This was sent over one of Roots Web list's - thought it important enough to send it to the Massachusetts lists - PLEASE SPREAD THIS AROUND FAST !! your future research depends on this bill to fail in the MA state Senate !!! those of you in the state of Massachusetts CONTACT YOUR STATE SENATORS NOW !!! Date: Mon, 30 Dec 2002 19:54:11 -0800 (PST) From: Sharon Sergeant <info@genealogyfair.com> Reply-To: info@genealogyfair.com To: MAMIDDLE-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [MAMIDDLE] Massachusetts Vital Records Closed with H5158 bill passage! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- MASSACHUSETTS HOUSE BILL H5158 - OPEN RECORDS CLOSED! The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) initiative to RESTRICT the current and historically OPEN vital records of the Commonwealth with House Bill H5158 HAS PASSED THE MA HOUSE TODAY December 30, 2002! All that remains is the Massachusetts Senate and Exiting Governors rubber stamp & Did YOU have the opportunity to review the text and give your testimony in HEARINGS? NO! Do you even have ACCESS to the H5158 text? NO! Behind closed doors and in the hallways of the legislature, taking advantage of the informal sessions, Lame Duck status and holidays, a handful of people have take away YOUR RIGHTS to YOUR HERITAGE! CONTACT YOUR MASSACHUSETTS SENATOR NOW! Tell them who the SILENT MAJORITY VOTERS are in their district who RELY ON OPEN MASSACHUSETTS VITAL RECORDS http://www.state.ma.us/legis/memmenus.htm CONTACT YOUR SENATORS! See http://www.state.ma.us/legis/sendis01.htm for 2001-2002 Just in case this ELEVENTH HOUR tactic actually passes to CLOSE MASSACHUSETTS VITAL RECORDS alert the 2003 legislators about YOUR CONCERNS on this matter! http://www.state.ma.us/legis/repdis03.htm and http://www.state.ma.us/legis/sendis03.htm IF YOUR LEGISLATORS DO NOT RESPOND OR ARE NOT AVAILABLE, CONTACT THE LEGISLATORS WHO HAVE PARTICIPATED IN THE INFORMAL SESSIONS! O'Brien, Thomas J. Rep.ThomasO'Brien@hou.state.ma.us http://www.state.ma.us/legis/member/tjo1.htm Susan C. Fargo SFargo@senate.state.ma.us http://www.state.ma.us/legis/member/scf0.htm SUMMARY: The Massachusetts Genealogical Council (MGC) initiative to STOP H5158 from passage at the tail end of the July 2002 formal sessions was successful - thanks to the response of all CONCERNED citizens in the genealogical community. Although the response of many legislators indicated that they had clearly not READ or did not UNDERSTAND the IMPLICATIONS of H5158, they did understand that large numbers of CONSTITUENTS are AGAINST RESTRICTIONS to the PUBLIC GOOD in the form of POORLY DRAFTED legislation that has had NO PUBLIC HEARINGS! However, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) has CONTINUED their efforts! Specifically: December 2002 H5158 language changes have been chosen for the purposes of OTHER BILLS that are not filed yet - Modernization and Fraud Control bills that ALSO have had NO PUBLIC HEARINGS! The MGC continues to be EXCLUDED from the permanent special vital records and statistics committee to oversee the overall improvement including preservation and automation of the vital records and statistics system in the commonwealth. Even though the MDPH has repeatedly said the MGC omission was an oversight, this ERROR PERSISTS in the revisions! NO VERSION of H5158 has been made available to the public via the legislative web site since its FIRST ELEVENTH HOUR introduction in the July formal sessions http://www.state.ma.us/scripts/legis/ltsh.idq?HouseNumber=5158 The most recently reported MDPH H5158 wording changes appear as attempts to clarify the previous problems, but introduce the UNKNOWN impact of the unfiled legislation PROPOSAL DEPENDENCIES! CONTACT YOUR SENATORS! See http://www.state.ma.us/legis/sendis01.htm for 2001-2002 NO CONTROVERSIAL BILL can be passed in informal sessions IF THE CONTROVERSY IS KNOWN! MAKE SURE YOUR SENATOR KNOWS THAT YOU DO NOT APPRECIATE BEING EXCLUDED FROM THE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS! YOUR RIGHTS TO RECORDS TO RECORDS ACCESS DESERVE A PUBLIC HEARING! H5158 SHOULD NOT BE PASSED on DECEMBER 31, 2002! Sharon Sergeant Program Director, Massachusetts Genealogical Council http://massgencouncil.home.attbi.com/index.htm ===== Sharon Sergeant Ancestors and Ephemera http://GenealogyFair.com Bring Your Ancestors Home! ============================== To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237