Hello All The March 9 meeting for GSNJ and the Advocates for NJ History with Assemblywoman Quigley has been rescheduled. The new date is the sometime in the week of March 20. (I don't have my calendar at hand...) This suggests that the bill won't be read or voted on in the Assembly in March. There is a voting day on March 16. After that, the next few sessions are only for votes on budget items - or so I understand. That means that this bill probably won't come up for a vote until May at the earliest. This gives us time to continue to contact the sponsors and other legislators to recommend changing the bill. As noted in earlier communications, the GSNJ website page on Legislative Alerts has information on suggestions for whom to contact and what to ask them to change. The direct link to the page is: http://www.rootsweb.com/~njgsnj/legislation.html As Kirsten noted, in an email earlier today, the bill as written would close all NJ vital records - which at the state level go back to 1848 (not 1878) and don't forget the county marriage records that go back further than that. The language changes that we are suggesting would continue to restrict access to records only for 80 years for birth records, 50 years for marriage records, and forty years for death records. Records older than that would be available to researchers. These are the current years used by the Dept of Health for their "genealogical records." I suspect that as long as the Dept of Health has possession of these older vital records we will continue to have to order them in much the same way as we do currently. Changing the language in this bill is more of a "status quo" kind of thing. What we are hoping to do is to prevent them from making access and sharing any more difficult than it already is. However.... GSNJ and the Advocates for NJ History are actively supporting efforts to create legislation that would transfer older records to the state archives on a regular schedule with sufficient funding to make them readily accessible to the public. We also hope that legislation can be put in place that will end restrictions to access of older vital records, including the cause of death, as well as open access to many other currently restricted records. When there is anything definite to report on that front - you all will be the first to hear! And also as we hear anything new on A-1390, we'll keep you posted. Regards, Joan Joan M. Lowry, President Genealogical Society of New Jersey mailto:membership@gsnj.org website: www.gsnj.org

Thanks, Joan. You are doing one hell of great job. Kirsten was one of the indivduals that I contacted via letter asked for her support. Ken > Hello All > > The March 9 meeting for GSNJ and the Advocates for NJ History with > Assemblywoman Quigley has been rescheduled. The new date is the > sometime in the week of March 20. (I don't have my calendar at hand...) > This suggests that the bill won't be read or voted on in the Assembly in > March. There is a voting day on March 16. After that, the next few > sessions are only for votes on budget items - or so I understand. That > means that this bill probably won't come up for a vote until May at the > earliest. > > This gives us time to continue to contact the sponsors and other > legislators to recommend changing the bill. As noted in earlier > communications, the GSNJ website page on Legislative Alerts has > information on suggestions for whom to contact and what to ask them to > change. The direct link to the page is: > http://www.rootsweb.com/~njgsnj/legislation.html > > As Kirsten noted, in an email earlier today, the bill as written would > close all NJ vital records - which at the state level go back to 1848 > (not 1878) and don't forget the county marriage records that go back > further than that. The language changes that we are suggesting would > continue to restrict access to records only for 80 years for birth > records, 50 years for marriage records, and forty years for death > records. Records older than that would be available to researchers. > These are the current years used by the Dept of Health for their > "genealogical records." > > I suspect that as long as the Dept of Health has possession of these > older vital records we will continue to have to order them in much the > same way as we do currently. Changing the language in this bill is more > of a "status quo" kind of thing. What we are hoping to do is to prevent > them from making access and sharing any more difficult than it already > is. However.... > > GSNJ and the Advocates for NJ History are actively supporting efforts to > create legislation that would transfer older records to the state > archives on a regular schedule with sufficient funding to make them > readily accessible to the public. We also hope that legislation can be > put in place that will end restrictions to access of older vital > records, including the cause of death, as well as open access to many > other currently restricted records. > > When there is anything definite to report on that front - you all will > be the first to hear! And also as we hear anything new on A-1390, we'll > keep you posted. > > Regards, > Joan > > Joan M. Lowry, President > Genealogical Society of New Jersey > mailto:membership@gsnj.org > website: www.gsnj.org > > > > > > ==== NJ-GSNJ Mailing List ==== > Save the Date!!! Save the Date!!! Save the Date!!! > GSNJ 2006 Spring Conference -- Saturday, June 3rd > > ============================== > Find your ancestors in the Birth, Marriage and Death Records. > New content added every business day. Learn more: > http://www.ancestry.com/s13964/rd.ashx > >