This is something that could eventually effect our own state in which we live. So please give the state of Tx your support! I have forwarded this to all my mailing lists in effort to get their help also. Thank you Kathy <<Hello everyone! I am forwarding this e-mail from Jack Brissee, Chair, FGS/NGS Records Preservation Committee. We need to send letters ASAP! I know as genealogists we can and will make a difference! Please forward this information to everyone who can offer support and inform all genealogists. This is something that can happen with any state. We must stay aware of the bills being passed in our legislature! Thank all of you for your help in this matter of great concern. Paula Parke, Texas State Genealogical Society, District Representative for Collin, Dallas, Ellis, Fannin, Grayson, Hunt, Kaufman, Rockwall Counties Tue, 20 Apr 1999 21:05:40 -0500 To: ccraska@aol.com, shirleyrs@aol.com, lansup@ix.netcom.com From: Jack Brissee <jbrissee@execpc.com> Subject: HB 386 - Birth and Death Indexes This message is from the RECORDS PRESERVATION AND ACCESS COMMITTEE of the FGS and NGS By now you have probably heard something about Texas House Bill 386, an act relating to access under the public information law to birth and death indexes. This bill, if passed into law, would close birth and death indexes for 50 and 25 years, respectively, following the event. The attachment to this message provides detailed information. Mic Barnette alerted me to this situation. He has taken action to pass the word and to encourage Texans to write the Chair of the Texas Senate Committee on State Affairs in an attempt to have the bill changed or defeated. I am contacting you to encourage the involvement of the Texas State Genealogical Society and the Dallas Genealogical Society in this effort. We would specifically urge that your members write Sen. Florence Shapiro, Chair of the State Affairs Committee, members of the committee, and the state senators for their districts to ask that there be a full hearing at which genealogists have the opportunity to testify before any further action is taken on HB 386. Letters, messages and phone calls should be civil, rational, and should ask for sensible action such as early notification of hearings and the opportunity to testify. Thank you for your cooperation. 19 April 1999 The Honorable Florence Shapiro Chair, Senate Committee on State Affairs P.O. Box 12068 Capitol Station Austin, TX 78711 Dear Senator Shapiro: I am writing on behalf of genealogists in Texas and nationwide with respect to House Bill 836, an act relating to access under the public information law to birth and death indexes. HB 836 has been referred to the Senate Committee on State Affairs, but as far as I can determine, has not yet been scheduled for public hearing or committee action. I urge you to ensure that a full public hearing on this bill is conducted, one for which genealogists are given adequate notice and at which they have full opportunity to testify. The bill was introduced with the purpose of clarifying the right of public access to indexes of birth and death records. The records themselves are closed for 50 and 25 years, respectively (Sec. 552.115, Government Code), but the Code makes no mention of indexes. HB 836, as introduced stated that birth or death indexes are "public information and available to the public." The House Committee on Public Health adopted an amendment to the bill which would make the indexes "available to the public upon the anniversary of the date on which the record becomes public..." (emphasis added) thus completely reversing the purpose of the bill as introduced. This totally contrary version of HB 836 is the way in which it passed the House and has been referred to your committee. I am unable to find any record of the basis for this remarkable change, and genealogists learning of it have been, to say the least, shocked. The change to the purpose of HB 836 is quite incomprehensible and is certainly contrary to the basic thrust of Chapter 552, Public Information, of the Government Code, which proclaims the principle that public records should be open to the public unless there is very good reason to close them, and which places the burden of proof on those who would seek closure. The indexes involved provide but limited personal information (name, county and date of birth or death, and the file number of the birth or death record) thus posing no threat to privacy. The limited information is, however, important to genealogists and others who have legitimate reasons to know the dates and general locations of the birth and death of persons in their family lines. I am therefor appealing to you and your committee to ensure that the right of genealogists and other members of the public to access to these indexes is protected. With sincere appreciation for your consideration. Respectfully, John A. Brissee Chair, Joint Committee on Records Preservation and Access, Federation of Genealogical Societies and the National Genealogical Society 529 Echo Valley Road, Brooklyn, WI 53521 Fax: 835-9750 E-mail: jbrissee@execpc.com>>