BILL NUMBER: SB 1395 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 5, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Senator Alquist
FEBRUARY 19, 2010
An act to add Chapter 3.56 (commencing with Section 7152) to
Part 1 of Division 7 of the Health and Safety Code, and to
amend Section 12811 of the Vehicle Code, relating to organ donation.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1395, as amended, Alquist. Organ donation: driver's
licenses. donation.
Existing law authorizes the creation of a not-for-profit entity to
be designated as the California Organ and Tissue Donor Registrar and
authorizes the establishment and maintenance of the Donate Life
California Organ and Tissue Donor Registry for persons who have
identified themselves as organ and tissue donors upon their death.
This bill would authorize the creation of a not-for-profit entity
to be designated as the Altruistic Living Donor Registrar and
authorizes the establishment and maintenance of the Altruistic Living
Donor Registry for persons who would like to identify themselves as
kidney donors during their lifetime. This bill would also permit the
registry to include persons who identify themselves as donors of
organs and tissue other than kidneys if the registrar makes a
specified finding.
This bill would require the information contained in the registry
be made available to federally designated organ procurement
organizations (OPOs) and transplant centers in California to expedite
matches between identified organ donors and potential recipients.
This bill would permit the registrar to receive voluntary
contributions to support the registry and its activities.
Under existing law, the Department of Motor Vehicles is required
to include on an application for a new or renewal driver's license
or identification card a space for the applicant to give
his or her consent to be an organ or tissue donor upon death and a
specified statement regarding organ donation. Existing law also
allows an applicant for a new or renewal license to designate a
voluntary donation of $2 for the purpose of promoting and supporting
organ and tissue donation.
This bill would, instead, require the department to include on an
application for a new or renewal driver's license or
identification card specified language asking the applicant if
he or she wants to enroll with the Donate Life California Organ and
Tissue Donor Registry and giving the applicant information about the
registry, including disenrollment information. The bill would also
require the department to transmit to the Donate Life California
Organ and Tissue Donor Registry and the appropriate fiscal committees
of the Legislature an annual report, and to make available quarterly
updates, detailing funds collected through voluntary contributions
from applicants as well as a summary of specified nonidentifiable
applicant information.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 3.56 (commencing with Section
7152) is added to Part 1 of Division 7 of the Health and
Safety Code , to read:
CHAPTER 3.56. ALTRUISTIC LIVING DONOR REGISTRY ACT
7152. This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the
Altruistic Living Donor Registry Act of 2010.
7152.1. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) More than 20,000 Californians are currently waiting for a
lifesaving organ transplant, and over 17,000 of those individuals are
waiting for a kidney transplant. Based on the current trend in organ
donations, one in three of those waiting for a transplant will die.
In 2009, 5,874 Americans died while waiting for a transplant.
(2) On a national level, the number of organ donors increased by 3
percent from the years 2008 to 2009, while the number of organ
donors in California decreased by 2 percent during this same time
period. In 2009, there were only 798 cadaveric donors and 734 living
donors in California.
(3) A decrease in organ donors results in longer stays on the
national organ transplant waiting list and, consequently, more deaths
among those patients who are waiting.
(4) The national organ transplant waiting list, which is
maintained by the United Network for Organ Sharing, is growing at the
rate of approximately 40,000 persons per year. A name is added to
this national database every 13 minutes.
(5) Since 2005, more than six million Californians have registered
to donate their organs and tissue upon death.
(6) However, no registry exists in California for those
individuals who wish to be an altruistic living organ donor.
(b) The use of anatomical gifts, and the donation of organs for
the purpose of transplantation, is of great value to the citizens of
California and may save or prolong the life, or improve the health
of, extremely ill and dying individuals.
(c) It is the intent of the Legislature to increase the number of
individuals who identify themselves as potential organ donors. It is
further the intent of the Legislature to establish a statewide
Altruistic Living Donor Registry to expedite the match between organ
donors and recipients and to encourage charitable contributions to
support the registry.
7152.2. (a) The California organ procurement organizations
designated pursuant to Section 273 and following of Title 42 of the
United States Code, are hereby authorized to establish a
not-for-profit entity that shall be designated the Altruistic Living
Donor Registrar, which shall establish and maintain the Altruistic
Living Donor Registry. The registry shall contain information
regarding persons who have identified themselves as altruistic living
kidney donors. The donor registry shall be designed to promote and
assist live kidney donations, including paired exchanges and
nondirected donations. The registrar shall be responsible for
developing methods to increase the number of donors who enroll in the
registry.
(b) The registrar shall make available to the federally designated
organ procurement organizations (OPOs) and transplant centers in
California information contained in the registry regarding potential
altruistic living donors. This information shall be used to expedite
a match between identified organ donors and potential recipients.
(c) The registrar may receive voluntary contributions to support
the registry and its activities.
(d) The registrar shall collect and make all of the following
information relating to altruistic kidney donations available to the
public:
(1) The number of donors on the registry.
(2) The changes in the number of donors on the registry.
(3) The general characteristics of donors.
(e) The registrar may also authorize the registry to include
persons who identify themselves as altruistic living donors of organs
and tissue other than kidneys to be added to the registry, upon a
finding by the registrar that the donation is generally regarded as
safe and without a significant risk of complications, and would not
adversely affect the health of the donor. Upon a finding pursuant to
this subdivision, the registrar shall notify the appropriate policy
committees of the Legislature.
SECTION 1. SEC. 2. Section 12811 of
the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
12811. (a) (1) (A) When the department determines that the
applicant is lawfully entitled to a license, it shall issue to the
person a driver's license as applied for. The license shall state the
class of license for which the licensee has qualified and shall
contain the distinguishing number assigned to the applicant, the date
of expiration, the true full name, age, and mailing address of the
licensee, a brief description and engraved picture or photograph of
the licensee for the purpose of identification, and space for the
signature of the licensee.
