING PERMIT; REQUIREMENTS.—
       (a) The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles or
its authorized agents shall, upon application and receipt of the
appropriate fee, issue a permanent disabled parking permit to a
for a period of up to 4 years, which period ends on the
applicant’s birthday, to any person who has a long-term mobility
impairment, or a temporary disabled parking permit for a period
of up not to exceed 6 months to a any person who has a temporary
mobility impairment. A No person is not will be required to pay
a fee for a temporary disabled parking permit for disabled
persons more than once in a 12-month period from the date of the
prior fee payment.
       (b)1. The person must be currently certified as being
legally blind or as having any of the following disabilities
that render him or her unable to walk 200 feet without stopping
to rest:
       a. Inability to walk without the use of or assistance from
a brace, cane, crutch, prosthetic device, or other assistive
device, or without the assistance of another person. If the
assistive device significantly restores the person’s ability to
walk to the extent that the person is able to can walk without
severe limitation, the person is not eligible for a disabled the
exemption parking permit.
       b. The need to permanently use a wheelchair.
       c. Restriction by lung disease to the extent that the
person’s forced (respiratory) expiratory volume for 1 second,
when measured by spirometry, is less than 1 liter, or the
person’s arterial oxygen is less than 60 mm/hg on room air at
rest.
       d. Use of portable oxygen.
       e. Restriction by 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.
       f. Severe limitation in the person’s ability to walk due to
an arthritic, neurological, or orthopedic condition.
       2. The certificate certification of disability which is
required under subparagraph 1. must be provided by a physician
licensed under chapter 458, chapter 459, or chapter 460, by a
podiatric physician licensed under chapter 461, by an
optometrist licensed under chapter 463, by an advanced practice
registered nurse licensed under chapter 464 under the protocol
of a licensed physician as stated in this subparagraph, by a
physician assistant licensed under chapter 458 or chapter 459,
or by a similarly licensed physician from another state if the
application is accompanied by documentation of the physician’s
licensure in the other state and a form signed by the out-of
state physician verifying his or her knowledge of this state’s
eligibility guidelines.
       (c) The certificate of disability must include, but need
not be limited to:
       1. The disability of the applicant; the certifying
practitioner’s name and address; the practitioner’s
certification number; the eligibility criteria for the disabled
parking permit; the penalty for falsification by either the
certifying practitioner or the applicant; the duration of the
disability condition that entitles the person to the disabled
parking permit; and, if applicable, justification for the
issuance of an additional disabled parking permit placard
pursuant to paragraph (2)(c) subsection (2).
       2. The statement, in bold letters: “A disabled parking
permit may be issued only for a medical necessity that severely
affects mobility.”
       3. The signatures of:
       a. The applicant’s physician or other certifying
practitioner.
       b. The applicant or the applicant’s parent or guardian.
       c. The employee of the department’s authorized agent, which
employee is processing the application.
       (d) The department shall renew the disabled parking permit
of any person certified as permanently disabled on the
application if the person provides a certificate of disability
issued within the last 12 months pursuant to this subsection. A
veteran who has been previously evaluated and certified by the
United States Department of Veterans Affairs or any branch of
the United States Armed Forces as permanently and totally
disabled from a service-connected disability may provide a
United States Department of Veterans Affairs Form Letter 27-333,
or its equivalent, issued within the last 12 months in lieu of a
certificate of disability.
       (e) The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
shall, in consultation with the Commission for the
Transportation Disadvantaged, adopt rules, in accordance with
chapter 120, for the issuance of a disabled parking permit to
any organization that can adequately demonstrate a bona fide
need for such a permit because the organization provides regular
transportation services to persons who have disabilities and are
certified as provided in this subsection.
       (2) PERMANENT DISABLED PARKING PERMIT; PERSONS WITH LONG
TERM MOBILITY IMPAIRMENT PROBLEMS.—
       (a) The permanent disabled parking permit is a placard that
can be placed in a motor vehicle so as to be visible from the
front and rear of the vehicle. Each side of the placard must
have the international symbol of accessibility in a contrasting
color in the center so as to be visible. One side of the placard
must display the applicant’s driver license number or state
identification card number along with a warning that the
applicant must possess have such identification at all times
while using the placard parking permit. However, in those cases
in which where the severity of the disability prevents a
disabled person from physically visiting or being transported to
a driver license or tax collector’s collector office to obtain a
driver license or identification card, a certifying physician
may sign the exemption section of the department’s disabled
person parking permit application to exempt the disabled person
from the requirement that his or her being issued a driver
license or identification card for the number to be displayed on
the placard parking permit. A validation sticker must also be
issued with each disabled parking permit, showing the month and
year of expiration on each side of the placard. Validation
stickers must be of the size specified by the Department of
Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and must be affixed to the
disabled parking permits. The disabled parking permits must use
the same colors as license plate validations.
       (b) License plates issued under ss. 320.084, 320.0842,
320.0843, and 320.0845 are valid for the same parking privileges
and other privileges provided under ss. 316.1955, 316.1964, and
526.141(5)(a).
       (c) The department may shall not issue an additional
disabled parking permit unless the applicant states that he or
she is a frequent traveler or a quadriplegic. The department may
not issue to any one eligible applicant more than two disabled
parking permits except to an organization in accordance with
paragraph (1)(e). Subsections (1), (5), and (6), and (7) apply
to this subsection.
