South Carolina General Assembly
117th Session, 2007-2008

Download This Bill in Microsoft Word format

A92, R129, H3317

STATUS INFORMATION

General Bill
Sponsors: Reps. Walker, Hinson, Harrell, Cobb-Hunter, Weeks, Hart, F.N. Smith, Parks, Knight, Williams, Jefferson, Howard, McLeod, Mahaffey, Herbkersman and Agnew
Document Path: l:\council\bills\nbd\11162ac07.doc

Introduced in the House on January 18, 2007
Introduced in the Senate on April 19, 2007
Last Amended on May 31, 2007
Passed by the General Assembly on June 5, 2007
Governor's Action: June 14, 2007, Signed

Summary: Organ and Tissue Donor Registry

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

     Date      Body   Action Description with journal page number
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   1/18/2007  House   Introduced and read first time HJ-3
   1/18/2007  House   Referred to Committee on Education and Public Works HJ-4
   1/23/2007  House   Recalled from Committee on Education and Public Works 
                        HJ-13
   1/23/2007  House   Referred to Committee on Medical, Military, Public and 
                        Municipal Affairs HJ-14
   1/25/2007  House   Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Cobb-Hunter, 
                        Weeks, Hart, F.N.Smith, Parks, Knight, Williams, 
                        Jefferson, Howard, McLeod
   2/27/2007  House   Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Mahaffey
   4/11/2007  House   Committee report: Favorable Medical, Military, Public 
                        and Municipal Affairs HJ-5
   4/12/2007  House   Requests for debate-Rep(s). Crawford, Shoopman, and 
                        Mulvaney HJ-21
   4/17/2007  House   Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Agnew
   4/17/2007  House   Read second time HJ-31
   4/18/2007  House   Read third time and sent to Senate HJ-39
   4/19/2007  Senate  Introduced and read first time SJ-9
   4/19/2007  Senate  Referred to Committee on Medical Affairs SJ-9
   5/23/2007  Senate  Committee report: Favorable Medical Affairs SJ-57
   5/24/2007          Scrivener's error corrected
   5/31/2007  Senate  Amended SJ-24
   5/31/2007  Senate  Read second time SJ-24
   5/31/2007  Senate  Unanimous consent for third reading on next legislative 
                        day SJ-24
    6/1/2007  Senate  Read third time and returned to House with amendments 
                        SJ-2
    6/5/2007  House   Concurred in Senate amendment and enrolled HJ-6
    6/7/2007          Ratified R 129
   6/14/2007          Signed By Governor
   6/20/2007          Copies available
   6/20/2007          Effective date 06/14/07
   6/27/2007          Act No. 92

View the latest legislative information at the LPITS web site

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

1/18/2007
4/11/2007
5/23/2007
5/24/2007
5/31/2007


(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

(A92, R129, H3317)

AN ACT TO AMEND ARTICLE 13, CHAPTER 43, TITLE 44 OF THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE "GIFT OF LIFE TRUST FUND", SO AS TO CHANGE THE NAME TO "DONATE LIFE SOUTH CAROLINA"; BY ADDING ARTICLE 14 TO CHAPTER 43, TITLE 44 SO AS TO ESTABLISH AN ORGAN AND TISSUE DONOR REGISTRY TO BE ADMINISTERED BY DONATE LIFE SOUTH CAROLINA; AND TO AMEND SECTION 56-1-80, RELATING TO DRIVER'S LICENSE AND PERMIT APPLICATIONS, SO AS TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES TO PROVIDE ORGAN DONOR INFORMATION INDICATED ON SUCH APPLICATIONS TO THE ORGAN AND TISSUE PROCUREMENT ORGANIZATION AND TO DONATE LIFE SOUTH CAROLINA.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

"Gift of Life Trust Fund" changed to "Donate Life South Carolina"

SECTION    1.    Article 13, Chapter 43, Title 44 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Article 13

Donate Life South Carolina

Section 44-43-1310.    There is established Donate Life South Carolina, an eleemosynary corporation, the resources of which must be used to promote and encourage organ and tissue donation and education and to assess and assist with the needs of transplant recipients in South Carolina. Donate Life may accept gifts, bequests, and grants from individuals, foundations, organizations, associations, and any other source. Donate Life supplements and augments services provided by state agencies and does not take the place of these services.

Section 44-43-1320.    (A)    Donate Life South Carolina is to be administered by a board of directors appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, and is composed of:

(1)    one representative from a civic organization that promotes organ or tissue donation or both;

(2)    four members representing organ and tissue recipients, families of recipients, and families of donors who are residents of South Carolina; of these four members, one each must represent the Lowcountry, Pee Dee, Midlands, and Piedmont regions of the State;

(3)    one forensic pathologist who is a resident of and who is licensed to practice medicine in South Carolina;

(4)    four at-large members who have demonstrated an interest in organ and tissue donation and education and who are residents of this State.

(B)    Members shall serve terms of four years and until successors are appointed and qualify. A board member may be removed by the Governor in accordance with Section 1-3-240(B). Members may serve no more than two full terms, except that there is no limit to the number of terms that a forensic pathologist may serve. Vacancies must be filled in the manner of the original appointment for the unexpired portion of the term.

