88R12232 MCF-F
By: Guerra H.B. No. 4136
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to publication of national organ transplant waiting list
information on the Department of State Health Services' Internet
website and donors included in the anatomical gift registry.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. 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 personal
identification certificate in the manner described by Section
521.401, Transportation Code, indicating the donor is willing to
make an anatomical gift [card];
(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 2. Chapter 692A, Health and Safety Code, is amended
by adding Section 692A.024 to read as follows:
Sec. 692A.024. INFORMATION ON NATIONAL WAITING LIST FOR
ORGAN TRANSPLANT. The department shall prepare and publish on the
department's Internet website information on the steps necessary to
be placed on the national waiting list for obtaining an organ
transplant.
SECTION 3. 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 4. 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, an opportunity for
the person to:
(A) include a statement or symbol imprinted [the
opportunity to 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
(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
(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) specifically ask each applicant only the question,
"Ninety percent of Texans believe in organ donation; would you like
to join the organ donor registry?" ["Would you like to register as
an organ donor?"]; and
(2) if the applicant responds affirmatively to the
question asked under 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.
(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 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, 2023.