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Committee hears support for paid leave for living organ and bone marrow donors; staff to estimate costs
Summary
Speakers, including UCHealth and the vice mayor, backed Proposal 1 from a city HR report that would provide up to 240 hours for organ donation and 56 hours for bone marrow donation; the committee asked staff to estimate the fiscal impact and filed the report.
Scotty Johnson, chair of the Public Safety and Governance Committee, and Vice Mayor Jan Michelle Kearney discussed a city human-resources report on paid leave for employees who are living organ or bone marrow donors.
Corey King, executive director of transplant at UCHealth, told the committee, “Proposal 1, outlined in this report, offers the most robust benefit providing up to 240 hours of paid leave [for] organ donation and 56 hours of bone marrow donation.” King said the level of leave “aligns with federal and state standards” and praised the policy as a way to support donors and enhance the city’s reputation as an employer.
Vice Mayor Jan Michelle Kearney said the proposal “aligns with the federal and state standards” and that Hamilton County adopted a similar policy in May; she and other members said Proposal 1 is the preferred option. Kearney said the HR department noted there could be some cost and that the committee would ask HR to estimate those costs to determine feasibility.
The committee recorded support for the report during discussion and at the end of the item the chair said, “I guess we'll file item number 1,” indicating the report will be filed with the committee record. No ordinance, vote to adopt a paid-leave policy, or date for formal legislative action appeared in the meeting transcript; instead, members asked for a cost estimate from HR and said more information will follow.
Discussion: Supporters said paid leave for living donors would help save lives and align the city with comparable jurisdictions. Corey King cited the national waiting list, saying “there are still over a 100,000 Americans waiting for this life saving organ” and noted peer cities such as Columbus have similar policies.
Direction versus decision: The committee asked the administration and HR to return with cost estimates for Proposal 1; the transcript shows the report was filed but does not show formal adoption of a city paid-leave ordinance or a vote to change city personnel rules.
Ending: The committee accepted and filed the HR report and directed staff to provide fiscal estimates for Proposal 1; any formal policy change would require subsequent steps not recorded in this meeting.
