Hello The Massachusets Genealogical Council (MGC) board http://massgencouncil.home.attbi.com/index.htm held an emergency meeting on Friday July 12 in Waltham MA to review the text of an alarming, and recently introduced, Massachusetts House of Representatives bill H5158 (see links below for issues, status and contact information). The most pressing aspect of H5158, on preliminary review, is that it would close marriage and death records since 1950, as well as birth records after 1910, to public access - including their indicies! MGC is recommending that all Massachusetts residents contact their Representative and that all non-resident Massachusetts researchers contact a Massachusetts resident to represent their interests - immediately as the formal sessions close on July 31st - but impromptu sessions have sometimes been used to pass such legislation! ( see http://www.state.ma.us/legis/repdis01.htm for districts) The general content of the legislative protest letters should at least cover the following points, be sincere, personalized and not appear in a form letter format: ==================================================================== Dear (Representative Name): The Birth, Marriage and Death records (Vital Records) of the Commonwealth have always been open to the public with few specific exceptions. House Bill 5158, currently reported out to the Committee on House Rules, would close Birth Records after 1910 and Marriage and Death Records since 1950 to public access. We ask that you encourage further study of this Bill by the Committee on House Rules and that you vote AGAINST this bill should it come to floor vote. H5158 would affect every citizen of the Commonwealth. Among other things it would: 1) block access to recent death records so that family medical histories could not be ascertained; 2) increase expenses for persons needing to prove legitimate access to the Vital Records; 3) not affect the risks of identity fraud or theft which does not occur from personal inspection of the Vital Records. Again I/we urge you to defeat H5158. Sincerely, Name Address Contact Info =================================================================== Additional notes on the preliminary review of this bill: The Massachusetts bill H5158 is purportedly a rewrite of H132 (see http://www.state.ma.us/legis/bills/house/h00132.htm ). However, the full text of H5158 is not yet online and the MGC expects that further line by line examination of the H5158 printed text (36 pages) will uncover other issues of concern. In contrast, the MGC has been working on the Senate bill S2302 which may be reviewed at http://www.state.ma.us/legis/bills/st02302.htm All recent medical studies point to the statistical and anecdotal importance of medical information for multiple generations - and beyond immediate lineal or lateral descent lines. The H5158 bill could also remove access to the actual primary source record. It contains such items as "... Such examination, at the descretion of the Custodian, may be from an automated database. ..." The Birth, Marriage and Death records (Vital Records) of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts have always been open to the public with few specific exceptions (see http://www.state.ma.us/legis/laws/mgl/gl-66-toc.htm ). However, House Bill 5158, currently reported out to the Committee on House Rules, would close Birth Records after 1910 and Marriage and Death Records since 1950 to public access - as of January 1, 2004 when the inquirer must be proven to be ONLY the individual in question or the " spouse, children, parent as named on birth record, legal guardian, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, executor, authorized legal representative or authorized genealogist designated by one of the aforementioned persons in writing". Additionally, removing the indices from the public access will preclude researchers from even being able to narrow down the likely candidates for detailed record inspection - increasing the Catch-22 of having to prove a 2 generation or less direct lineal connection to the records in question - when that is the question! The H5158 bill does not provide funds for the expenditures of government agencies that would have to shoulder the new custodian and adminisitrative responsiblities for records archiving and access validation and/or refusal - such that even what the Custodian considers legitimate access request may not be administered in a timely fashion if the determination of legitimate access is not a funded administration expense. Identity fraud or theft issue is a claimed goal H5158 bill without regard to the actual identity fraud methods used and documented by numerous investigations - either in the old fashioned "complete fabrication", "trash scouring" and wallet/home robbery, newspaper obituary targeting and institutional insider records misuse - or the advent of the Internet and other electronic transaction interceptions. Identity fraud thieves are not prone to the methodical, time consuming and formal task of searching and requesting the Vital Records. You may monitor the status of this bill and check for the full text release at http://www.state.ma.us/legis/history/h05158.htm House, No. 5158 - Bill relating to birth, marriage and death records. 06/20/02 H Reported from the committee on Government Regulations 06/20/02 H New draft of H132 06/20/02 H Bill reported favorably by committee and referred to the committee on RULES OF THE TWO BRANCHES, ACTING CONCURRENTLY -HJ 1907 07/11/02 H Discharged to the committee on House Rules People who have representatives who are on these committees may find further information here: HOUSE RULES Room 167 State House Boston, MA 02133 Telephone: (617) 722-2692 It shall be the duty of the committee on Rules to recommend special orders for the scheduling and consideration of legislation on the floor of the House. Said committee shall be authorized to make ecommendations and propose changes in the rules for the purpose of improving and expediting the business and procedures of the House of Representatives and its committees. http://www.state.ma.us/legis/comm/h33.htm JOINT COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS Room 472 State House Boston, MA 02133 Telephone: (617) 722-2120 It shall be the duty of the committee on Government Regulations to consider all matters concerning public utilities, gambling, the racing industry, the registration of various trades or professions, the issuance of licenses for the sale of alcoholic beverages and such other matters as may be referred. Members appointed to the committee: Sen. Morrissey of Norfolk and Plymouth Pacheco of First Plymouth and Bristol Joyce of Suffolk and Norfolk Fargo of Fifth Middlesex Baddour of Third Essex Hedlund of Plymouth and Norfolk Rep. Bosley of North Adams Ciampa of Somerville Caron of Springfield Candaras of Wilbraham C. A. Murphy of Burlington Festa of Melrose Nangle of Lowell Rivera of Springfield Bradley of Hingham Brown of Wrentham Hill of Ipswich http://www.state.ma.us/legis/comm/j17.htm ============================================================ The MGC welcomes all questions from interested researchers, as well as shared experiences from other jurisdictions dealing with ill-concieived, reactionary measures to identity fraud, privacy or records preservation and access issues. Please send your questions and suggestions to [email protected] If you are among the millions who claim early ancestors in Massachusetts - prior to the proposed 1910/1950 exclusions - and do not believe you will be impacted by such a law, please consult with your contemporary cousins and resident collateral lines. Your family will be affected! Thank you for your interest and support in this matter. Sharon Sergeant Program Director, Massachusetts Genealogical Council http://massgencouncil.home.attbi.com/index.htm __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Autos - Get free new car price quotes http://autos.yahoo.com