A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT DESIGNATING THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER AS MARROW DONATION AWARENESS MONTH and appropriating funds to the department of health and human services, division of public health, to raise awareness about bone marrow donation and transplantation and to IMPLEMENT A PILOT PROGRAM TO encourage north carolina residents to JOIN a bone marrow donation registry.
Whereas, there are thousands of persons across the United States with blood cancers, such as leukemia and lymphoma, as well as sickle cell disease and other diseases, who could benefit from receiving a lifesaving bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) transplant; and
Whereas, the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) operates the "Be the Match Registry," and the first step to becoming a donor is to join this registry; and
Whereas, all that is required to register with the NMDP is to complete the online form, order a registration kit, follow the instructions in the kit to collect a swab of cheek cells, and return the kit to the NMDP in order to determine any potential patient matches; and
Whereas, a potential donor who matches a patient is asked to make either a bone marrow or PBSC donation; and
Whereas, bone marrow donation is a surgical outpatient hospital procedure in which the donor receives anesthesia and feels no pain, and the donated liquid marrow replaces itself completely within four to six weeks; and
Whereas, PBSC donation is a nonsurgical procedure that takes place at a blood center or outpatient hospital unit and involves a transplant of cells from circulating blood, with the donor receiving injections of a drug called Filgrastim over a five‑day period leading up to donation in order to increase the number of blood‑forming cells in the bloodstream, and then having blood removed through a needle in one arm and passed through a machine that separates out the blood‑forming cells, with the remaining blood returned to the donor through the other arm; and
Whereas, the donor's blood‑forming cells return to normal levels within four to six weeks; and
Whereas, all medical costs for the donation procedure are covered by the NMDP or the donor's health insurance, as are travel expenses and other nonmedical costs, leaving only the potential cost to the donor of time taken off from work; Now, therefore,
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Knight‑LeCount Advocacy for Marrow Education and Registration Act" or "KLAMER Act."
SECTION 2.  Chapter 103 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 103‑15.  Marrow Donation Awareness Month.
The month of November of each year is designated as Marrow Donation Awareness Month in North Carolina."
SECTION 3.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health, the sum of twenty‑six thousand dollars ($26,000) for the 2018‑2019 fiscal year to be used for the following purposes:
(1)	To make available free‑of‑charge to the general public on its Internet Web site printable publications, in a format that can be downloaded, containing medically accurate information regarding bone marrow donation and transplantation that is sufficient to allow an individual to make an informed decision about whether to participate in a local or national bone marrow donation registry.
(2)	To raise public awareness about bone marrow donation and transplantation.
(3)	To encourage North Carolina residents to consider joining a bone marrow donation registry.
SECTION 4.(a)  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health, the sum of two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) for the 2018‑2019 fiscal year to be used exclusively to implement a bone marrow donation pilot program designed to encourage North Carolina residents to register for the National Marrow Donor Program's "Be the Match Registry."
SECTION 4.(b)  The Department of Health and Human Services, in collaboration with the Department of Motor Vehicles, shall establish two program sites to implement the pilot program, one of which shall be a drivers license office in Edgecombe County and the other of which shall be a drivers license office in Wake County. From funds appropriated for the pilot program for the 2018‑2019 fiscal year, each site shall be awarded one hundred twenty‑five thousand dollars ($125,000) to be used for the following purposes:
(1)	To purchase monitors to broadcast public service announcements and educational videos.
(2)	To purchase written literature concerning marrow donation for distribution to the public.
(3)	Other operational costs of the program.
SECTION 4.(c)  By February 1, 2019, the Department of Health and Human Services shall report to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services and the Fiscal Research Division on the status of the pilot program authorized by subsection (b) of this section. By May 1, 2021, the Department of Health and Human Services shall provide a final report of the program authorized by subsection (b) of this section to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services and the Fiscal Research Division.
SECTION 5.  Sections 3 and 4 of this act become effective July 1, 2018. The remainder of this act is effective when it becomes law.