WASHINGTON -- Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., says people who want to donate organs often are discouraged because of the expenses so he has proposed a federal tax credit to help them out.

Costs can be an impediment to individuals who would otherwise consider donating an organ, Wilson said.

He introduced legislation last week that would grant a living organ donor a one-time federal tax credit of up to $5,000 to cover some costs associated with the procedures, such as travel expenses and lost wages.

Wilson said he was not a stranger to the topic of organ donation.

His mentor and predecessor in his congressional seat, the late Rep. Floyd Spence, received lung and kidney transplants and lived longer because of them, Wilson said.

Also, during his tenure as a South Carolina lawmaker, Wilson said, he helped push through legislation that allows people to indicate on their driver's licenses that they want to be organ donors upon their deaths. Wilson said he has chosen to be an organ donor.

State lawmakers have continued to push for more organ donation legislation since Wilson's move to Washington, said Annie Moore, spokeswoman for the Virginia-based United Network for Organ Sharing.

Only a handful of states have considered tax credit legislation similar to what Wilson has proposed, Moore said, but South Carolina is one.

According to Nancy A. Kay, chief executive officer of LifePoint, an organization that advocates organ donation in South Carolina, the state's version of the legislation would have granted tax credits both to living donors and to the estates of donors who gave organs at their deaths.

Gov. Mark Sanford vetoed the bill last year.

She said she suspected it might have become too far-reaching for some because of its provision to compensate the estates of no-longer-living donors.

Although his bill has only a handful of co-sponsors, Wilson said he is working to broaden support among his House colleagues.

Wilson's federal proposal came on the heels of another bill making its way through the House that would amend the Family and Medical Leave Act to permit people to take time off from their jobs if they choose to donate an organ.