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Committee advances bill to extend organ-donation leave to certified educators, professors and administrators
Summary
House Bill 235 would expand an existing leave benefit so certified K-12 educators and qualifying higher-education staff who donate organs or bone marrow would not lose pay or retirement credit, sponsors said.
A Georgia Senate committee advanced House Bill 235, a bill to extend existing state leave for organ and bone marrow donation to certified educators, college professors and administrators who qualify for state retirement systems.
Rep. Rick Townsend, the bill’s sponsor, told the committee he supports the measure from personal experience: “I actually work with, senator Albers. I'm a kidney donor as well. I donated a kidney to my daughter back in 02/2006.” He said the bill is a “clean up bill” to correct a gap that left some educators uncovered by earlier legislation that applied to state employees.
Townsend described a 2021 case in which a teacher who scheduled a kidney donation between Thanksgiving and Christmas to minimize class time had her pay docked and saw an effect on retirement credit. “The school system basically said, Hey, we found a little loophole and you guys aren't covered. It's just state employees. It doesn't cover the educators or the teachers,” he said. Townsend told the committee the bill would include certified K–12 staff and higher-education faculty and administrators who are eligible for the Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS) or Employees’ Retirement System (ERS).
Townsend said earlier state law already provides up to 30 days of leave for organ donation for state employees and up to seven days for bone marrow donation; the bill would make those protections explicit for the covered education employees. He described the proposal as intended “for this teacher and others out there” so employees are not penalized for donating organs.
A committee member asked for questions; no extended discussion followed. A motion to advance the bill was made and seconded; the committee approved the bill by voice/hand raise. Senator John Albers was identified to carry the bill forward.
Townsend closed by asking for support and said he purposely did not name the teacher involved to protect privacy.
