Daily News: State Senator wants to increase organ donations in New York

This is the article about my legislation regarding organ donors wirtten by the Daily News' Ken Lovett.

A Queens state senator wants to increase organ donations in New York by adding a line on a host of state forms that would allow people to sign up.

Sen. Jose Peralta on Tuesday will announce a bill that would require a range of applications, including for public colleges, professional licenses, state-funded health insurance programs, and state income tax returns, to include a registration line for the "donate life registry" for organ, eye, and tissue donations.

Currently, it is limited mainly to driver license and voter registration forms.

New York ranks 49th in the nation for residents who register to be organ donors. Peralta said that just 24% of eligible New York residents are registered to donate their organs, compared to a national average of 54%.

"This is completely unacceptable," said Peralta, who added he personally added his name to the registry last week.

He cited stats showing that in 2013, 1,670 New Yorkers received "life-saving organs." But another 600 people died waiting.

Overall, there are 10,000 New Yorkers waiting for an organ transplant.

Though a Democrat, Peralta’s bill could find favor with new Senate GOP Majority Leader John Flanagan, who recently said he wants to make the issue of organ donation a top priority in next year’s legislative session.

Peralta Tuesday’s press conference is scheduled to feature Mariana Villarreal, a Hooters waitress in Georgia who made headlines earlier this year for donating her kidney to a longtime customer.

Peralta will hold his press conference at a Hooters in Manhattan.

The non-profit group LiveOnNy recently purchased an ad on the front of 250,000 MetroCards calling on transit riders to register to be organ donors