(B) Each license shall also contain a space for the endorsement of
a record of each suspension or revocation thereof.
(C) The department shall use whatever process or processes, in the
issuance of engraved or colored licenses, that prohibit, as near as
possible, the ability to alter or reproduce the license, or prohibit
the ability to superimpose a picture or photograph on the license
without ready detection.
(2) In addition to the requirements of paragraph (1), a license
issued to a person under 18 years of age shall display the words
"provisional until age 18."
(b) (1) An application for an original or renewal of a driver's
license or identification card shall contain a space for an applicant
to enroll with the Donate Life California Organ and Tissue Donor
Registry.
(2) The applicant shall be required to check one of the following
answers: (A) Yes, add my name to the donor registry, or (B) I do not
wish to register at this time.
(3) The following language shall be included with the question
required by paragraph (2):
"Marking 'Yes' adds your name to the Donate Life California Organ
and Tissue Donor Registry and a pink 'donor' dot will appear on your
license. If you wish to remove your name from the registry you must
contact Donate Life California (see back); DMV can remove the pink
dot from your licenses but cannot remove you from the registry."
(4) The back of the application shall contain the following
statement:
"If , on the front of this form , you marked
'Yes' to register as an organ and tissue donor you are legally
authorizing the recovery of organs and tissues in the event of your
death. Registering as a donor will not affect your medical treatment
in any way. As outlined in the California Anatomical Gift Act, your
authorization is legally binding and, unless the donor is under 18
years of age, your decision does not require the consent of any other
person. For registered donors under 18 years of age, the legal
guardian shall make the final donation decision. You may limit your
donation to specific organs or tissues, place usage restrictions, for
example transplantation or research, obtain more information about
donation, or remove your name from the registry on the Internet Web
site of Donate Life California: www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org."
(5) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person under 18
years of age may register as a donor. However, the legal guardian of
that person shall make the final decision regarding the donation.
(6) The department shall collect donor designation information on
all applications for an original or renewal driver's license or
identification card.
(7) The department shall print the word "DONOR" or another
appropriate designation on the face of a driver's license or
identification card to a person who has indicated on the application
his or her intent to enroll in the organ donation program pursuant to
this section.
(8) On a weekly basis, the department shall electronically
transmit to Donate Life California, a nonprofit organization
established and designated as the California Organ and Tissue Donor
Registrar pursuant to Section 7150.90 of the Health and Safety Code,
all of the following information from every application that
indicates the applicant's decision to enroll in the organ donation
program:
(A) His or her true full name.
(B) His or her residence or mailing address.
(C) His or her date year of birth.
(D) His or her California driver's license number or
identification card number.
(9) (A) A person who applies for an original or renewal driver's
license or identification card may designate a voluntary contribution
of two dollars ($2) for the purpose of promoting and supporting
organ and tissue donation. This contribution shall be collected by
the department, and treated as a voluntary contribution to Donate
Life California and not as a fee for the issuance of a driver's
license or identification card.
(B) The department may use the donations collected pursuant to
this paragraph to cover its actual administrative costs incurred
pursuant to paragraphs (3) to (5), (6) to
(8), inclusive. The department shall deposit all revenue
derived pursuant to this paragraph and remaining after the department'
s deduction for administrative costs in the Donate Life California
Trust Subaccount, that is hereby created in the Motor Vehicle Account
in the State Transportation Fund. Notwithstanding Section 13340 of
the Government Code, all revenue in this subaccount is continuously
appropriated, without regard to fiscal years, to the Controller for
allocation to Donate Life California and shall be expended for the
purpose of increasing participation in organ donation programs.
(C) The department shall transmit to the Donate Life California
Organ and Tissue Donor Registry and the appropriate policy and
fiscal committees of the Legislature an annual report, and
shall make available quarterly updates, detailing funds collected
through voluntary contributions as well as a summary of applicants,
including all of the following nonidentifiable information:
(i) Date of application.
(ii) Method of application (field office, online, or mail).
(iii) Donor registration status.
(iv) Zip code.
(v) Gender.
(vi) Date Year of birth.
(D) (i) The annual report to be submitted to the appropriate
policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature pursuant to
subparagraph (C) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795
of the Government Code.
(ii) Pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, the
requirement for submitting the annual report to the appropriate
policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature imposed under
subparagraph (C) is inoperative four years after the date the first
annual report is due.
(10) The enrollment form shall be posted on the Internet Web sites
for the department and the California Health and Human Services
Agency.
(11) The enrollment shall constitute a legal document pursuant to
the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section
7150) of Part 1 of Division 7 of the Health and Safety Code) and
shall remain binding after the donor's death despite any express
desires of next of kin opposed to the donation. Except as provided in
paragraph (2) (5) of subdivision (b),
the donation does not require the consent of any other person.
(12) Donate Life California shall ensure that all additions and
deletions to the California Organ and Tissue Donor Registry,
established pursuant to Section 7150.90 of the Health and Safety
Code, shall occur within 30 days of receipt.
(13) Information obtained by Donate Life California for the
purposes of this subdivision shall be used for these purposes only
and shall not be disseminated further by Donate Life California.
(c) A public entity or employee shall not be liable for loss,
detriment, or injury resulting directly or indirectly from false or
inaccurate information contained in the form provided pursuant to
subdivision (b).
(d) A contract shall not be awarded to a nongovernmental entity
for the processing of driver's licenses, unless the contract conforms
to all applicable state contracting laws and all applicable
procedures set forth in the State Contracting Manual.
(e) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2006.