81R9754 YDB-F
By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 1803
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the Glenda Dawson Donate Life Texas Registry.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 49.002(m), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(m) In consultation with the Texas Organ, Tissue, and Eye
Donor Council, the department shall [may] implement a training
program for all appropriate Department of Public Safety and Texas
Department of Transportation employees on the benefits of organ,
tissue, and eye donation and the procedures for individuals to be
added to the statewide Internet-based registry of organ, tissue,
and eye donors. The department, with expert council input and
support, shall implement the training program before the date that
the statewide Internet-based registry is operational and shall
conduct the training on an ongoing basis for new employees.
SECTION 2. Section 692.003(d), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(d) A gift made by a document other than a will is effective
on the death of the donor. The document may be a card designed to be
carried by the donor. To be effective, the document must be signed
by the donor in the presence of two witnesses except as otherwise
provided by Subchapter Q, Chapter 521, Transportation Code, or
other law. If the donor cannot sign the document, a person may sign
the document for the donor at the donor's direction and in the
presence of the donor and two witnesses. The witnesses to the
signing of a document under this subsection must sign the document
in the presence of the donor. Delivery of the document during the
donor's lifetime is not necessary to make the gift valid.
SECTION 3. Section 521.401(c), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(c) Donor cards shall be provided to the department and the
Texas Department of Transportation by qualified organ or tissue
procurement organizations or eye banks, as those terms are defined
in Section 692.002, Health and Safety Code, or by the Donor
Education, Awareness, and Registry Program of Texas established
under Chapter 49, Health and Safety Code. The department and the
Texas Department of Transportation shall:
(1) provide to each applicant for the issuance of an
original, renewal, corrected, or duplicate driver's license or
personal identification certificate or motor vehicle registration
who applies in person, by mail, over the Internet, or by other
electronic means:
(A) the opportunity to indicate on the person's
driver's license or personal identification certificate that the
person is willing to make an anatomical gift, in the event of death,
in accordance with Section 692.003, Health and Safety Code; and
(B) an opportunity for the person to consent in
writing to the department's provision of the person's name, date of
birth, driver's license number, most recent address, and other
information needed for identification purposes at the time of
donation to the organization selected by the commissioner of state
health services under Chapter 49, Health and Safety Code, for
inclusion in the statewide Internet-based registry of organ,
tissue, and eye donors and for release to qualified organ, tissue,
and eye bank organizations by specifically asking each applicant
the question, "Would you like to register as an organ donor?"; and
(2) provide a means to distribute donor cards to
interested individuals in each office authorized to issue driver's
licenses or personal identification certificates.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.