S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   6801
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               May 10, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  RIVERA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Health
 
 AN ACT to amend the public health law, the education  law,  the  vehicle
   and traffic law, and the judiciary law, in relation to making conform-
   ing  changes reflecting the previously authorized scope of practice of
   nurse practitioners
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1. Subdivisions 28 and 31 of section 206 of the public health
 law, subdivision 28 as added by chapter 496 of  the  laws  of  2011  and
 subdivision  31 as added by chapter 500 of the laws of 2021, are amended
 to read as follows:
   28. The commissioner shall assist the  commissioner  of  education  in
 developing  rules  and  regulations,  relating to pupils who suffer mild
 traumatic brain injuries AND  THE  PHYSICIANS  AND  NURSE  PRACTITIONERS
 AUTHORIZED  TO  EVALUATE  SUCH  PUPILS,  in  accordance with subdivision
 forty-two of section three  hundred  five  of  the  education  law,  and
 provide  for  the  posting  on the department's internet website of such
 information as shall be required pursuant to such subdivision.
   31. The commissioner shall develop information,  in  conjunction  with
 the  commissioner  of education related to students who exhibit signs or
 symptoms of pending or increased risk of  sudden  cardiac  arrest.  Such
 information  shall  include,  but  not  be limited to, the definition of
 sudden cardiac arrest, signs and symptoms of sudden cardiac arrest,  AND
 INFORMATION  FOR  THE  PHYSICIANS  AND NURSE PRACTITIONERS AUTHORIZED TO
 EVALUATE WHETHER A STUDENT MAY RESUME ATHLETIC ACTIVITY.  Such  informa-
 tion shall be posted on the department's website.
   §  2.   Subparagraph (iii) of paragraph a of subdivision 42 of section
 305 of the education law, as added by chapter 496 of the laws  of  2011,
 is amended to read as follows:
   (iii)  requiring the immediate removal from athletic activities of any
 pupil believed to have sustained or who has sustained a  mild  traumatic
 brain injury. In the event that there is any doubt as to whether a pupil
 has sustained a concussion, it shall be presumed that he or she has been
 
              

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD10600-01-3
 S. 6801                             2
 
 so  injured  until proven otherwise. No such pupil shall resume athletic
 activity until he or she shall have been symptom free for not less  than
 twenty-four  hours,  and  has been evaluated by and received written and
 signed  authorization  from  a  licensed  physician OR A CERTIFIED NURSE
 PRACTITIONER.  Such authorization shall be kept on file in  the  pupil's
 permanent  health  record. Furthermore, such rules and regulations shall
 provide guidelines for limitations and restrictions on school attendance
 and activities for pupils who have sustained mild traumatic brain  inju-
 ries,  consistent  with the directives of the pupil's treating physician
 OR A NURSE PRACTITIONER.
   § 3. Subdivision b of section 923 of the education law,  as  added  by
 chapter 500 of the laws of 2021, is amended to read as follows:
   b.  The  commissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations requiring
 that any student displaying signs or symptoms of  pending  or  increased
 risk of sudden cardiac arrest shall be immediately removed from athletic
 activities  and  shall  not resume athletic activity until he or she has
 been evaluated by and received written and signed authorization  from  a
 licensed  physician  OR  A CERTIFIED NURSE PRACTITIONER.   Such authori-
 zation shall be kept on file in the pupil's permanent health record.
   § 4. Section 3624 of the education law, as amended by chapter  529  of
 the laws of 2002, is amended to read as follows:
   § 3624. Drivers,  monitors  and  attendants.  The  commissioner  shall
 determine and define the qualifications of drivers, monitors and attend-
 ants and shall make the rules and regulations governing the operation of
 all transportation facilities used by pupils which rules and regulations
 shall include, but not be limited to,  a  maximum  speed  of  fifty-five
 miles  per hour for school vehicles engaged in pupil transportation that
 are operated on roads, interstates or other highways, parkways or bridg-
 es or portions thereof that  have  posted  speed  limits  in  excess  of
 fifty-five  miles per hour, prohibitions relating to smoking, eating and
 drinking and any and all other acts or  conduct  which  would  otherwise
 impair  the safe operation of such transportation facilities while actu-
 ally being used for the transport of  pupils.  The  employment  of  each
 driver,  monitor  and  attendant  shall  be approved by the chief school
 administrator of a school district for each school bus  operated  within
 his  or her district. For the purpose of determining his or her physical
 fitness, each driver, monitor and attendant may be examined on order  of
 the  chief  school  administrator  by a duly licensed physician OR NURSE
 PRACTITIONER within two weeks prior to the beginning of service in  each
 school  year as a school bus driver, monitor or attendant. The report of
 the physician OR CERTIFIED NURSE  PRACTITIONER,  in  writing,  shall  be
 considered  by the chief school administrator in determining the fitness
 of the driver to operate  or  continue  to  operate  any  transportation
 facilities  used by pupils and in determining the fitness of any monitor
 or attendant to carry out his or her functions  on  such  transportation
 facilities.  Nothing  in  this  section shall prohibit a school district
 from imposing a more restrictive speed limit policy for the operation of
 school vehicles engaged in pupil transportation  than  the  speed  limit
 policy established by the commissioner.
   §  5.  Paragraph  (i)  of  subdivision  1 and subdivision 3 of section
 1203-a of the vehicle and traffic law, paragraph (i) of subdivision 1 as
 amended by chapter 180 of the laws of 1996 and subdivision 3 as  amended
 by chapter 220 of the laws of 1984, are amended to read as follows:
   (i)  any resident of New York state who is a severely disabled person,
 as defined in subdivision [three] FOUR of section four hundred four-a of
 this chapter, upon application of such person or such person's parent or
 S. 6801                             3
 
