Disabled parking placards.

Existing law authorizes a disabled person or disabled veteran to apply to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) for the issuance of a distinguishing license plate or placard that entitles the person or veteran to various privileges, including parking in spaces designated for owners of those license plates and placards, parking for unlimited periods in a restricted zone, as specified, and parking in metered spaces without paying parking meter fees. Commencing January 1, 2018, this bill would delete the authority of a disabled person or disabled veteran who has been issued a placard as described above to park for an unlimited period in restricted zones and to park in metered spaces without paying parking meter fees. The bill, commencing January 1, 2018, instead, would authorize specified disabled persons and disabled veterans to apply for free-parking status, as specified, which would authorize the person to park in specified metered and unmetered parking spaces without being required to pay fees and for an unlimited period of time. The bill would require the department, commencing January 1, 2017, to begin to notify existing holders of a disabled driver placard of these changes to the disabled persons parking program, as specified. This bill would require an applicant to provide certification of his or her disability by a physician and surgeon, nurse practitioner, certified nurse midwife, physician assistant, chiropractor, or optometrist, as specified. To knowingly provide a false disability certification for a disabled parking placard, or a free-parking sticker, emblem, or other indicia of free-parking status, would constitute unprofessional conduct and grounds for disciplinary action for any person regulated under specified provisions of law. Under existing law, a person to whom a disabled person placard has been issued is prohibited from various acts, including, but not limited to, lending the placard to another person, knowingly permitting use for parking purposes of the placard by one not entitled to it, or forgery, counterfeiting, or sale of the placard. Existing law also prohibits a person from displaying a placard that was not issued to him or her or that has been canceled or revoked. These acts are subject to the issuance of a notice of parking violation imposing a civil penalty, as prescribed, and constitute a misdemeanor punishable by a specified fine, imprisonment in the county jail, or both the fine and imprisonment. This bill would extend the above penalty provisions to acts including, but not limited to, forging, misuse, counterfeiting, or sale of a free-parking sticker, emblem, or other indicia of free-parking status issued by the department. The bill also would require an application for free-parking status under the bill to be signed under penalty of perjury. The bill would make those provisions operative January 1, 2018. By creating new crimes, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.