DISABLED PERSON; PARKING COURTESY                                                          S.B. 582:

                                                                                                    SUMMARY OF BILL

                                                                                      REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE

Senate Bill 582 (as reported without amendment)

Sponsor:  Senator Marty Knollenberg

Committee:  Transportation

CONTENT

The bill would amend the Michigan Vehicle Code to allow a physical therapist, in addition to a physician, physician assistant, and certified nurse practitioner, to certify or determine a person's disabling condition for the purpose of receiving free parking stickers, plates, and tabs.

For this purpose, the bill would define "disabled person" as a person who is determined by a physician, a physician assistant, a physical therapist, or an optometrist licensed to practice in the State to have one or more of the following characteristics:

-- Blindness as determined by an optometrist, a physician, or a physician assistant.

-- Inability to walk more than 200 feet without having to stop and rest.

-- Inability to use one or both legs or feet, and to walk without the use of a wheelchair, walker, crutch, brace, prosthetic, or other device, or without the assistance of another person.

-- A lung disease from which the person's forced expiratory volume for one second, when measured by spirometry, is less than one liter, or from which the person's arterial oxygen tension is less than 60 mm/Hg of room air at rest.

-- A cardiovascular condition that causes the person to measure between three and four on the New York Heart Classification Scale, or that renders the person incapable of meeting a minimum standard for cardiovascular health that is established by the American Heart Association and approved by the Department of Health and Human Services.

-- An arthritic, neurological, or orthopedic condition that severely limits the person's ability to walk.

-- The persistent reliance upon an oxygen source other than ordinary air.

MCL 257.675 et al.                                                   Legislative Analyst:  Drew Krogulecki

FISCAL IMPACT

The bill would not have a fiscal impact on State revenue.

The bill could create a loss in revenue for local units of government. The loss estimate is indeterminate and dependent on the number of placards that would be issued for disabled people or those transporting a disabled person who received the required documentation from a physical therapist. Depending on local ordinances, a local unit of government could lose parking revenue due to the issuance of a placard for a disability that allows the holder of the placard to park for free.

Date Completed:  12-12-17                                                  Fiscal Analyst:  Joe Carrasco

This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.