Organ donor status requirement advanced

Lawmakers advanced a bill Jan. 12 that would require Nebraskans to indicate their organ donor status when applying for a driver license.

Introduced by Syracuse Sen. Dan Watermeier, LB47 would require a person to indicate whether or not they wish to be an organ donor when applying for a state driver license or identification card.

Watermeier said 90 percent of Nebraska’s more than 750,000 organ and tissue donors were registered through the current driver license and state identification card application process. Requiring an answer to the organ donation question likely could increase the number of donors by as much as 8 percent, he said.

“Just 50 percent of Nebraska’s drivers are registered as donors, yet in nearby states where it is mandatory [there are] much higher participation rates,” he said. “We’ve made great strides in registering Nebraskans as donors, however, at any given time there are up to 500 people waiting for an organ or tissue donation.”

A Transportation and Telecommunications Committee amendment, adopted 37-2, would exempt license and permit applicants younger than 16 from answering the organ donor question. The amendment would clarify that donors who want to specify which organs and tissues they intend to donate must contact the state’s donor registry.

Watermeier introduced an amendment to the committee amendment, adopted 30-2, which would add a third “elect to not answer” option for applicants. It also would ensure that no applicant is denied a driver license if they choose to not answer the question.

Bancroft Sen. Lydia Brasch supported the measure, saying it has the ability to save many lives.

“I understand the concerns with this bill, but I also understand what it can do,” she said. “At the end of someone’s life [it could allow] their family to save the life of another.”

Sen. Dave Bloomfield of Hoskins opposed the measure. He said forcing people to answer the question is not worth a potential minimal gain in tissue and organ donors.

“The idea that we might force a Nebraskan, particularly under the age of 21, to make that decision while standing in line to get a driver’s license just doesn’t make sense,” he said.

Bloomfield introduced an amendment that would have raised to 21 the age at which an applicant would be required to respond to the organ donation question. The amendment failed on an 18-19 vote.

Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers filed a motion to bracket the bill until April 20.

He said that the state has no compelling interest in encouraging tissue or organ donations for the benefit of private organizations.

“We’re not talking about organ donation or saving lives. We are talking about state processes or procedures,” Chambers said. “Everybody of a certain age has a right to apply for a driver’s license. That should not be mixed up with what [LB47] is trying to do.”

Sen. Dan Hughes of Venango opposed the bracket motion. He said concerns about requiring minors to answer the question about organ donation status were unfounded.

“If they’re old enough to drive a car—to drive 75 miles per hour down the interstate—they’re certainly old enough to make this determination,” Hughes said. “We have an opportunity to have people think about the good that they could do, should they ever be in that situation.”

The bracket motion failed on a 6-35 vote.

After six hours of debate, Watermeier filed a motion to invoke cloture—or cease debate and force a vote on the bill—which senators approved on a 37-7 vote. A successful cloture motion requires at least 33 votes in support.

Senators advanced the bill to select file on a 32-8 vote.