Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1803 Compare Versions

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1	1	S.B. No. 1803
2	2
3	3
4	4	AN ACT
5	5	relating to the Glenda Dawson Donate Life-Texas Registry.
6	6	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
7	7	SECTION 1. Subsection (m), Section 49.002, Health and
8	8	Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
9	9	(m) In consultation with the Texas Organ, Tissue, and Eye
10	10	Donor Council, the department shall [may] implement a training
11	11	program for all appropriate Department of Public Safety and Texas
12	12	Department of Transportation employees on the benefits of organ,
13	13	tissue, and eye donation and the procedures for individuals to be
14	14	added to the statewide Internet-based registry of organ, tissue,
15	15	and eye donors. Department of Public Safety and Texas Department of
16	16	Transportation employees are not required to answer customer
17	17	questions about donation or transplantation. The Department of
18	18	Public Safety training under this section must include training on
19	19	asking the appropriate question under Section 521.401(c)(1)(B).
20	20	The department, with expert council input and support, shall
21	21	implement the training program [before the date that the statewide
22	22	Internet-based registry is operational] and [shall] conduct the
23	23	training on an ongoing basis for new employees.
24	24	SECTION 2. Subsection (d), Section 692.003, Health and
25	25	Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
26	26	(d) A gift made by a document other than a will is effective
27	27	on the death of the donor. The document may be a card designed to be
28	28	carried by the donor or another record signed by the donor or other
29	29	person making the gift. A statement or symbol in an online donor
30	30	registry and authorized by the donor indicating the donor has made
31	31	an anatomical gift may also serve as a document making a gift. To be
32	32	effective, the document must be signed by the donor in the presence
33	33	of two witnesses except as otherwise provided by Subchapter Q,
34	34	Chapter 521, Transportation Code, this subsection, or other law.
35	35	If the donor cannot sign the document, a person may sign the
36	36	document for the donor at the donor's direction and in the presence
37	37	of the donor and two witnesses. The witnesses to the signing of a
38	38	document under this subsection must sign the document in the
39	39	presence of the donor. Delivery of the document during the donor's
40	40	lifetime is not necessary to make the gift valid. An online
41	41	donation registration does not require the consent of another
42	42	person or require two witnesses. The online registration
43	43	constitutes a legal document under this chapter and remains binding
44	44	after the donor's death.
45	45	SECTION 3. Subchapter D, Chapter 502, Transportation Code,
46	46	is amended by adding Section 502.189 to read as follows:
47	47	Sec. 502.189. DONOR REGISTRY INFORMATION. (a) The
48	48	department, with expert input and support from the Texas Organ,
49	49	Tissue, and Eye Donor Council, shall:
50	50	(1) add a link from the department's Internet website
51	51	to the Donor Education, Awareness, and Registry Program of Texas
52	52	established under Chapter 49, Health and Safety Code; and
53	53	(2) provide a method to distribute donor registry
54	54	information to interested individuals in each office authorized to
55	55	issue motor vehicle registrations.
56	56	(b) The department shall make available for distribution to
57	57	each office authorized to issue motor vehicle registrations Donate
58	58	Life brochures that provide basic donor information in English and
59	59	Spanish and a contact phone number and e-mail address. The
60	60	department shall ensure that the question provided in Section
61	61	521.401(c)(1)(B) and information on the donor registry Internet
62	62	website is included with registration renewal notices.
63	63	SECTION 4. Section 521.401, Transportation Code, is amended
64	64	by amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (e) to read as
65	65	follows:
66	66	(c) Donor registry information [cards] shall be provided to
67	67	the department and the Texas Department of Transportation by
68	68	qualified organ or tissue procurement organizations or eye banks,
69	69	as those terms are defined in Section 692.002, Health and Safety
70	70	Code, or by the Donor Education, Awareness, and Registry Program of
71	71	Texas established under Chapter 49, Health and Safety Code. The
72	72	department, with expert input and support from the Texas Organ,
73	73	Tissue, and Eye Donor Council, shall:
74	74	(1) provide to each applicant for the issuance of an
75	75	original, renewal, corrected, or duplicate driver's license or
76	76	personal identification certificate who applies in person, by mail,
77	77	over the Internet, or by other electronic means:
78	78	(A) the opportunity to indicate on the person's
79	79	driver's license or personal identification certificate that the
80	80	person is willing to make an anatomical gift, in the event of death,
81	81	in accordance with Section 692.003, Health and Safety Code; and
82	82	(B) an opportunity for the person to consent in
83	83	writing to the department's provision of the person's name, date of
84	84	birth, driver's license number, most recent address, and other
85	85	information needed for identification purposes at the time of
86	86	donation to the organization selected by the commissioner of state
87	87	health services under Chapter 49, Health and Safety Code, for
88	88	inclusion in the statewide Internet-based registry of organ,
89	89	tissue, and eye donors and for release to qualified organ, tissue,
90	90	and eye bank organizations by specifically asking each applicant
91	91	only the question, "Would you like to register as an organ donor?";
92	92	and
93	93	(2) provide a means to distribute donor registry
94	94	information [cards] to interested individuals in each office
95	95	authorized to issue driver's licenses or personal identification
96	96	certificates.
97	97	(e) The department shall distribute at all field offices
98	98	Donate Life brochures that provide basic donation information in
99	99	English and Spanish and include a contact phone number and e-mail
100	100	address. The department shall include the question required under
101	101	Subsection (c)(1)(B) and information on the donor registry Internet
102	102	website in renewal notices.
103	103	SECTION 5. Not later than January 1, 2010:
104	104	(1) the Department of State Health Services shall
105	105	implement the training program required under Subsection (m),
106	106	Section 49.002, Health and Safety Code, as amended by this Act;
107	107	(2) the Department of Public Safety of the State of
108	108	Texas shall implement Section 521.401, Transportation Code, as
109	109	amended by this Act; and
110	110	(3) the Texas Department of Transportation shall
111	111	implement Section 502.189, Transportation Code, as added by this
112	112	Act.
113	113	SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
114	114	______________________________ ______________________________
115	115	President of the Senate Speaker of the House
116	116	I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1803 passed the Senate on
117	117	May 12, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
118	118	______________________________
119	119	Secretary of the Senate
120	120	I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1803 passed the House on
121	121	May 27, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 148, Nays 0, one
122	122	present not voting.
123	123	______________________________
124	124	Chief Clerk of the House
125	125	Approved:
126	126	______________________________
127	127	Date
128	128	______________________________
129	129	Governor