Bill Text: CA SCR27 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Chaptered

California Senate Concurrent Resolution 27 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Donate Life/DMV Partnership Month.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2)

Status: (Passed) 2019-05-02 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Res. Chapter 48, Statutes of 2019. [SCR27 Detail]

Download: California-2019-SCR27-Chaptered.html

Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 27

CHAPTER 48

Relative to organ and tissue donation.

[ Filed with Secretary of State May 02, 2019. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SCR 27, Leyva. Donate Life/DMV Partnership Month.

This measure would proclaim the month of April 2019 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 over 15 million people signed up to save and heal the lives of others after death; and

WHEREAS, The 13-year official partnership between Donate Life California and the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has produced 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 pupils about organ, eye, and tissue donation for the past seven years; and

WHEREAS, California has the greatest need for transplantation in the nation with nearly 22,000 residents waiting for a second chance at life, representing almost one in five on the national waiting list; and

WHEREAS, In 2018, through a partnership with the DMV, the Donate Life California Organ and Tissue Donor Registry reached over 15 million Californians registered as donors, making it the first registry in the nation to reach this milestone. This continuing increase in registration of donors during the application and renewal process for a driver’s license and identification card continues to save more lives each year in California and around the country; and

WHEREAS, In 2018, 1,016 Californians became organ donors and 4,165 life-saving transplants were performed in our state, but, tragically, 989 people died while waiting due to the shortage of available organs; and

WHEREAS, Sadly, in 2018, California had the longest waiting time in the nation for kidney transplants, the most deaths while waiting, and only 49 percent of Californians sign up as donors, which is below the national average of 54 percent; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring, That in recognition of the month of April as National Donate Life Month, the Legislature proclaims the month of April 2019 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 this cause and about actions to help their constituents in need; and be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.