       (d) To obtain a replacement for a disabled parking permit
that has been lost or stolen, a person must submit an
application on a form prescribed by the department, provide a
certificate of disability issued within the last 12 months
pursuant to subsection (1), and pay a replacement fee in the
amount of $1, to be retained by the issuing agency. If the
person submits with the application a police report documenting
that the permit was stolen, there is no replacement fee. A
veteran who has been previously evaluated and certified by the
United States Department of Veterans Affairs or any branch of
the United States Armed Forces as permanently and totally
disabled from a service-connected disability may provide a
United States Department of Veterans Affairs Form Letter 27-333,
or its equivalent, issued within the last 12 months in lieu of a
certificate of disability.
       (e) A person who qualifies for a disabled parking permit
under this section may be issued an international wheelchair
user symbol license plate under s. 320.0843 in lieu of the
disabled parking permit; or, if the person qualifies for a “DV”
license plate under s. 320.084, such a license plate may be
issued to him or her in lieu of a disabled parking permit.
       (3) DISABLED PARKING PERMIT; TEMPORARY.—
       (a) The temporary disabled parking permit is a placard of a
different color different from the color of the permanent long
term disabled parking permit placard, and must clearly display
the date of expiration in large print and with color coding, but
is identical to the permanent long-term disabled parking permit
placard in all other respects, including, but not limited to,
the inclusion of a state identification card number or driver
license number on one side of the placard temporary permit.
Validation stickers must also be issued with each The temporary
disabled parking permit so as placard must be designed to
conspicuously display the month and year of expiration date of
the permit on each side the front and back of the placard.
Validation stickers must be of the size specified by the
department, must use the same colors as license plate validation
stickers, and must be affixed to the placard.
       (b) The department shall issue the temporary disabled
parking permit for the period of the disability as stated by the
certifying physician, but not to exceed 6 months.
       (c) The fee for a temporary disabled parking permit is $15.
       (4) FEE DISTRIBUTION.—From the proceeds of the temporary
disabled parking permit fees:
       (a) The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
must receive $3.50 for each temporary permit, to be deposited
into the Highway Safety Operating Trust Fund and used for
implementing the real-time disabled parking permit database and
for administering the disabled parking permit program.
       (b) The tax collector, for processing, must receive $2.50
for each temporary permit.
       (c) The remainder must be distributed monthly as follows:
       1. To be deposited in the Grants and Donations Trust Fund
of the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation of the Department
of Education for the purpose of improving employment and
training opportunities for persons who have disabilities, with
special emphasis on removing transportation barriers, $4.
       2. To be deposited in the Transportation Disadvantaged
Trust Fund to be used for funding matching grants to counties
for the purpose of improving transportation of persons who have
disabilities, $5.
       (5) REQUIRED STATEMENT.—The applications for permanent
disabled parking permits and temporary disabled parking permits
are official state documents. The following statement must
appear on each application form immediately below the
physician’s signature and immediately below the applicant’s
signature: “Knowingly providing false information on this
application is a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as
provided in s. 775.082, Florida Statutes, or s. 775.083, Florida
Statutes. The penalty is up to 1 year in jail or a fine of
$1,000, or both.”
       (6) PENALTIES.—
       (a) A Any person who knowingly makes a false or misleading
statement in an application or certification under this section
commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as
provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.
       (b)(7) A Any person who fraudulently obtains or unlawfully
displays a disabled parking permit that belongs to another
person while occupying a disabled parking space or an access
aisle as defined in s. 553.5041 while the permitholder owner of
the permit is not being transported in the motor vehicle or who
uses an unauthorized replica of such a disabled parking permit
with the intent to deceive commits is guilty of a misdemeanor of
the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s.
775.083.
       (7)(8) CONFISCATION OF DISABLED PARKING PERMIT.—A law
enforcement officer or a parking enforcement specialist may
confiscate the disabled parking permit from a any person who
fraudulently obtains or unlawfully uses such a permit. A law
enforcement officer or a parking enforcement specialist may
confiscate a any disabled parking permit that is expired,
reported as lost or stolen, or defaced or that does not display
a personal identification number.
       (a) The permit number of each confiscated disabled parking
permit must be submitted to the department, and the fact that
the disabled parking permit has been confiscated must be noted
on the permitholder’s record. If two disabled parking permits
issued to the same person have been confiscated, the department
shall refer the information to the central abuse hotline of the
Department of Children and Families for an investigation of
potential abuse, neglect, or exploitation of the permitholder
permit owner.
       (b) A confiscated disabled parking permit must be held as
evidence until a judicial decision about the violation has been
made. After a finding of guilt has been made or a plea of nolo
contendere has been entered, the charging agency shall destroy
the confiscated disabled parking permit. A confiscated disabled
parking permit may not, under any circumstances, be returned to
the permitholder its registered owner after a finding of guilt
has been made or a plea of nolo contendere has been entered in
court. If a finding of guilt has been made or a plea of nolo
contendere has been entered for fraudulent or other unlawful use
of a disabled parking permit after a prior finding of guilt or
plea of nolo contendere for fraudulent or other unlawful use of
a disabled parking permit issued to the same registered
permitholder, the permitholder may not apply for a new disabled
parking permit for 4 years. The permit number of each destroyed
permit must be reported to the department, and the department
must record in the real-time disabled parking permit database
that the permit has been invalidated.
       (8)(9) REVIEW.—
       (a) At least once every 6 months, the department shall
randomly review disabled parking permitholders to ensure that
all required criteria for the ownership and possession of such
permit remain valid. As a component of the review, the
department shall, at a minimum:
       1. Review death records maintained by the Department of
Health to ensure that the permitholder is not deceased has not
died.
       2. Review the number of times the permit has been
confiscated for fraudulent or unlawful use, if at all.
       3. Determine whether if the permit has ever been reported
lost or stolen and, if so, determine the current status of the
permit.
       (b) At least annually, the department shall verify that the
holder owner of each disabled parking permit is not deceased has