(a) The State Board of Optometry shall consist of 13 members, all of whom shall be residents of Pennsylvania. Eight members shall be optometrists who are licensed to practice in Pennsylvania and who have been practicing optometry in Pennsylvania for at least the five-year period immediately preceding their appointment. Three members shall be persons representing the public at large, one member shall be the Commissioner of Professional and Occupational Affairs and one member shall be the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection in the Office of Attorney General or his designee. The professional and public members of the board shall be appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of a majority of the members elected to the Senate.

(b) All professional and public members shall serve for terms of four years. No member shall be eligible for appointment to serve more than two consecutive terms. A member may continue to serve for a period not to exceed six months following the expiration of his or her term if a successor has not been duly appointed and qualified according to law.

(c) A majority of the members of the board serving in accordance with law shall constitute a quorum. Except for temporary and automatic suspensions under section 7,¹ a member may not be counted as part of a quorum or vote on any issue, unless he or she is physically in attendance at the meeting. The board shall select, from among its membership, a chairman, a vice chairman and a secretary.

(d) Each public and professional member of the board shall be paid reasonable traveling, hotel and other necessary expenses incurred in the performance of his or her duties in accordance with Commonwealth regulations and per diem compensation at the rate of $60 for each day of actual service while on board business.

(e) A member who fails to attend three consecutive meetings shall forfeit his or her seat unless the Commissioner of Professional and Occupational Affairs, upon written request from the member, finds that the member should be excused from a meeting because of illness or the death of an immediate family member.

(f) In the event that a member of the board dies or resigns or otherwise becomes disqualified during a term of office, a successor shall be appointed in the same manner and with the same qualifications as set forth in subsection (a) and shall hold office for the unexpired term.

(g) A public member who fails to attend two consecutive statutorily mandated seminars in accordance with section 813(e) of the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L. 177, No. 175), known as “The Administrative Code of 1929,”² shall forfeit his or her seat unless the Commissioner of Professional and Occupational Affairs, upon written request from the public member, finds that the public member should be excused from a meeting because of illness or the death of a family member.