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Senate advances tax checkoff to fund children's organ transplants after students, parents testify
Summary
Senators placed substitute House Bill 13 on the third-reading calendar after classroom advocates and transplant parents testified that an income-tax checkoff for a Children’s Organ Transplant fund would help Utah families cover transplant-related costs; the measure cleared the vote 26–1 to move forward.
Substitute House Bill 13, which would add an income-tax checkoff to raise money for a Children’s Organ Transplant fund, was advanced to the Senate’s third-reading calendar after an emotional floor presentation and debate.
Senator Nancy Howe, sponsor of the measure, opened the committee-of-the-whole hearing and described the bill’s purpose: to create a volunteer committee to administer donations, cap administrative costs at 5 percent, and limit recipients to Utah residents who have lived in the state at least six months and are under age 18. “The check off is estimated to bring in between 200 and 300 thousand yearly,” Howe said on the floor.
Students from Crescent Elementary — Lindsay Hicks, Danny Curran and Mark Lind — addressed the Senate in favor of the bill, describing school fundraising for local children who needed transplants and urging support. “It takes 80,000 to a hundred and 20,000 to get on the waiting list, and no child's life should depend on a bake sale,” Mark Lind told senators.
Marsha Fulmer, a transplant parent, gave a first-person account of the financial strain of pursuing an out-of-state transplant and gaps in Medicaid coverage. “We had a very rocky course in the hospital … there has to be a better vehicle for getting funds to the children that need it,” Fulmer said, asking senators to support the checkoff.
During floor debate, an unnamed senator raised a recurring fiscal concern about checkoffs: as more designated checkoff options are added, the total amount designated by taxpayers often stays flat and becomes spread among more causes. The senator urged a sunset provision so the Legislature could review the program later; Senator Howe indicated she was prepared to add sunset language as a friendly amendment.
When the question was called, the Senate voted to place the substitute HB13 on the third-reading calendar by roll call: 26 ayes, 1 nay, 2 absent. The measure will return to the floor for third reading and final passage vote, where any friendly amendment (including a possible sunset clause) may be offered.
Background: the committee report adopted on the floor amended a reimbursement reference to read, in part, that reimbursements be made "as established by the division of finance." The committee also recommended the volunteer oversight committee described in the bill and limited administrative costs to no more than 5 percent of the fund.
