State of Minnesota Passes Bill Allowing $2 Contributions to Support Education about Organ and Tissue Donation

ST. PAUL, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- LifeSource commends Governor Dayton and the State of Minnesota for adopting a bill that provides citizens with a simple way to financially support organ, tissue and eye donation. Beginning January 1, 2012, Minnesotans can donate $2 to a fund which will help increase life-saving donations and transplants in Minnesota. Drivers can contribute when they renew their driver’s licenses or ID cards.

The new law provides support for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety Driver and Vehicle Services Division (DVS) and LifeSource to educate the public about the need to register as an organ and tissue donor. LifeSource is a nonprofit organization dedicated to saving lives through donation and transplantation. It manages all organ donation and most tissue donation in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and western Wisconsin.

LifeSource and the DVS worked with both houses and the governor’s office on the requirements and passage of this bill. It was authored by Rep. Sarah Anderson (R-Plymouth) and Sen. David Senjem (R-Rochester).

“We are grateful to Representative Anderson and Senator Senjem for their tireless efforts to support organ and tissue donation in the State of Minnesota,” said Susan Gunderson, CEO, LifeSource. “The result of their efforts will be an increase in the number of lives saved through transplantation.”

In Minnesota, more than 2,700 residents are currently waiting for an organ transplant and thousands more need a tissue donation. Sadly, every day someone dies because they didn’t receive a transplant.

Minnesota ranks among the top in the nation for registered donors, with 53 percent of drivers having already registered to save lives through donation, higher than the national rate of 40 percent.

Bipartisan committee members modeled this bill after similar programs in other states that have proven successful. Other states with a similar check off program and higher donation rates than Minnesota include Colorado at 59 percent, Indiana at 68 percent, Washington at 71 percent and Utah at 74 percent.

LifeSource is the non-profit organization dedicated to saving lives through organ and tissue donation in the Upper Midwest, serving communities in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and western Wisconsin. Visitwww.life-source.org for more information.