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. Subsection (m), Section 49.002, 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. Department of Public Safety and Texas Department of
Transportation employees are not required to answer customer
questions about donation or transplantation. The Department of
Public Safety training under this section must include training on
asking the appropriate question under Section 521.401(c)(1)(B).
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. Subsection (d), Section 692.003, 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 or another record signed by the donor or other
person making the gift. A statement or symbol in an online donor
registry and authorized by the donor indicating the donor has made
an anatomical gift may also serve as a document making a gift. 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, this subsection, 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. An online
donation registration does not require the consent of another
person or require two witnesses. The online registration
constitutes a legal document under this chapter and remains binding
after the donor's death.
SECTION 3. Subchapter D, Chapter 502, Transportation Code,
is amended by adding Section 502.189 to read as follows:
Sec. 502.189. DONOR REGISTRY INFORMATION. (a) The
department, with expert input and support from the Texas Organ,
Tissue, and Eye Donor Council, shall:
(1) add a link from the department's Internet website
to the Donor Education, Awareness, and Registry Program of Texas
established under Chapter 49, Health and Safety Code; and
(2) provide a method to distribute donor registry
information to interested individuals in each office authorized to
issue motor vehicle registrations.
(b) The department shall make available for distribution to
each office authorized to issue motor vehicle registrations Donate
Life brochures that provide basic donor information in English and
Spanish and a contact phone number and e-mail address. The
department shall ensure that the question provided in Section
521.401(c)(1)(B) and information on the donor registry Internet
website is included with registration renewal notices.
SECTION 4. Section 521.401, Transportation Code, is amended
by amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (e) to read as
follows:
(c) Donor registry information [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, with expert input and support from the Texas Organ,
Tissue, and Eye Donor Council, shall:
(1) provide to each applicant for the issuance of an
original, renewal, corrected, or duplicate driver's license or
personal identification certificate 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
only the question, "Would you like to register as an organ donor?";
and
(2) provide a means to distribute donor registry
information [cards] to interested individuals in each office
authorized to issue driver's licenses or personal identification
certificates.
(e) The department shall distribute at all field offices
Donate Life brochures that provide basic donation information in
English and Spanish and include a contact phone number and e-mail
address. The department shall include the question required under
Subsection (c)(1)(B) and information on the donor registry Internet
website in renewal notices.
SECTION 5. Not later than January 1, 2010:
(1) the Department of State Health Services shall
implement the training program required under Subsection (m),
Section 49.002, Health and Safety Code, as amended by this Act;
(2) the Department of Public Safety of the State of
Texas shall implement Section 521.401, Transportation Code, as
amended by this Act; and
(3) the Texas Department of Transportation shall
implement Section 502.189, Transportation Code, as added by this
Act.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.