85R7950 AJZ-F
By: Villalba H.B. No. 1938
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to certain registrations for the anatomical gift registry.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 502.189(b), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(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) [521.401(c)(1)(B)] and information on the donor
registry Internet website is included with registration renewal
notices.
SECTION 2. Sections 521.401(c), (c-1), and (e),
Transportation Code, are amended to read as follows:
(c) Donor registry information shall be provided to the
department and the Texas Department of Transportation by organ
procurement organizations, tissue banks, or eye banks, as those
terms are defined in Section 692A.002, Health and Safety Code, or by
the Glenda Dawson Donate Life-Texas Registry operated under Chapter
692A, Health and Safety Code. The department, with expert input and
support from the nonprofit organization administering the Glenda
Dawson Donate Life-Texas Registry, 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) if the applicant is younger than 18 years of
age:
(i) 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 692A.005, Health and Safety
Code; and
(ii) [(B)] an opportunity for the person to
consent to inclusion in the statewide Internet-based registry of
organ, tissue, and eye donors and release to procurement
organizations in the manner provided by Subsection (c-1); and
(B) if the applicant is 18 years of age or older:
(i) the opportunity to refuse 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 692A.005, Health
and Safety Code; and
(ii) an opportunity for the person to
refuse to consent to inclusion in the statewide Internet-based
registry of organ, tissue, and eye donors and release to
procurement organizations in the manner provided by Subsection
(c-1); and
(2) provide a means to distribute donor registry
information to interested individuals in each office authorized to
issue driver's licenses or personal identification certificates.
(c-1) The department shall:
(1) for an applicant younger than 18 years of age:
(A) specifically ask each applicant only the
question, "Would you like to register as an organ donor?"; and
(B) [(2)] if the applicant responds
affirmatively to the question asked under Paragraph (A)
[Subdivision (1)], provide 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
nonprofit organization contracted to maintain the statewide donor
registry under Section 692A.020, Health and Safety Code, for
inclusion in the registry; and
(2) for an applicant who is 18 years of age or older:
(A) specifically ask each applicant the
question, "Would you like to refuse to join the organ donor
registry?" and state, "If you answer 'no' to the previous question
or do not answer the previous question, you consent to join the
organ donor registry by performing either of those actions."; and
(B) if the applicant does not affirmatively
refuse to be included in the registry under Paragraph (A), provide
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 nonprofit organization
contracted to maintain the statewide donor registry under Section
692A.020, Health and Safety Code, for inclusion in the registry.
(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) [(c)(1)(B)] and information on the donor registry
Internet website in renewal notices.
SECTION 3. Section 692A.005(a), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) A donor may make an anatomical gift:
(1) on inclusion in the Glenda Dawson Donate
Life-Texas Registry, as demonstrated by [authorizing] a statement
or symbol indicating that the donor has made an anatomical gift [to
be] imprinted on the donor's driver's license or identification
card in the manner described by Section 521.401, Transportation
Code;
(2) in a will;
(3) during a terminal illness or injury of the donor,
by any form of communication addressed to at least two adults, at
least one of whom is a disinterested witness; or
(4) as provided in Subsection (b).
SECTION 4. Section 692A.007(a), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) An individual may refuse to make an anatomical gift of
the individual's body or part by:
(1) a record signed by:
(A) the individual; or
(B) subject to Subsection (b), another
individual acting at the direction of the individual if the
individual is physically unable to sign;
(2) the individual's will, whether or not the will is
admitted to probate or invalidated after the individual's death;
[or]
(3) any form of communication made by the individual
during the individual's terminal illness or injury addressed to at
least two adults, at least one of whom is a disinterested witness;
or
(4) the individual's application for an original,
renewal, corrected, or duplicate driver's license or personal
identification certificate, in the manner described by Section
521.401, Transportation Code, if the individual is 18 years of age
or older.
SECTION 5. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
a driver's license or personal identification certificate for which
an application is submitted on or after the effective date of this
Act. A driver's license or personal identification certificate for
which an application was submitted before the effective date of
this Act is governed by the law as it existed immediately before the
effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.