Bill Text: CA AB1882 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Disabled veterans.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced) 2024-05-16 - In committee: Held under submission. [AB1882 Detail]
Download: California-2023-AB1882-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Disabled veterans.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced) 2024-05-16 - In committee: Held under submission. [AB1882 Detail]
Download: California-2023-AB1882-Introduced.html
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 1882
| Introduced by Assembly Member Villapudua |
January 22, 2024 |
An act to amend Section 295.7 of, and to add 5007.3 to, the Vehicle Code, relating to vehicles.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1882, as introduced, Villapudua.
Vehicles: special license plates.
Existing law defines “disabled veteran” for purposes of the Vehicle Code as, among other things, a person who, as a result of injury or disease suffered while on active service with the Armed Forces of the United States, has a disability that has been rated at 100% by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Existing law also defines a “disabled veteran” as a veteran who is unable to move without the aid of an assistant device.
This bill would instead define a disabled veteran as a veteran who cannot walk without the use of an assistant device. The bill would expand the definition of “disabled veteran” to include a veteran who cannot walk 200 feet without stopping to rest, a veteran who is severely limited in the ability to walk because of an arthritic, neurological, or orthopedic condition, or a veteran who has visual acuity of 20/200 or less, among
other conditions, as specified.
Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles, upon application and without additional fees, to issue a special license plate or plates to a disabled person, disabled veteran, or an organization or agency involved in the transportation of disabled persons or veterans, as specified, in accordance with procedures adopted by the department.
The bill would require the Department of Motor Vehicles, upon application and without additional fees, to issue a special license plate or plates, pursuant to procedures adopted by the department, to a veteran who has a service-connected disability rating at 50% or greater but does not meet the qualifying eligibility criteria for a special plate for disabled veterans.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 295.7 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:295.7.
A “disabled veteran” is any person who, as a result of injury or disease suffered while on active service with the armed forces of the United States, suffers any of the following:(a) Has a disability which has been rated at 100 percent by the Department of Veterans Affairs or the military service from which the veteran was discharged, due to a diagnosed disease or disorder which substantially impairs or interferes with mobility.
(b)Is so severely disabled as to be unable to move without the aid of an assistant device.
(b) Cannot walk without the use of, or assistance from, an assistant device, including a brace, cane, crutch, another person, or a prosthetic device, wheelchair, or similar device.
(c) Has lost, or has lost use of, one or more limbs.
(d) Has suffered permanent blindness, as defined in Section 19153 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(e) Has visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with correcting lenses or visual acuity of more than 20/200 but with a limited field of vision in which the widest diameter of the visual field subtends an angle of 20 degrees or less.
(f) Cannot
walk 200 feet without stopping to rest.
(g) Is restricted by lung disease to the extent that the person’s forced respiratory expiratory volume for one second, measured by spirometry, is less than one liter, or the arterial oxygen tension is less than 60 millimeters of mercury on room air at rest.
(h) Has a 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.
(i) Is severely limited in the ability to walk because of an arthritic, neurological, or orthopedic condition.
(j) Has a disorder of the foot that, in the opinion of a physician, limits or impairs the person’s ability to walk, or has another debilitating condition
that, in the opinion of a physician or a person authorized by applicable law to practice medicine in a hospital or other health facility of the Department of Veterans Affairs, limits or impairs the person’s ability to walk.
SEC. 2.
Section 5007.3 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read:5007.3.
(a) The department shall, upon application and without additional fees, issue a special license plate or plates, pursuant to procedures adopted by the department, to a veteran who has a service-connected disability rating at 50 percent or greater but does not meet the qualifying eligibility criteria for a special plate pursuant to Section 5007.(b) The special license plate issued under subdivision (a) shall not depict the International Symbol of Access adopted pursuant to Section 3 of Public Law 100-641, commonly known as the “wheelchair symbol.”