Section 44-43-1330.    Board members are not entitled to per diem but may be reimbursed for mileage and all necessary and reasonable expenses incurred in the performance of their duties under this article.

Section 44-43-1340.    In administering this article, the board is authorized, but not limited to:

(1)    develop and implement educational programs and campaigns to increase organ and tissue donation in South Carolina;

(2)    make policy recommendations for the promotion of organ and tissue donation in South Carolina;

(3)    assess the needs of transplant recipients and establish priorities and develop goals and objectives to assist transplant recipients who are residents of South Carolina;

(4)    determine how the monies in the fund are to be disbursed;

(5)    acquire and hold property;

(6)    invest trust monies, including pooled investment funds maintained by the State;

(7)    utilize local resources including volunteers when appropriate.

Section 44-43-1350.    The board shall elect a chairman from among its members and shall adopt rules for the governance of its operations. The board shall meet at least semiannually. Six members constitute a quorum.

Section 44-43-1360.    The board may employ a director and other staff as necessary to carry out the provisions of this article; however, administration of this article may not exceed twenty percent of the total funds credited to Donate Life South Carolina, excluding the administrative fee paid to the Department of Revenue pursuant to Sections 12-6-5065 and 59-1-143.

Section 44-43-1370.    Funds credited to Donate Life South Carolina, excluding the administrative fees paid to the Department of Revenue, may be used for, but are not limited to:

(1)    administration of this article including, but not limited to, personnel and board expenses;

(2)    development and promotion of organ and tissue donor public awareness educational programs in cooperation with LifePoint, Inc., and the United Network for Organ Sharing;

(3)    encouraging the incorporation of organ and tissue donation education into the medical and nursing school curriculums of the Medical University of South Carolina and the University of South Carolina, School of Medicine; if funds are provided to a university for this educational purpose, the university annually shall conduct a survey to determine if attitudes of its students and graduates have been altered by the curriculum. The results of the survey must be submitted to Donate Life;

(4)    a reserve fund in an interest-bearing account with five percent of the funds received by Donate Life annually to be placed in this account. No withdrawals may be made from this account until the minimum balance has reached one hundred thousand dollars and then these funds may only be used in years in which donations do not meet the average normal operating cost incurred by Donate Life and funds are needed to meet expenses. Once the balance in the reserve funds reaches one hundred thousand dollars, excess funds earned by interest and yearly allocations may be used at the discretion of the board to cover operating costs and to provide additional funds.

Section 44-43-1380.    Donate Life South Carolina board annually by February first shall submit a report to the General Assembly concerning its expenditures of funds, activities, and the incidence of organ and tissue donation."

Organ and Tissue Donor Registry created

SECTION    2.    Chapter 43, Title 44 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Article 14

Organ and Tissue Donor Registry

Section 44-43-1410.    (A)    There is established the South Carolina Organ and Tissue Donor Registry which must be exclusively administered by Donate Life South Carolina. The registry shall include individuals who have indicated a willingness to be an organ and tissue donor by a designation on a driver's license, state identification card, donor card, online, or any other donor registry form or any other document of gift.

(B)    The purpose of the registry is to:

(1)    facilitate the recovery of anatomical gifts for transplantation, therapy, research, and education;

(2)    collect data to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of educational initiatives promoting organ and tissue donation.

Section 44-43-1420.    Donate Life South Carolina shall develop procedures for collecting organ and tissue donor registrants from existing databases including, but not limited to, obtaining donor information from the driver's license data bank maintained by the Department of Motor Vehicles. Donate Life also may develop other procedures including, but not limited to, establishing online donor registry enrollment.

Section 44-43-1430.    Donate Life South Carolina shall maintain and update the following information which must be included in the registry on each registrant:

(1)    full name, address, sex, birth date, and race;

(2)    driver's license number or other unique identifying number; and

(3)    other pertinent identifying personal information.

Section 44-43-1440.    In developing procedures for the administration of the donor registry, Donate Life South Carolina shall specify:

(1)    a process for updating information in the registry including a method whereby an individual may revoke his or her intent to be an organ and tissue donor;

(2)    a method for making information available to organ procurement organizations seven days a week twenty-four hours a day;

(3)    limitations on the use of and access to the registry.

Section 44-43-1450.    All information contained in the registry is confidential and only may be accessed by procurement organizations that are licensed, accredited, or regulated under federal or state law, and only for the purpose of identifying a potential donor. Identifying information on a registrant or donor may not be disclosed or used for any other purpose without the express written consent of the registrant, donor, or the person who made the anatomical gift."

Organizations given access to driver's license medical information

SECTION    3.    Section 56-1-80(B) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(B)    The information contained on a driver's license and in the driver's department records pertaining to a person's permanent medical condition, as provided for in item (A)(6), must be made available, upon request, to law enforcement and emergency medical services and hospital personnel; and the information and records pertaining to a person's organ and tissue donor status, as provided for in item (A)(7), must be made available, upon request, to law enforcement, emergency medical services and hospital personnel, the Organ and Tissue Procurement Organization, as provided for in Section 44-43-910, and to Donate Life South Carolina in accordance with Section 44-43-1440."

Time effective

SECTION    4.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

Ratified the 8th day of June, 2007.

Approved the 14th day of June, 2007.

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This web page was last updated on Wednesday, December 2, 2009 at 3:38 P.M.