 guardian, provided, however, that an issuing agent shall  issue  permits
 only  to  residents  of  the city, town or village in which such issuing
 agent is  located,  except  that,  an  issuing  agent,  in  his  or  her
 discretion,  may issue a permit to a severely disabled person who is not
 a resident of the city, town, or village in which such issuing agent  is
 located  where  such person resides in a city, town, or village in which
 the governing body has not appointed an issuing agent;  and  an  issuing
 agent,  in  his or her discretion, may issue a temporary special vehicle
 identification parking permit, as authorized  by  subdivision  three  of
 this  section, to a person who is temporarily unable to ambulate without
 the aid of an assisting  device,  as  certified  by  [a  physician]  ANY
 HEALTHCARE  PRACTITIONER  AUTHORIZED  TO  CERTIFY  THAT AN INDIVIDUAL IS
 SEVERELY DISABLED PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION FOUR OF SECTION  FOUR  HUNDRED
 FOUR-A OF THIS CHAPTER, who resides in a city, town, or village in which
 the  issuing  agent does not issue temporary special vehicle identifica-
 tion parking permits, or who is not a resident of the United States  and
 is temporarily visiting the state; or
   3.  Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter to the contrary, any
 municipality may issue a temporary special vehicle identification  park-
 ing  permit  to any person who is temporarily unable to ambulate without
 the aid of an assisting  device,  as  certified  by  [a  physician]  ANY
 HEALTHCARE  PRACTITIONER  AUTHORIZED  TO  CERTIFY  THAT AN INDIVIDUAL IS
 SEVERELY DISABLED PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION FOUR OF SECTION  FOUR  HUNDRED
 FOUR-A  OF  THIS CHAPTER.  Such temporary special vehicle identification
 parking permit shall be valid for not more than six months and shall  be
 recognized statewide.
   §  6.  Paragraph (d) of subdivision 3 of section 1203-h of the vehicle
 and traffic law, as added by chapter 243 of the laws of 2007, is amended
 to read as follows:
   (d) are severely disabled persons, as defined in subdivision  four  of
 section four hundred four-a of this chapter, whose severe disability, as
 certified  by [a licensed physician] ANY HEALTHCARE PRACTITIONER AUTHOR-
 IZED TO CERTIFY THAT AN INDIVIDUAL IS SEVERELY DISABLED PURSUANT TO THAT
 SUBDIVISION, limits one or more of the following:
   (i) fine motor control in both hands;
   (ii) ability to reach or access a parking meter due to use of a wheel-
 chair or other ambulatory device; or
   (iii) ability to reach a height of forty-two inches  from  the  ground
 due to the lack of finger, hand or upper extremity strength or mobility.
   §  7.  Paragraph (c) of subdivision 12-a of section 375 of the vehicle
 and traffic law, as amended by chapter 135  of  the  laws  of  1994,  is
 amended to read as follows:
   (c)  Any  person  required for medical reasons to be shielded from the
 direct rays of the sun and/or  any  person  operating  a  motor  vehicle
 belonging  to such person or in which such person is an habitual passen-
 ger shall be exempt from the provisions of subparagraphs one and two  of
 paragraph  (b) of this subdivision provided the commissioner has granted
 an exemption and notice of such exemption is affixed to the  vehicle  as
 directed  by  the  commissioner.  The  applicant for such exemption must
 provide a physician's OR NURSE PRACTITIONER'S statement with the  reason
 for the exemption, the name of the individual with a medically necessary
 condition  operating  or transported in the vehicle, the specific condi-
 tion involved, and the minimum level of light transmission required. The
 commissioner shall only authorize exemptions where the medical condition
 certified by the physician OR NURSE PRACTITIONER is contained on a  list
 of medical conditions prepared by the commissioner of health pursuant to
 S. 6801                             4
 
