The following is a summation of a message I received July 19 from the New England Historical and Genealogical Society. Basically it is another attempt (by another state legislature) to close access to vital records. MA bill H5158 is purportedly a rewrite of H132. See WWW.state.ma.us/legis/bills/house/h00132.htm. At present (7/19) the full text of H5158 is not online and it is expected that further line by line examination of the H51258 printed text (36p) will uncover other issues of concern. The birth, marriage & death records (vital records) of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts have always been open to the public with few specific exceptions. See www.state.ma.us/legis/laws/mgl/gl-66-toc.htm. House Bill 5158, currently reported out to the Committee on House Rules, would close birth records after 1910 and marriage & death records since 1950 to public access - as of 1/1/04, 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". Identity fraud is a claimed goal of H5158 without regard to the actual identity fraud methods used & documented by numerous investigations - which include the old fashioned methods of complete fabrication of identity, "trash scouting", wallet theft, home robbery, newspaper obituary targeting or institutional insider records misuse - as well as the advent of the Internet & other electronic transaction interceptions. Identity fraud thieves are generally not given to the methodical, time-consuming and formal task of searching & requesting vital records. You may monitor the status of this bill & check for the full text release at ww.state.ma.us/legis/history/h05158.htm. Formal session are scheduled to end 31 July, but impromptu sessions have been sometimes used to pass such legislation. Those (like myself) who are not MA residents may contact the chair of the House Rules Committee, Angelo M. Scaccia at 617-722-2692 or Rep.AngeloScaccia@hou.state.ma.us. Out-of-state residents may want to refer to the fact that they do research in MA, and when relevant, that they travel to MA to perform their research in vital records. If you are among the million who can claim ancestors in MA - prior to the proposed 1910/1950 exclusions - and do not believe that you will be impacted by such a law, please consult with your contemporary cousins, resident collateral lines, and fellow genealogists. Your interests as an individual and as a genealogist will be affected. The MA Genealogical Council welcomes all questions from interested researchers, as well as shared experiences from other jurisdictions dealing with ill-conceived, reactionary measures to identity fraud, privacy or records preservation and access issues. Send your questions and suggestions to info@massgencouncil.org. Stay informed on this issue by checking the MA Genealogical Council website at http://massgencouncil.home.attbi.com/index.htm and the New England Historic Genealogical Society website at newenglandancestors.org/. Jim