Dear Fellow HB 836-ers THERE WILL BE NO HEARING WEDNESDAY MORNING Thanks to all who wrote, telephoned, faxed and emailed. Senator Zaffirini, sponsor of HB 836, pulled the bill from the hearing set for Wednesday tomorrow morning at 7 A.M. Our senators have heard our pleas and are looking closer at HB 836. Sen Zaffirini's office is reworking the wording of the bill as they will propose it. Please be vigilant and keep a close watch on what happens. If you are able to be present at the hearing when it is re-scheduled, please do. If you have not contacted your senator and the Senate Health Services Committee members, please do. ADDRESSES AND FORMATTING EMAILS To SENATORS Earlier we posted a format for emails to senators. The format was incorrect. It has been corrected on the website now. Basically, to format an email to your own senator, use your own senator's name in the following format: Firstname.Lastname@senate.state.tx.us If you do not know the name of your senator, a link to the Texas legislature website is on Barnette's Books webpage. Just link to the website and insert your home address. The website will give you the name of your state senator. There is a link on the same website to find the name, address, telephone and fax number of your senator. The names, addresses, telephone numbers, faxes and email addresses of the Senate Health Services Committee are posted on the website. On the same website there is a link that will give the current status of HB 836 or any other bill in the legislature. I will be leaving this Friday morning for Richmond Virginia. I will be there all next week attending the National Genealogical Society Conference. I will be totally out of state and out of the loop. John Miller, President of the Austin Genealogical Society, has agreed to coordinate and be a point of contact until this situation is resolved. John's email address is JoCMiller@aol.com Thank you , John! Shannon Clyde shannonc@wwclyde.com sent the following message. It seems to summarize and clarify what we have been able to ascertain. It explains much of the differences we, as genealogists, have with HB 836 and explains the intent of the bill as it was originally introduced. Unfortunately the bill got to the legislature before it should have. Thank you, Shannon. Dear folks, I hope I can clarify and update you on House Bill 836 re. Vital Records in Texas, specifically the controversy about the Summary Index. Feel free to drop me a line for more information or to clarify anything in this mail. The Problem: Birth and Death Records in Texas are sealed for 50 and 25 years respectively. This includes the General Index which includes parental data. It is not supposed to include the Summary Index which includes Name, Date, Place. Some local clerks were not aware of this distinction, or under concerns for privacy, closed all Birth and Death information, including the Summary Index until they met the 25/50 rule and could be opened. House Bill 836 authored by the honorable Tracy O. King of Uvalde, Texas was created to clarify the appropriate disclosure of the Summary Index. While in committee, HB836 was amended to distinguish between the General Index and the Summary Index. An error appears to have been made that instead of clarifying the difference, closed all index information with the records, tying them to the 25/50 year rule. The General Index should remain tied to the actual record. This is reinforced by existing legislature (see Administration Code Chapter 1871.10 http://www.sos.state.tx.us ). This protects against misuse and primarily protects the parents of adopted children who wish to remain anonymous. Call To Action: Genealogists and others who need public access to the summary index should voice their opinion with the chairperson of the Senate Human Services, Honorable Ms. Judith Zaffirini and the author of the bill, Honorable Tracy O. King. The persons handling this legislation in their offices are: For Zaffirini: Sophia - phone:512-463-0121 For King: Amy - phone 512-463-0742 Please reinforce that we must keep the Summary Index open to the public. Update: I spoke with Sophia in the office of the Honorable Ms. Zaffirini. Sophia explained that they have decided to postpone public hearing until next week so that they have time to fix the error in the amendment. I hope this helps. regards, Shannon Clyde http://wwclyde.com/gibsonfamily http://wwclyde.com/clydefamily http://wwclyde.com/wealesfamily