BILL REQ. #:  S-0026.4 

Read first time 01/28/2003.   Referred to Committee on Health & Long-Term Care.

     AN ACT Relating to the organ donor registry; amending RCW 68.50.540; adding new sections to chapter 68.50 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 46.20 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 46.12 RCW; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that the use of anatomical gifts, including the donation of organ or tissue, for the purpose of transplantation is of great interest to the citizens of Washington state and may save or prolong the life or improve the health of extremely ill and dying persons.
     The legislature further finds that more than eighty thousand people are currently waiting for life-saving organ transplants on the national transplant waiting list. More than one thousand two hundred of these people are listed at Washington state transplant centers. Seventeen people die each day as a result of the shortage of donated organs.
     The creation of a statewide organ and tissue donor registry is crucial to facilitate timely and successful organ and tissue procurement. The legislature further finds that continuing education as to the existence and maintenance of a statewide organ and tissue donor registry is in the best interest of the people of the state of Washington.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 68.50 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The department of licensing shall electronically transfer to the federally designated organ procurement organization all information that appears on the front of a driver's license or identicard including the name, gender, date of birth, and most recent address of any person who obtains a driver's license or identicard who volunteers to donate organs or tissue upon death. All subsequent electronic transfers of donor information shall be at no charge to the federally designated organ procurement organization.
     (2) Information obtained by the federally designated organ procurement organization shall be used for the purpose of establishing a statewide organ and tissue donor registry accessible to in-state recognized cadaveric organ and cadaveric tissue agencies for the recovery or placement of organs and tissue and to procurement agencies in another state when a Washington state resident is a donor of an anatomical gift and is not located in this state at the time of death or immediately before the death of the donor.
     (3) No organ or tissue donation organization may obtain information from the organ and tissue donor registry for the purposes of fund raising. Organ and tissue donor registry information may not be further disseminated unless authorized in this section or by federal law. Dissemination of organ and tissue donor registry information may be made by the organ procurement organization to a recognized in-state procurement agency for other tissue recovery, or an out-of-state federally designated organ procurement organization.
     (4) The federally designated organ procurement organization may acquire donor information from sources other than the department of licensing.
     (5) All reasonable costs associated with the creation and maintenance of the organ and tissue donor registry shall be paid by Washington state organ procurement organizations.
     (6) Moneys from the organ and tissue donation awareness account, created in section 6 of this act, shall be transferred to the department of licensing for the reasonable costs associated with the initial installation and setup for electronic transfer of the donor information and for other costs as required by section 7 of this act.
     (7) An individual does not need to participate in the organ and tissue donor registry to be a donor of organs or tissue. The registry is to facilitate organ and tissue donations and not inhibit persons from being donors upon death.

