Please read this and if you concur with the need to keep our Birth and Death records open, please respond to the appropriate Senators listed below. This is URGENT, as the bill will be voted on Thursday, June 6th......................................... URGE CALIFORNIA SENATORS TO VOTE NO ON SB1614, A BILL WHICH WOULD REMOVE THE CALIFORNIA BIRTH AND DEATH INDICES FROM PUBLIC ACCESS. SB1614 WILL BE VOTED ON THE SENATE FLOOR ON THURSDAY, JUNE 6TH. Please call, fax, and e-mail ALL MEMBERS OF THE CALIFORNIA SENATE TODAY and ask for their DO NOT PASS vote on SB1614. The bill, sponsored by Senator Jackie Speier, seeks to remove California's birth and death indices from the public domain, where they have been generally available to the public since 1905. SB1614 is now on a fast track through the California State Senate at the behest of Governor Gray Davis. To facilitate its supersonic trajectory past any public review, it has been amended recently into a wildcard placeholder that reads in its entirety: "It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to protect the confidentiality of birth and death record indices." But there is no doubt that the final result will turn the Birth and Death Indices into closely guarded state secrets. SB1614 will hinder efforts to overcome secrecy in government. It bodes no good for citizens who want to access government-held information on their own histories and identities. It would create a right of confidentiality that would be a substantial setback for open records efforts in California. This bill would also block legitimate genealogical and historical research, population studies and public policy research. And it will do little to help the problem it was intended to address. According to the First Amendment Coalition, most identity theft occurs through the literal theft of mail, purses, and wallets by friends, relatives, neighbors, and strangers - not through use of the birth and death indices. Read the full text at http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/bill/sen/sb_1601-1650/sb_1614_bill_20020530_amended_sen.html Share this information with any genealogy lists you are on. Some genealogy groups are aligned with us against this legislation. *** CONTACT INFORMATION *** Ackerman, Richard (SD-33) State Capitol, Room 4066 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 445-4264 Fax: (916) 445-9754 [email protected] Alarcón, Richard (SD-20) State Capitol, Room 4035 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 445-7928 Fax (916) 324-6645 [email protected] Alpert, Dede (SD-39) State Capitol, Room 5050 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 445-3952 Fax (916) 327-2188 [email protected] Battin, Jim (SD-37) State Capitol, Room 3076 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 445-5581 Fax: (916) 327-2187 [email protected] Bowen, Debra (SD-28) State Capitol, Room 4040 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 445-5953 Fax: (916) 323-6056 [email protected] Brulte, James (SD-31) State Capitol, Room 305 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 445-3688 Fax: (916) 327-2272 [email protected] Burton, John (SD-3) State Capitol, Room 205 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 445-1412 Fax: (916) 445-4722 http://democrats.sen.ca.gov/senator/burton/ Chesbro, Wesley (SD-2) State Capitol, Room 4081 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 445-3375 Fax (916) 323-6958 [email protected] Costa, Jim (SD-16) State Capitol, Room 5100 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 445-4641 Fax (916) 327-5989 [email protected] Dunn, Joseph (SD-34) State Capitol, Room 2080 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 445-5831 Fax (916) 323-2323 [email protected] Escutia, Martha (SD-30) State Capitol, Room 5080 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 327-8315 Fax (916) 327-8755 [email protected] Figueroa, Liz (SD-10) State Capitol, Room 2057 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 445-6671 Fax (916) 327-2433 [email protected] Haynes, Ray N. (SD-36) State Capitol, Room 2187 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 445-9781 Fax: (916) 447-9008 [email protected] Johannessen, Maurice (SD-4) State Capitol, Room 5061 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 445-3353 Fax: (916) 445-7750 http://republican.sen.ca.gov/web/4/feed.asp Johnson, Ross (SD-35) State Capitol, Room 3063 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 445-4961 Fax: (949) 833-0696 Karnette, Betty (SD-27) State Capitol, Room 5066 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 445-6447 Fax (916) 327-9113 [email protected] Knight, William "Pete" (SD-17) State Capitol, Room 2054 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 445-6637 [email protected] Kuehl, Sheila James (SD-23) State Capitol, Room 4032 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 445-1353 Fax (916) 324-4823 http://democrats.sen.ca.gov/senator/kuehl/ Machado, Michael (SD-05) State Capitol, Room 3086 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 445-2407 Fax (916) 323-2304 http://democrats.sen.ca.gov/senator/machado/ Margett, Bob (SD-29) State Capitol, Room 3082 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 445-2848 [email protected] McClintock, Tom (SD-19) State Capitol, Room 3070 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 445-8873 Fax: (916) 324-7544 s[email protected] McPherson, Bruce (SD-15) State Capitol, Room 2054 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 445-5843 [email protected] Monteith, Dick (SD-12) State Capitol, Room 4090 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 445-1392 [email protected] Morrow, Bill (SD-38) State Capitol, Room 4048 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 445-3731 http://republican.sen.ca.gov/web/38/feed.asp Murray, Kevin (SD-26) State Capitol, Room 4082 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 445-5215 Fax (916) 445-8899 [email protected] O'Connell, Jack (SD-18) State Capitol, Room 5035 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 445-5405 Fax (916) 322-3304 [email protected] Oller, Thomas "Rico" (SD-01) State Capitol, 2048 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 445-5788 [email protected] Ortiz, Deborah (SD-6) State Capitol, Room 5114 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 445-7807 Fax (916) 323-2263 [email protected] Peace, Steve (SD-40) State Capitol, Room 3060 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 445-6767 Fax (916) 327-3522 [email protected] Perata, Don (SD-9) State Capitol, Room 4061 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 445-6577 Fax (916) 327-1997 [email protected] Polanco, Richard G. (SD-22) State Capitol, Room 313 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 445-3456 Fax (916) 445-0413 [email protected] Poochigian, Charles (SD-14) State Capitol, Room 5087 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 445-9600 Fax: (916) 327-3523 [email protected] Romero, Gloria (SD-24) State Capitol, Room 4062 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 445-1418 Fax (916) 445-0485 http://democrats.sen.ca.gov/senator/romero/ Scott, Jack (SD-21) State Capitol, Room 5064 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 445-5976 Fax (916) 324-7543 [email protected] Sher, Byron D. (SD-11) State Capitol, Room 2082 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 445-6747 Fax (916) 323-4529 [email protected] Soto, Nell (SD-32) State Capitol, Room 4074 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 445-6868 [email protected] Speier, Jackie (SD-8) (Author of SB 1614) State Capitol, Room 2032 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 445-0503 Fax (916) 327-2186 [email protected] Torlakson, Tom (SD-07) State Capitol, Room 2068 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 445-6083 Fax (916) 445-2527 http://democrats.sen.ca.gov/senator/torlakson/ Vasconcellos, John (SD-13) State Capitol, Room 4074 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 445-9740 Fax (916) 324-0283 [email protected] Vincent, Edward (SD-25) State Capitol, Room 5052 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 445-2104 Fax (916) 445-3712 http://democrats.sen.ca.gov/senator/vincent/ Call, fax, write today! Your letters and phone calls do make a difference. Legislative Committee Bastard Nation: The Adoptee Rights Organization http://www.bastards.org/ Copyright 2002 Bastard Nation - Permission is granted to distribute verbatim copies of this document, provided that this notice remain intact. =================================================================================

As a California State Employee AND someone who does genealogy research, I have some mixed feelings about this. Recently (April-May) someone was able to hack into a computer at the State Controllers office and gained access to a database containing payroll deduction information for all California State employees. This database contained our first and middle intial, Last name and Social Security number. With this information, all someone needs is to get our birth date and they can recreate an identity. I believe in preserving the confidentiality of information on persons still living, however the records for people who are deceased should be made available upon request to people who have a legitimate reason for accessing that information. (Genealogy being a legitimate reason) Currently, (as I understand it) if one signs a form giving certain information (including a social security number) a person can gain access to birth records of persons born up through the present (well, up to about 1995-1998 I believe) This presents a problem for those of us whose personal information may have been compromised. I believe some kind of legislation should be enacted, but still allow access to records after X number of years (like the census does). Unfortunately the electronic age, while making research much easier and faster, has also made it possible for high tech criminals to steal information that would allow them to steal your identity. Sincerly Pam Gow Wilton California -----Original Message----- From: Gwen Hunt [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, June 04, 2002 7:10 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [Tri-Counties] Fw: Stop SB 1614 in California: re: Birth & Death Records Please read this and if you concur with the need to keep our Birth and Death records open, please respond to the appropriate Senators listed below. This is URGENT, as the bill will be voted on Thursday, June 6th......................................... URGE CALIFORNIA SENATORS TO VOTE NO ON SB1614, A BILL WHICH WOULD REMOVE THE CALIFORNIA BIRTH AND DEATH INDICES FROM PUBLIC ACCESS. SB1614 WILL BE VOTED ON THE SENATE FLOOR ON THURSDAY, JUNE 6TH. Please call, fax, and e-mail ALL MEMBERS OF THE CALIFORNIA SENATE TODAY and ask for their DO NOT PASS vote on SB1614. The bill, sponsored by Senator Jackie Speier, seeks to remove California's birth and death indices from the public domain, where they have been generally available to the public since 1905. SB1614 is now on a fast track through the California State Senate at the behest of Governor Gray Davis. To facilitate its supersonic trajectory past any public review, it has been amended recently into a wildcard placeholder that reads in its entirety: "It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to protect the confidentiality of birth and death record indices." But there is no doubt that the final result will turn the Birth and Death Indices into closely guarded state secrets. SB1614 will hinder efforts to overcome secrecy in government. It bodes no good for citizens who want to access government-held information on their own histories and identities. It would create a right of confidentiality that would be a substantial setback for open records efforts in California. This bill would also block legitimate genealogical and historical research, population studies and public policy research. And it will do little to help the problem it was intended to address. According to the First Amendment Coalition, most identity theft occurs through the literal theft of mail, purses, and wallets by friends, relatives, neighbors, and strangers - not through use of the birth and death indices. Read the full text at http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/bill/sen/sb_1601-1650/sb_1614_bill_20020530_am ended_sen.html