Thank you very much. I couldn't find this information the other night. When I looked up the bill history, it came up with nothing. I may have been looking in the wrong place. Also, Sharon Sergeant sent a message to the MAESSEX list which was forwarded to a Quebec list I belong to. It has additional information about what is going on with these bills. thanks again, Lisa Sharon's message is below - -----Original Message----- From: Sharon Sergeant [mailto:info@AncestralManor.com] Sent: Tuesday, June 20, 2006 10:01 AM To: MAESSEX-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [MAESSEX] MASSACHUSETTS RECORDS ACCESS ALERT Hello I am on the MGC board and took part in the meetings in recent weeks with the Supervisor of Public Records who was attempting to get realistic bills to expedite the digitization of records and orderly transfer to the Massachusetts Archives from the Department of Public Health. Rep OBrien refused modifications that would make the bills acceptable - ie he is adamant that the indexes and the vital records be removed from public records, until they are transfered to the Massachusetts archives and are only then deemed public records. The last meeting was on Friday and NEHGS was represented. It was only on Friday that it was clear that O'Brien would not budge on the removal of vital records from public records. Whether NEHGS plans to announce to their membership, I do not know. You may wish to contact them directly. MGC is the umbrella organization to which NEHGS belongs. These bills are in the House Ways and Means committee: http://www.mass.gov/legis/184history/h03642.htm http://www.mass.gov/legis/184history/h03643.htm http://www.mass.gov/legis/184history/h03644.htm MGC will update www.massgencouncil.org as we get further info. This records closing effort is only old news only in the sense that it has been going on for 25 years, which is why the MGC was formed. So every session, new bills get introduced - with minor tweeks - but all with the same intent - close the records. Last fall, at the hearing for these bills, the rationale was to prepare for the 2004 Terrorism bill regulations regarding "Minimum Standards for Birth Certificates" - even though the statue for certified birth certificate formats for federal purposes has no jurisdiction on the records information access at the state level. This spring, the rationale is that the records must be closed to prevent Identity Theft, even though the millions of security breaches that have escalated identity theft are from unsecured government and financial institution databases or electronic transactions, not via vital records. So these bills always get the political banner du jour, without regard to the facts. The MGC fully supports measures that do address the real issues. I will be scheduling teleconference phone sessions for people who would like to discuss this issue in more detail. Legislators are also welcome, so when you see the announcement, you may wish to invite your rep to participate. Sharon Sergeant ----- Original Message ----- From: <MSGANDCO@aol.com> To: <MABRISTO-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, June 20, 2006 10:18 AM Subject: Re: [MABRISTO] MASSACHUSETTS RECORDS ACCESS ALERT > Lisa, > > Here is what the Massachusetts website has to say about the bills: > > http://www.mass.gov/legis/184history/h03642.htm > > Petition of Thomas J. O'Brien and others relative to birth, marriage and > death records. > 01/26/05 H Referred to the committee on Public Health > 01/26/05 S Senate concurred > Public Hearing date Oct 19 am at 10:00 in Room A-1 > 03/22/06 H Bill reported favorably by committee and referred to the committee > on House Ways and Means -HJ 1305 > > All three bills list the same information I pasted above for H-3642, so they > are being treated as a group so far and they are definitely still very much > alive. > > Matt >