Title: An act relating to special parking privileges for legally blind persons.

Brief Description: Authorizing special parking privileges for the legally blind.

Sponsors: Senate Committee on Transportation (originally sponsored by Senators Fairley, Thibaudeau and Shin).

Brief History:

Committee Activity: Transportation: 1/25/06, 1/26/06 [DPS].

Passed Senate: 2/13/06, 46-0.

SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION

Majority Report: That Substitute Senate Bill No. 6287 be substituted therefor, and the substitute bill do pass.Signed by Senators Haugen, Chair; Jacobsen, Vice Chair; Poulsen, Vice Chair; Benson, Ranking Minority Member; Benton, Berkey, Eide, Esser, Finkbeiner, Kastama, Mulliken, Oke, Sheldon, Spanel, Swecker and Weinstein.

Staff: Janice Baumgardt (786-7319)

Background: The Department of Licensing (DOL) is required to grant special parking privileges to any person that has a disability that limits the ability to walk and meets one of certain criteria. A licensed physician or an advanced nurse practitioner determines whether the applicant meets the criteria.

Summary of Bill: Added to the list of criteria qualifying for special parking privileges is being legally blind. Legally blind is defined as someone with no vision or whose vision with corrective lenses is so limited that the individual requires alternative methods or skills to do efficiently those things that are ordinarily done with sight by individuals with normal vision or someone who has an eye condition of a progressive nature which may lead to blindness.

Technical changes are also made to existing language; obsolete language is removed and some language is changed to conform to respectful language requirements.

Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Available.

Committee/Commission/Task Force Created: No.

Effective Date: Ninety days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.

Testimony For: Mobility for those who are newly blind presents a true mobility issue. Those who would qualify but don't want to use the privilege should still allow it to be available to those who need it.

Testimony Against: None.

Who Testified: PRO: Senator Fairley, 32nd Legislative District.