HBA-MPM C.S.H.B. 2394 76(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 2394 By: Maxey Public Health 4/30/1999 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Currently, the Texas Optometry Act regulates the practice of optometry in Texas. C.S.H.B. 2394 amends this Act to except certain applicants who wish to take a licensing examination to practice therapeutic optometry and who have not yet graduated from a college of optometry. Furthermore, this bill authorizes the Texas Optometry Board to issue a license to practice therapeutic optometry without requiring an applicant to pass all or part of the required examination under certain conditions. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Subsection (a), Article 4552-3.02, V.T.C.S. (Texas Optometry Act), to authorize an applicant to take an examination without having graduated from a reputable college of optometry if the dean of such a college that meets the requirements of the Texas Optometry Board (board) notifies the board in writing that the applicant is enrolled in good standing in the college and is in the final semester before graduation and the applicant meets the other requirements of this subsection. SECTION 2. Amends Article 3, Article 4552-3.01 et seq., V.T.C.S. (Texas Optometry Act), by adding Section 3.085, as follows: Sec. 3.085. LICENSE WITHOUT EXAMINATION. Authorizes the board to issue a license to practice therapeutic optometry without requiring the applicant to pass all or part of the examination required by Section 3.01 of this Act if: _the applicant is licensed in good standing as a therapeutic optometrist in another state, the District of Columbia, or a territory of the United States; _the applicant has passed an examination that is substantially equivalent to the examination required by Section 3.01 of this Act; _during at least five of the seven years preceding the application date, the applicant has been actively engaged in the practice of therapeutic optometry or engaged in full-time teaching at an accredited college of optometry or medicine; _there are no pending disciplinary actions against the applicant in the state, district, or territory in which the applicant is licensed; and _the applicant's license has never been suspended or revoked. SECTION 3. Effective date: September 1, 1999 SECTION 4. Emergency clause. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B. 2394 deletes SECTION 1 of the original, which amended Subsection (i), Article 4552.2.02, V.T.C.S. (Texas Optometry Act) to prohibit the time a person serving on the Texas Optometry Board (board) prior to September 1, 1998, rather than 1981, from counting toward the limitation under that subdivision, which prohibits a person from serving more than two complete terms on the board. The substitute adds new SECTION 1, which amends Section 3.02(a), Article 4552-3.02, V.T.C.S. (Texas Optometry Act), to authorize an applicant to take an examination without having graduated from a reputable college of optometry if the dean of such a college that meets the requirements of the board notifies the board in writing that the applicant is enrolled in good standing in the college and is in the final semester before graduation and the applicant meets the other requirements of this subsection. The substitute deletes the following proposed text from the original bill: SECTION 3. Amends Article 4552-4.07, V.T.C.S. (Texas Optometry Act), by adding Subsections (d)-(g), regarding information and materials compiled by the board in connection with a complaint or investigation and disclosure procedures. SECTION 4. Amends Article 4552.-506., V.T.C.S. (Texas Optometry Act), by amending it to include contact lenses among those items it is unlawful or any person in this state to give, or cause to be given, deliver, or cause to be delivered, as an inducement to sell any item of merchandise. SECTION 5. Amends Subsection (b), Article 4552-5.11, V.T.C.S. (Texas Optometry Act), to add Subdivisions (7) and (8), regarding additional definitions under the term "controlling or attempting to control the professional judgment, the manner of practice, or the practice of an optometrist or therapeutic optometrist." SECTION 6. Amends Subsections (a) and (c), Article 4552-5.12, V.T.C.S. (Texas Optometry Act), regarding the determination of an optometrist or therapeutic optometrist that a patient requires an opthalmic lens. SECTION 7. Amends Subsections (b), (c), and (j), Article 4552-5.13, V.T.C.S. (Texas Optometry Act), regarding nonsubstantive changes. SECTION 8. Amends Subsection (a), Article 4552-5.14, V.T.C.S. (Texas Optometry Act), to make a nonsubstantive change. SECTIONS 9 (effective date) and 10 (emergency clause) of the original bill are redesignated to SECTIONS 3 and 4 of the substitute.