Bill Text - SB355 (2010)

Relative to driver's license reexamination and relative to compensation for the medical/vision advisory board and making an appropriation therefor.


Revision: Dec. 30, 2009, midnight

SB 355-FN-A – AS INTRODUCED

2010 SESSION

10-2861

03/10

SENATE BILL 355-FN-A

AN ACT relative to driver’s license reexamination and relative to compensation for the medical/vision advisory board and making an appropriation therefor.

SPONSORS: Sen. Reynolds, Dist 2

COMMITTEE: Transportation and Interstate Cooperation

ANALYSIS

This bill:

I. Requires that reexamination of driver’s license applicants for physical and mental qualifications be conducted by the medical/vision advisory board.

II. Eliminates the requirement that driver’s license applicants be examined for physical and mental qualifications upon reaching 75 years of age.

III. Establishes per diem compensation for the medical/vision advisory board within the division of motor vehicles and makes an appropriation therefor.

IV. Reinstates the medical/vision advisory board.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

10-2861

03/10

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Ten

AN ACT relative to driver’s license reexamination and relative to compensation for the medical/vision advisory board and making an appropriation therefor.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 Drivers’ Licenses; Reexamination. Amend RSA 263:7 to read as follows:

263:7 Reexamination. The director may require with cause any person holding a license to drive motor vehicles or applying for reissue of such license to pass such examination as to the person’s qualifications as the director shall prescribe. Such reexamination may include an examination for visual acuity as prescribed by the director. Examination of a person’s physical and mental qualifications to hold a license shall be conducted by the medical/vision advisory board. All other license examinations shall be conducted by department of safety personnel. No license shall be reissued to such person or continued in effect until the director is satisfied as to such person’s fitness to drive a motor vehicle. [Every person upon reaching his or her seventy-fifth birthday shall demonstrate his or her physical and mental qualifications to hold a license by examination, as prescribed by the director.]

2 Medical/Vision Advisory Board. Amend RSA 263:6-b, I to read as follows:

I. In order to advise the director on medical criteria for the reporting and examination of drivers with medical impairments, a medical/vision advisory board is hereby established within the division. The board shall be composed of 3 members appointed by the director. Two of the members of the board shall be licensed physicians and residents of this state, and one member of the board shall be a licensed optometrist and a resident of this state. Of the original appointees, one shall serve for a term of 2 years and 2 shall serve for terms of 4 years. Subsequent appointees shall each serve for a term of 4 years or until their successors are appointed and approved. Any vacancy shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment for the remainder of the term. The members of the board shall receive [no] $50 compensation per diem for their services and shall not hire any staff personnel but shall be paid mileage when attending to the duties of the committee at the maximum rate established in the Internal Revenue Code and regulations. After the first full year of operation of the advisory board, the board shall meet as needed.

3 New Subparagraph; Medical/Vision Advisory Board; Duties. Amend RSA 263:6-b, III by inserting after subparagraph (d) the following new subparagraph:

(e) Conduct an examination of a person’s physical and mental qualifications to hold a license upon referral by the director.

4 Medical/Vision Advisory Board; Reinstatement. The medical/vision advisory board established in RSA 263:6-b is hereby reinstated.

5 Appropriation. The sum of $10,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2011, are hereby appropriated to the department of safety, division of motor vehicles for the purpose of paying the compensation and mileage of the medical/vision advisory board. This appropriations is in addition to any other funds appropriated to the department of safety. The governor is authorized to draw a warrant for said sum out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.

6 Effective Date. This act shall take effect July 1, 2010.

LBAO

10-2861

12/29/09

SB 355-FN-A - FISCAL NOTE

AN ACT relative to driver’s license reexamination and relative to compensation for the medical/vision advisory board and making an appropriation therefor.

FISCAL IMPACT:

The Department of Safety states this bill will increase state expenditures by $10,000 in FY 2011 and by an indeterminable amount in FY 2012 and each year thereafter. This bill will have no fiscal impact on county and local expenditures, or state, county, and local revenue.

This bill appropriates $10,000 from the state general fund to the Department of Safety in FY 2011.

METHODOLOGY:

This Department of Safety states this bill would require reexamination of driver license applicants for physical and mental qualifications by the medical/vision advisory board. It would also eliminate the requirement for this examination at age 75. In addition, this bill would reinstate the medical/vision advisory board, and would establish a per diem compensation for the three board members of $50. The Department states this bill contains an appropriation from the state general fund of $10,000 in FY 2011 for the purposes of paying compensation and mileage of the medical/vision advisory board. The Department is unable to determine the exact per diem and mileage costs of the board at this time, but estimates expenditures in FY 2012 and each year thereafter would be much less than $10,000 annually.