[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5436 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5436

 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a credit against 
                    gross income for organ donation.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 10, 2000

   Mr. Smith of New Jersey introduced the following bill; which was 
              referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a credit against 
                    gross income for organ donation.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Help Organ Procurement Expand Act of 
2000''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) 13 people die every day waiting for a life-saving 
        transplant operation;
            (2) over 67,000 people are currently waiting for a 
        transplant operation--including over 44,000 kidney patients, 
        14,000 liver patients, 4,000 lung patients, and 800 pancreas 
        patients;
            (3) every 14 minutes, a new name is added to the national 
        transplant waiting list;
            (4) between 10,000 and 12,000 people die annually who are 
        considered medically suitable for organ donation, yet only an 
        estimated 5,200 people donate their organs every year;
            (5) one donor can help more than 50 people in need of an 
        organ;
            (6) current programs designed to expand the number of 
        available organs do not contain any economic awards or 
        incentives for patients to become organ donors; and
            (7) current debates in Congress and in the Administration 
        have unfortunately focused on the way organs ought to be 
        allocated, rather than addressing the root cause of the 
        problem, which is a lack of available transplant organs.

SEC. 3. CREDIT FOR ORGAN DONATION.

    (a) In General.--Subpart A of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to nonrefundable 
personal credits) is amended by inserting after section 30A the 
following new section:

``SEC. 25B. ORGAN DONATION.

    ``(a) Allowance of Credit.--In the case of a qualified person, 
there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax imposed by this 
chapter for the taxable year with respect to all qualified organ 
donations an amount equal to $2,500.
    ``(b) Qualified Organ Donation.--
            ``(1) In general.--For purposes of this section, the term 
        `qualified organ donation' means the donation of a kidney, 
        liver, heart, pancreas, pancreas islet cells, lung, or 
        intestine.
            ``(2) Exceptions.--The term `qualified organ donation' 
        shall not include the donation of an organ under any of the 
        following circumstances:
                    ``(A) The donor has been killed with assistance 
                from a physician.
                    ``(B) The otherwise eligible individual has 
                authorized the withdrawal or denial of life sustaining 
                medical treatment of the donor.
                    ``(C) The otherwise eligible individual medically 
                conducted or assisted in the operation to recover the 
                organ.
                    ``(D) The organs to be donated come from an unborn 
                child or human fetus that was aborted.
                    ``(E) The donor has committed suicide.
                    ``(F) Legal consent failed to be obtained from the 
                donor or their family prior to the organ recovery.
                    ``(G) The otherwise eligible individual has been 
                indicted or convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor 
                offense against the donor, or is actively under 
                criminal investigation for the possible felony offense 
                against the donor.
                    ``(H) In the case of living donors, the decision to 
                donate the organ, in the judgment of the donor's 
                attending physicians, would subject the donor to 
                unacceptable levels of medical risk of death or 
                permanent debilitation.
    ``(c) Qualified Person.--For purposes of this section, the term 
`qualified person' means--
            ``(1) in the case of a live organ donor, the organ donor 
        himself, and
            ``(2) in the case of a deceased organ donor--
                    ``(A) the beneficiary designated for purposes of 
                this section,
                    ``(B) the estate in the case the deceased organ 
                donor died testate but without designating a 
                beneficiary for the purposes of this section, or
                    ``(C) the class of beneficiaries designated under 
                State law in the case that the deceased organ donor 
                died intestate.
    ``(d) Allocation of Credit Amount Among Beneficiaries.--In the case 
that more than 1 person is a beneficiary under subsection (c), the 
amount allowed under subsection (a) shall be divided among each of the 
beneficiaries on a pro rata basis unless--
            ``(1) the will of the deceased organ donor provides for a 
        different allocation, or
            ``(2) the beneficiaries agree to a different allocation.
    ``(e) Carryforwards of Unused Credit.--If the credit allowable 
under subsection (a) for any taxable year exceeds the limitation 
imposed by section 26(a) for such taxable year reduced by the sum of 
the credits allowable under this subpart (other than this section, 
section 23, and section 1400C), such excess shall be carried to the 
succeeding taxable year and added to the credit allowable under 
subsection (a) for such taxable year. For purposes of the preceding 
sentence, credits shall be treated as used on a first-in first-out 
basis.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for subpart A of 
part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of such Code is amended by 
inserting after the item relating to section 30A the following new 
item:

                              ``Sec. 25B. Organ donation.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to taxable years ending after the date of the enactment of this 
Act.
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