 subdivision sixteen of section two hundred six of the public health law.
 If  such  [such]  exemption  is  granted,  the commissioner shall make a
 record thereof and shall distribute a sufficiently noticeable sticker to
 the applicant to be attached to any window so shielded or altered pursu-
 ant to such exemption.
   §  8. Paragraph (iii) of subdivision 3 of section 509-d of the vehicle
 and traffic law, as added by chapter 675 of the laws of 1985, is amended
 to read as follows:
   (iii) the initial qualifying medical examination form and the biennial
 medical examination form completed by the carrier's physician  OR  NURSE
 PRACTITIONER;
   § 9. Section 509-k of the vehicle and traffic law, as added by chapter
 1050 of the laws of 1974, is amended to read as follows:
   § 509-k. Ill or fatigued operator. No driver shall operate a bus and a
 motor carrier shall not permit a driver to operate a bus while the driv-
 er's  ability  or  alertness  is  so  impaired,  or  so likely to become
 impaired, through fatigue, illness or any other cause,  as  to  make  it
 unsafe  for  him to begin or continue to operate the bus. At the request
 of the driver or the motor carrier such illness, fatigue, or other cause
 shall be certified by  a  qualified  physician  OR  NURSE  PRACTITIONER.
 However,  in  a case of grave emergency where the hazard to occupants of
 the bus or other users of the highway would be increased  by  compliance
 with  this  section,  the  driver may continue to operate the bus to the
 nearest place at which that hazard is removed.
   § 10. Subdivision 7 of section 1229-c of the vehicle and traffic  law,
 as  added  by  chapter  365  of  the laws of 1984, is amended to read as
 follows:
   7. The provisions of this section shall not apply to  a  passenger  or
 operator with a physically disabling condition whose physical disability
 would  prevent  appropriate restraint in such safety seat or safety belt
 provided, however, such condition is duly certified by  a  physician  OR
 NURSE  PRACTITIONER  who shall state the nature of the handicap, as well
 as the reason such restraint is inappropriate.
   § 11. Paragraph 1 of subdivision (a) of section 517 of  the  judiciary
 law,  as  amended by chapter 380 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read
 as follows:
   (1) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph two of this subdivision,
 the commissioner of jurors may, in his or her discretion, on the  appli-
 cation  of  a  prospective juror who has been summoned to attend, excuse
 such prospective juror from a part or the whole  of  the  time  of  jury
 service  or  may postpone the time of jury service to a later day during
 the same or any subsequent term of  the  court,  provided  that  if  the
 prospective  juror is a breastfeeding mother and submits with her appli-
 cation a note from a physician OR NURSE PRACTITIONER indicating that the
 prospective juror is breastfeeding, the commissioner  shall  excuse  the
 prospective  juror or postpone the time of jury service. The application
 shall be presented to the commissioner at such time and in  such  manner
 as  he or she shall require, except that an application for postponement
 of the initial date for jury service may be made by telephone.
   § 12. The amendments to the public health law, education law,  vehicle
 and  traffic  law,  and judiciary law enacted by this act shall  not  be
 construed to expand or contract the scope of practice of any health care
 professional under title 8 of the education law.
   § 13. This act shall take effect immediately.