Sec. 3   RCW 68.50.540 and 1995 c 132 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) An individual who is at least eighteen years of age, or an individual who is at least sixteen years of age as provided in subsection (12) of this section, may (a) make an anatomical gift for any of the purposes stated in RCW 68.50.570(1), (b) limit an anatomical gift to one or more of those purposes, or (c) refuse to make an anatomical gift.
     (2) An anatomical gift may be made by a document of gift signed by the donor. If the donor cannot sign, the document of gift must be signed by another individual and by two witnesses, all of whom have signed at the direction and in the presence of the donor and of each other and state that it has been so signed.
     (3) If a document of gift is attached to or imprinted on a donor's motor vehicle operator's license, the document of gift must comply with subsection (2) of this section. Revocation, suspension, expiration, or cancellation of the license does not invalidate the anatomical gift.
     (4) The donee or other person authorized to accept the anatomical gift may employ or authorize a physician, surgeon, technician, or enucleator to carry out the appropriate procedures.
     (5) An anatomical gift by will takes effect upon death of the testator, whether or not the will is probated. If, after death, the will is declared invalid for testamentary purposes, the validity of the anatomical gift is unaffected.
     (6)(a) A donor may amend or revoke an anatomical gift, not made by will, by:
     (((a))) (i) A signed statement;
     (((b))) (ii) An oral statement made in the presence of two individuals;
     (((c))) (iii) Any form of communication during a terminal illness or injury; or
     (((d))) (iv) The delivery of a signed statement to a specified donee to whom a document of gift had been delivered.
     (b) A donor shall notify the federally designated organ procurement organization of the destruction, cancellation, or mutilation of the document for the purpose of removing the person's name from the organ and tissue donor registry created in section 2 of this act.
     (7) The donor of an anatomical gift made by will may amend or revoke the gift in the manner provided for amendment or revocation of wills, or as provided in subsection (6) of this section.
     (8) An anatomical gift that is not revoked by the donor before death is irrevocable and does not require the consent or concurrence of a person after the donor's death.
     (9) An individual may refuse to make an anatomical gift of the individual's body or part by (a) a writing signed in the same manner as a document of gift, (b) a statement attached to or imprinted on a donor's motor vehicle operator's license, or (c) another writing used to identify the individual as refusing to make an anatomical gift. During a terminal illness or injury, the refusal may be an oral statement or other form of communication.
     (10) In the absence of contrary indications by the donor, an anatomical gift of a part is neither a refusal to give other parts nor a limitation on an anatomical gift under RCW 68.50.550.
     (11) In the absence of contrary indications by the donor, a revocation or amendment of an anatomical gift is not a refusal to make another anatomical gift. If the donor intends a revocation to be a refusal to make an anatomical gift, the donor shall make the refusal pursuant to subsection (9) of this section.
     (12) An individual who is under the age of eighteen, but is at least sixteen years of age, may make an anatomical gift as provided by subsection (2) of this section, if the document of gift is also signed by either parent or a guardian of the donor. A document of gift signed by a donor under the age of eighteen that is not signed by either parent or a guardian shall not be considered valid until the person reaches the age of eighteen, but may be considered as evidence that the donor has not refused permission to make an anatomical gift under the provisions of RCW 68.50.550.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   A new section is added to chapter 46.20 RCW to read as follows:
     The department shall electronically transfer the information of all persons who upon application for a driver's license or identicard volunteer to donate organs or tissue to the registry created in section 2 of this act, and any subsequent changes to the applicant's donor status.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   A new section is added to chapter 46.12 RCW to read as follows:
     An applicant for a new or renewed registration for a vehicle required to be registered under this chapter or chapter 46.16 RCW may make a donation of one dollar or more to the organ and tissue donation awareness account to promote the donation of organs and tissues under the provisions of the uniform anatomical gift act, RCW 68.50.520 through 68.50.630. The department shall collect the donations and transmit them to the state treasurer, who shall credit the donation to the organ and tissue donation awareness account, created in section 6 of this act. At least quarterly, the state treasurer shall transmit donations made to the organ and tissue donation awareness account to the living legacy foundation. The donation of one or more dollars is voluntary and may be refused by the applicant. The department shall make available informational booklets or other informational sources on the importance of organ and tissue donations to applicants.
     The department shall inquire of each applicant at the time the completed application is presented whether the applicant is interested in making a donation of one dollar or more and shall also specifically inform the applicant of the option for organ and tissue donations as required by RCW 46.20.113. The department shall also provide written information to each applicant volunteering to become an organ and tissue donor. The written information shall disclose that the applicant's name shall be transmitted to the organ and tissue donor registry created in section 2 of this act, and that the applicant shall notify the federally designated organ procurement organization of any changes to the applicant's donor status.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   A new section is added to chapter 68.50 RCW to read as follows:
     The organ and tissue donation awareness account is created in the custody of the state treasurer. All receipts from donations made under section 5 of this act, and other contributions and appropriations specifically made for the purposes of organ and tissue donor awareness, shall be deposited into the account. Expenditures from the account may be used only for organ and tissue donor awareness programs and for those costs set out in sections 2(6) and 7 of this act. The state treasurer or the treasurer's designee may authorize expenditures from the account. At least quarterly, the state treasurer shall authorize expenditures in compliance with this section and sections 2(6) and 7 of this act. The account is subject to allotment procedures under chapter 43.88 RCW, but an appropriation is not required for expenditures.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 7   A new section is added to chapter 68.50 RCW to read as follows:
     Before any payment to an organ procurement organization from the organ and tissue donor awareness account created in section 6 of this act, the department of licensing shall be reimbursed for the reasonable costs associated with the initial installation of the organ and tissue donor registry, the setup for electronic transfer of the donor information for the organ and tissue donor registry to an organ procurement organization, and computer programming and form changes necessary as a result of the creation of the organ and tissue donor registry.
     At least quarterly, the state treasurer shall transmit the remaining funds from the organ and tissue donor awareness account to the living legacy foundation for the costs associated with educating the public about the organ and tissue donor registry and related organ and tissue donation education programs.