Bill Text: CA ACR61 | 2021-2022 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Donate Life/DMV Partnership Month.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 58-19)
Status: (Passed) 2021-05-07 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Res. Chapter 32, Statutes of 2021. [ACR61 Detail]
Download: California-2021-ACR61-Chaptered.html
Assembly Concurrent Resolution
No. 61
CHAPTER 32
Relative to organ and tissue donation.
[
Filed with
Secretary of State
May 07, 2021.
]
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
ACR 61, Davies.
Donate Life/DMV Partnership Month.
This measure would proclaim the month of April 2021 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.
Digest Key
Fiscal Committee: NOBill Text
WHEREAS, The Legislature has established an official state organ and tissue donor registry that has become the largest in the world, with over 17 million people signed up to save and heal the lives of others after death; and
WHEREAS, The 15-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 22,000 residents waiting for a second chance at life, representing more than one in five on the national waiting list; and
WHEREAS, In 2020, in partnership with the DMV, the Donate Life California Organ and Tissue Donor Registry marked a milestone of over 17 million Californians registered as donors, the first registry in the nation to do so. This continuing increase in registration of donors during the driver’s license and identification card application and renewal process continues to save more lives each year in California and around the country; and
WHEREAS, In 2020, 1,784 Californians became organ donors, and 4,531 life-saving transplants were performed in our state. Tragically, 1175 people died while waiting due to the shortage of available organs; and
WHEREAS, Sadly, in 2020, California had the longest waiting time in the nation for kidney transplants and the most deaths while waiting, and only 43 percent of Californians sign up as donors, below the national average of 60 percent; 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 2021 as National Donate Life Month, the Legislature proclaims the month of April 2021 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.
