Lake County Gazette

A bill sponsored by state Sen. Julie Morrison (D-Lake Forest) would provide tax credits to private employers to encourage their workers to be organ donors.

"Organ donors transform lives and reshape futures through selfless acts,” Morrison said on Facebook. “I’m hopeful my bill that creates an organ donation tax credit for private employers will encourage more people to participate in this generous act." 

To qualify, employers would have to allow employees to take paid leave of absence for a minimum of 30 days to be an organ or bone marrow donor.

The credit could not exceed $1,000 per employee who takes the leave, Morrison said in a news release.

In 2018, 798 people in Illinois received kidney transplants, but there were 3,402 patients eligible for transplants, the news release said.

“Would-be donors face many challenges and barriers that keep them from giving a lifesaving gift,” Morrison said. “We must do all we can to increase the number of living donors in Illinois – and this is a great first step.”

More than 12 other states already have an organ or bone marrow donor leave policies, Morrison said.

On the national level,  bipartisan legislation is pending in both houses of Congress to make it easier to donate organs.

Among other provisions, it would amend the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to classify donating an organ as a serious medical condition.

"It’s a tragedy that so many people die while waiting for life-saving organ donations," one of the sponsors, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York), said in a news release. " We must do more to remove the barriers that keep Americans from donating. The bipartisan Living Donor Protection Act would help ensure that the individuals who are willing to save someone’s life through an organ donation can do so without worrying that they’ll face insurance discrimination or that they could lose their job as they recover.”