SB2636

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that pregnant women in their third trimester may have difficulty walking far distances and getting in and out of their vehicles in parking lots. The online website, Babies Online, in its article Special Treatment for Pregnant Women, states "One type of special treatment that many pregnant women in their third trimester would appreciate is a parking spot or spots reserved close to doors of shopping centers and grocery stores. By the time you are ready to deliver, walking a mile to buy some milk because you can't find a close spot does not sound too exciting. Especially in the heat of the summer, or if it is cold, snowy, icy or raining outside."

Section 1 of Act 46, Session Laws of Hawaii 1984, which enacted part III of chapter 291, Hawaii Revised Statutes, relating to parking for disabled persons, states in pertinent part: "The purpose of this Act is to establish parking privileges for persons with mobility limitations." The legislature finds that pregnant women in their third trimester qualify as having "mobility limitations."

The purpose of this Act is to extend the parking for disabled persons law to pregnant women in their third trimester.

SECTION 2. Section 291-51, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended as follows:

1. By amending the definition of "certificate of disability" to read:

""Certificate of disability" means a medical statement issued by a licensed practicing physician, which verifies that a person is disabled, limited, [or] impaired in the ability to walk[.], or is in the third trimester of pregnancy."

2. By amending the definition of "person with a disability" to read:

""Person with a disability" means a person with a disability [~~which~~] that limits or impairs the ability to walk, and who, as determined by a licensed practicing physician:

(1) Cannot walk two hundred feet without stopping to rest, due to a diagnosed arthritic, neurological, orthopedic, renal, vascular, or oncological condition;

(2) Cannot walk without the use of, or assistance from, a brace, cane, crutch, another person, prosthetic device, wheelchair, or other assistive device;

(3) Is restricted by lung disease to such an extent that the person's forced (respiratory) expiratory volume for one second, when measured by spirometry, is less than one liter, or the arterial oxygen tension is less than sixty mm/hg on room air at rest;

(4) Uses portable oxygen; or

(5) 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 the standards set by the American Heart Association.

For purposes of this definition, a person in the third trimester of pregnancy shall be deemed to be a person with a disability, without further qualification."

3. By amending the definition of "temporary removable windshield placard" to read:

""Temporary removable windshield placard" means a two-sided, hanger-style placard issued under this part to a person with a disability who presents a certificate of disability that verifies the person's disability in monthly increments, which shall not exceed six months[.]; provided that a temporary removable windshield placard for a person in the third trimester of pregnancy shall expire four months from the date of issuance of the temporary removable windshield placard."

SECTION 3. Section 291-51.6, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§291‑51.6 Issuance of temporary removable windshield parking placards. Each county shall issue one temporary removable windshield placard and a second temporary removable windshield placard to each applicant who requests and presents a certificate of disability that verifies the duration of the applicant's disability in monthly increments, which shall not exceed six months[,] or in the case of a person in the third trimester of pregnancy, the placard shall expire four months from its issuance, and upon payment of a fee to the issuing agency. The temporary removable windshield placard shall be designed, fabricated, and sold to the counties at a rate negotiated by the disability and communication access board[.]; provided that the color of the temporary removable windshield placard shall be pink for persons in the third trimester of pregnancy."

SECTION 4. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2008-2009 as a grant-in-aid to each county for a mandated program pursuant to section 5 of article III of the Hawaii State Constitution as follows:

City and County of Honolulu $

County of Hawaii $

County of Kauai $

County of Maui $

for cost sharing for purposes of this Act.

The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of transportation for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 5. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect upon its approval; provided that section 4 shall take effect on July 1, 2008.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	2636
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2008
STATE OF HAWAII