86R4955 SRA-F
By: Thierry H.B. No. 609
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 include a statement
or symbol imprinted [indicate] on the person's driver's license or
personal identification certificate indicating 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 of the person's information in the statewide
Internet-based registry of organ, tissue, and eye donors and
release of the information 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 inclusion of
a statement or symbol imprinted on the person's driver's license or
personal identification certificate indicating 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 consent for inclusion of the person's information in the
statewide Internet-based registry of organ, tissue, and eye donors
and for release of the information 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 each applicant younger than 18 years of age:
(A) specifically ask the [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 each applicant who is 18 years of age or older:
(A) specifically ask the applicant the question,
"Would you like to refuse inclusion in the organ donor registry?"
and provide the following statement in highlighted, capital
letters, "BY EITHER ANSWERING 'NO' TO THE PREVIOUS QUESTION OR NOT
ANSWERING THE PREVIOUS QUESTION, YOU CONSENT FOR YOUR INFORMATION
TO BE INCLUDED IN THE ORGAN DONOR REGISTRY."; and
(B) if the applicant does not under Paragraph (A)
affirmatively refuse inclusion of the person's information in the
registry, provide to the nonprofit organization contracted to
maintain the statewide donor registry under Section 692A.020,
Health and Safety Code, for inclusion in the registry 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.
(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 questions [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) for an individual 18 years of age or older,
submission of the individual's refusal with 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.
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, 2019.