BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1395|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1395
Author: Alquist (D), et al
Amended: 5/12/10
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 8-0, 4/13/10
AYES: Lowenthal, Huff, Ashburn, DeSaulnier, Kehoe,
Oropeza, Pavley, Simitian
NO VOTE RECORDED: Harman
SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE : 5-0, 4/21/10
AYES: Alquist, Leno, Negrete McLeod, Pavley, Romero
NO VOTE RECORDED: Strickland, Aanestad, Cedillo, Cox
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT : Organ and tissue donation
SOURCE : Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
DIGEST : This bill requires, on and after July 1, 2011,
that a person applying for or renewing a California drivers
license or identification card indicate whether or not
he/she will be an organ donor, and also authorizes creation
of a living donor registry to sign up kidney donors.
ANALYSIS : Existing law authorizes California's
federally-designated organ procurement organizations (OPOs)
to establish a not-for-profit organization to be designated
the California Organ and Tissue Donation Registrar
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(Registrar). The OPOs established Donate Life California
as the Registrar, and Donate Life California established
and maintains the California Organ and Tissue Donor
Registry (Registry).
Under current law, the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV)
must ask all applicants for original or renewal driver's
licenses or identification cards if they want to become
organ and tissue donors. On the front of the application,
DMV provides space to give consent to be an organ and
tissue donor upon death. The application includes a
statement on the back explaining that this consent is
legally binding for those 18 and older and that minors
require consent from a parent or guardian. An applicant
need not answer in order to receive a driver's license or
identification card.
DMV prints the word "DONOR" inside a pink dot embedded on
the face of the driver's license or identification card of
each person who signs up and transmits the person's
information to Donate Life California.
A person who applies for a driver's license or
identification card may also designate a voluntary
contribution of $2 to support organ and tissue donation.
DMV collects these contributions, from which it deducts its
actual administrative costs of signing up donors, and then
DMV transmits the remainder to support the work of Donate
Life California.
This bill:
1. Requires, on and after July 1, 2011, an applicant for a
driver's license or identification card to check yes or
no as to whether to add his/her name to the organ donor
registry. An applicant must answer this question in
order to receive or renew his/her driver's license or
identification card.
2. Requires DMV to update its driver's license and
identification card applications to include yes or no
check boxes specifically stating "Yes, add my name to
the donor registry" or "I do not wish to register at
this time." DMV shall also provide a prescribed
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explanation on the application of what checking yes
means and information on how to remove one's name from
the registry later by contacting Donate Life.
3. Requires DMV inquire verbally of an applicant applying
in person for an original or renewal driver's license or
identification card at a department office as to whether
the applicant wishes to enroll in the organ donor
registry, and specifies that failure or refusal to
answer this question or check a box on the application
form shall not be a basis for DMV to deny an applicant a
driver's license or identification card.
4. Rewrites the information that DMV shall provide on the
back of the driver's license or identification card
application to clarify that if the applicant is 18 or
older, he/she has actually signed up by checking yes on
the front of the application and to provide more
information about what being a donor means.
5. Requires DMV to report annually for four years, plus
provide quarterly updates, to Donate Life California and
the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the
Legislature information on funds collected through the
voluntary contributions as well as a summary of
applicants, including non-identifiable information on
gender, zip code, year of birth, and method of
application (field office, online, or mail).
6. Authorizes the OPOs to create the Altruistic Living
Donor Registrar, which shall establish and maintain the
Altruistic Living Donor Registry for persons who would
like to identify themselves as kidney donors during
their lifetimes. This Altruistic Living Donor
Registrar:
A. Shall use information in the registry to expedite
matches between donors and potential recipients.
B. May receive voluntary contributions to support the
registry and other activities.
C. Shall collect and make available to the public
information on the number of donors on the registry,
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changes in the numbers of donors, and general donor
characteristics.
D. May expand the registry to include living donors
of organs and tissues other than kidneys if it can
make a finding that these types of donations are
generally safe, without significant risk of
complications, and would not adversely affect the
health of the donor.
Background
SB 108 (Speier), Chapter 740, Statutes of 2001, authorized
the establishment of an Organ and Tissue Donor Registry in
the California Health and Human Services Agency. The
Agency never received funding for the Registry, and in
2003, SB 112 (Speier), Chapter 405, transferred
responsibility for establishing the registry to a private,
nonprofit organization administered by the four
federally-designated OPOs. The four federally-designated
OPOs are:
1. California Transplant Donor Network, which serves 39
counties in northern and central California.
2. Golden State Donor Services, which serves 11 counties in
the Sacramento region.
3. Lifesharing Community Organ & Tissue Donation, which
serves San Diego and Imperial Counties.
4. OneLegacy, which serves counties in the Los Angeles
area.
SB 112 built on a provision of current law at that time
that required DMV to provide donor registration forms to
those applying for drivers' licenses or identification
cards. These forms included instructions to mail the
completed form to Donate Life California. Donate Life
California found this system an ineffective method of
signing up donors, and so in 2005 sponsored, SB 689
(Speier), Chapter 665, which requires DMV to collect organ
and tissue donor designation information on its
applications for driver's licenses and identification
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cards. Donate Life reports that approximately 25 percent
of those applying or renewing a driver's license or
identification card sign up to be donors.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/11/10)
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (source)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees
California Academy of Physician Assistants
California Hospital Association
California Medical Association
DaVita
Donate Life California
National Kidney Foundation
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The bill's sponsor, Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger, states: "Organ donation is one of
the kindest, most generous and powerful actions that each
and every one of us can take. With thousands of people in
California and throughout the nation currently waiting for
a transplant, this legislation represents a new and
important resource to increase donor rates, ? I am excited
to partner with the legislature to implement this
life-saving legislation and make California a leader in
organ donations."
Currently over 21,000 California residents are waiting for
organ transplants. It is estimated that one-third of these
people will die before they are able to receive the
donations that they need. Of those, over 17,000 are
waiting for a kidney transplant, and the waiting list
continues to grow.
This bill alters the process of applying for a new or
renewal driver's license or identification card so that one
must either enroll with the Donate Life California Organ
and Tissue Donor Registry or decline to enroll. The
author's office asserts that this change will increase the
chances that a person will add him/herself to the Registry.
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JJA:mw 5/12/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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