Relates to notification of the national bone marrow program; repealer

Section Two - amends subdivision 2 of V&T section 490 to direct that the Commissioner provide space on the application for a non-driver identification card to advise applicants as to the existence of the national bone marrow donor program.

Section Three - amends a second subdivision 2 of V&T section 490 to direct that the Commissioner provide space on the application for a non-driver identification card to advise applicants as to the existence of the national bone marrow donor program.

Section Four - amends subdivision 1 of V&T section 502 to provide that applications for driver's licenses corrects errors in current amendments to subdivision 1 set out twice in statute because the different amended versions cannot be put together.

Section 5 - amends subdivision 1 of section 502 as added by section 4 herein.

Section 6 - amends V&T section 508 to direct that the Commissioner develop the license application and renewal forms and directions to advise applicants as to the existence of the national bone marrow donor program.

Section 7 - amends Election Law section 1-104 to add a new paragraph 38 to define "bone marrow donor contact information".

Section 8 - amends Election Law paragraph 5-210(5)(k) to add a new (xiii) requiring applications to register to vote to advise applicants as to the existence of the national bone marrow donor program.

Section 9 - provides that the Department of Motor Vehicles shall revise its paper applications to conform with this bill when current stock of forms have been depleted.

Section Four - Effective date.

Justification

Bone marrow transplants can be a lifesaving treatment. Critical to the treatment is having a suitable donor whose marrow will not be rejected by the patient receiving the transplant. The best way to increase the likelihood of finding a suitable donor is to expand the identified donor pool, and that is the purpose of the National Bone Marrow Donor Program. Unfortunately, New York is ranked last in organ donation, including bone marrow donation. New York already works hard to inform New Yorkers about how they can become organ donors, but the process for bone marrow donation is different from that of organ donation. For bone marrow donors, their type is identified in advance and placed in a registry which can be accessed by health professionals looking for a matching donor for a sick patient. This bill seeks to provide additional information to New Yorkers when they apply to vote or make application to the Department of Motor Vehicles in the hope that at least some of them will follow up on the information provided and become potentially lifesaving donors.

Prior legislative history

New bill.

Fiscal implications

None.

Effective date

This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it shall have become law, provided that the amendments to subdivision 2 of V&T section 490 made by section 2 shall be subject to the expiration and reversion of such subdivision pursuant to section 6 of Chapter 465 of the Laws of 2012, as amended, at which time section 3 shall take effect, and further that section 5 of the act shall take effect October 3, 2016. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective date.