Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 178
CHAPTER 71

Relative to Donate Life/DMV Partnership Month.

[ Filed with Secretary of State  June 01, 2022. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


ACR 178, Irwin. Donate Life/DMV Partnership Month.
This measure would proclaim the month of April 2022 as Donate Life/DMV Partnership Month in California and would encourage all Californians to register with the Donate Life California Organ and Tissue Donor Registry.
Fiscal Committee: NO  
WHEREAS, The Legislature has established an official state organ and tissue donor registry that has become the largest in the world, with almost 18,000,000 people signed up to save and heal the lives of others after death; and
WHEREAS, The 16-year official partnership between Donate Life California and the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has produced over 95 percent of donors on the registry through the DMV with a simple check-off box; and
WHEREAS, The Legislature has approved the innovative Living Donation California information and referral tool to encourage living kidney donation; and
WHEREAS, The Superintendent of Public Instruction has recognized Donate Life California’s high school education program, which has educated students about organ, eye, and tissue donation for the past nine years; and
WHEREAS, California has the greatest need for transplantation in the nation, with over 20,000 residents waiting for a second chance at life, representing more than one in five on the national waiting list; and
WHEREAS, In 2022 in partnership with the DMV, the California Organ, Eye and Tissue Donor Registry will reach a milestone of over 18,000,000 Californians registered as donors, the first in the nation to do so. This continuing increase in registration of donors during the driver’s license and state identification application and renewal process continues to save more lives each year in California and around the country; and
WHEREAS, One thousand two hundred sixty-eight Californians became organ donors in 2021 and 4,018 life-saving transplants were performed in our state that year. Tragically, 1,314 people died while waiting due to the shortage of available organs; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate thereof concurring, That in recognition of the month of April as National Donate Life Month, the Legislature proclaims the month of April 2022 as Donate Life/DMV Partnership Month in the State of California; and be it further
Resolved, That in doing so, the Legislature encourages all Californians to register with the Donate Life California Organ and Tissue Donor Registry by checking “YES!” for organ and tissue donation when applying for or renewing a driver’s license or identification card, or by signing up at www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org or www.donevidacalifornia.org; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature underscores its renewed efforts to save more lives through donor registration and calls on all Members of the Legislature to consider how to share information about the cause and about actions to help their constituents in need; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.