BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1202
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Date of Hearing: April 4, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
AB 1202 (Jeffries) - As Introduced: February 18, 2011
SUBJECT : Driver's license applications: discounts for organ
donors
SUMMARY : Requires an unspecified discount to be applied to the
application fee for driver's license applicants who enroll as
organ donors. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to provide an
application fee discount of unspecified proportions for
persons submitting an application for an original or renewal
driver's license or identification (ID) card when such persons
enroll in the Donate Life California Organ and Tissue Donor
Registry.
2)Requires DMV to work with the US Department of Health and
Human Services and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services in order to secure the necessary funding from the
federal government in order to implement these discount
provisions.
3)Makes the application discount operative at such time as DMV
certifies it has secured the necessary funding.
4)Requires DMV to notify the Secretary of State when the
discount becomes operative.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires an application for an original or renewal driver's
license or ID card to contain a space for the applicant to
enroll in the Donate Life California Organ and Tissue Donor
Registry.
2)Requires DMV to inquire verbally of an applicant applying in
person for an original or renewal driver's license or ID card
at a department office as to whether the applicant wishes to
enroll in the Registry. Failure or refusal to answer this
question or check a box on the application form may not be a
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basis for DMV to deny an applicant a driver's license or ID
card.
3)Requires DMV to collect donor designation information on all
applications for an original or renewal driver's license or ID
card.
4)Requires DMV to print the word "DONOR" or another appropriate
designation on the face of a driver's license or ID 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.
5)Requires DMV, on a weekly basis, to electronically transmit to
Donate Life California, specified information from every
application that indicates the applicant's decision to enroll
in the organ donation program.
6)Allows a person who applies for an original or renewal
driver's license or ID card to designate a voluntary
contribution of $2 for the purpose of promoting and supporting
organ and tissue donation. This contribution is collected by
DMV and treated as a voluntary contribution to Donate Life
California rather than as a fee for the issuance of a driver's
license or ID card.
7)Allows DMV to use a portion of these contributions to cover
its actual administrative costs incurred to implement this
program.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : One of the more successful public-private
partnerships in recent years has been the collaboration of DMV
and Donate Life California. By establishing an easy and
convenient means of recruiting and enrolling organ donors
through the license application process, this partnership has
vastly increased the participation of Californians in organ
donation efforts. Nevertheless, California's participation rate
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lags behind that of many other states, ranking 45th in the
nation with a 22% participation rate. This bill seeks to
increase that rate by offering an application fee discount for
driver's license applicants who sign up to be organ donors.
Noting that due to the high cost of dialysis ($77,000 per year),
a $100,000 kidney transplant, for instance, can pay for itself
in less than two years, the author declares, "If we can
encourage Californians to take a closer look and consider
becoming a donor we can not only save taxpayer dollars but save
thousands of precious lives."
As worthy a goal as this bill may be pursuing, it would only
become operative in the event that DMV is successful in
obtaining the funding necessary for its implementation from the
federal government. In an era of trillion dollar annual federal
deficits, when Congress is desperately searching for programs to
cut rather than to expand, this bill would seem to be sending
DMV on a hopeless mission. The author, however, has committed
to researching the prospects for obtaining such funding prior to
having this bill heard in the Senate.
It should also be noted that DMV has recently struggled simply
to produce and transmit driver's licenses on a timely basis.
Asking DMV to administer a program of variable driver's license
fees may not necessarily be a prudent request at this time.
Related legislation : AB 693 (Huffman) would remove DMV's
ability to recover its administrative costs for organ donor
enrollment from the voluntary contributions made by driver's
license applicants in support of organ donation programs. That
bill is set for hearing in the Transportation Committee at a
later date.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file
Opposition
None on file
AB 1202
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Analysis Prepared by : Howard Posner / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093