Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Health Funding topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Appropriations committee hears bill to make $1 traumatic brain injury donation an opt-out on vehicle registration
Summary
Representative Ed Buttrey presented House Bill 341 to change the traumatic brain injury (TBI) donation from opt-in to opt-out at vehicle registration, with administrative programming costs and an estimated annual net donation forecast in the fiscal note.
House Bill 341 would change the voluntary traumatic brain injury (TBI) donation at vehicle registration from an opt-in to an opt-out mechanism so that registrants are charged $1 unless they decline.
Sponsor Representative Ed Buttrey told the House Appropriations Committee the bill flips the current opt-in to opt-out and that the Motor Vehicle Division estimated programming and other system costs of roughly $30,000. The department estimated 1,219,497 vehicle registrations per year and projected that about 23% of registrants would opt out in year one, producing an estimated $939,000.12 in donations the first year, with a 1% annual growth assumption thereafter.
Buttrey also said the bill includes a $600,000 appropriation from the existing traumatic brain injury account (split as $300,000 per year in the fiscal note) to support uses specified in the bill. Testimony indicated the account’s prior uses focused on education and council support and the bill would broaden eligible uses to include family supports and services for military personnel with TBI.
Proponents included Abigail St. Lawrence and others who offered brief proponent remarks. Laurie Bakri (MVD administrator) appeared as an informational witness to describe the one-time system programming impact and the decision to use an opt-out parks fee opt-out rate as the baseline for the estimate. Lindsey Carter and Jean Hermanson (DPHHS) appeared as informational witnesses on health program impacts.
Committee members asked about the methodology for the opt-out projection and whether park opt-out patterns were an appropriate comparator. MVD’s Bakri said the parks opt-out rate was used as a baseline because other options are opt-in and therefore not comparable. Sponsor Buttrey said he believes the opt-out rate may be lower than the parks example.
The committee closed the hearing and the bill later received a unanimous Do Pass recommendation in executive action recorded in the transcript.
Why it matters: An opt-out design commonly increases donation revenue by creating a default contribution. The bill would increase predictable annual funding for TBI programs while requiring a modest one-time systems cost to the Motor Vehicle Division.
