The following is an announcement from the Massachusetts Genealogical Council:
The Massachusetts Genealogical Council (MGC) is calling on genealogical researchers in Massachusetts to take action in support of a bill before the Massachusetts legislature.
BACKGROUND
Access to records is of extreme importance to genealogists. MGC and the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) are supporting House Bill H-3448 sponsored by Stephen LeDuc, "An Act Relative to Birth, Marriage, and Death Records"
Three other bills -- H-3642, H-3643, and H-3644 sponsored by Thomas O'Brien -- impose restricted access to the records, only allowing public access to birth records before 1910 or marriage and death records before 1950. These bills have little to no support in the genealogical community, and MGC and NEHGS oppose them.
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RECOMMENDED ACTION
On Wednesday, October 19, at 10:00 in Room A1 at the State House in Boston, the Committee on Public Health will be holding a public hearing on these four bills. http://www.mass.gov/legis/comm/j16.htm
A STRONG SHOWING FROM THE GENEALOGICAL COMMUNITY AT THE HEARING WILL HELP THE BILL WE SUPPORT AS IT MAKES ITS WAY THROUGH THE LEGISLATURE. Please join us at this hearing.
If you cannot come to the hearing, please contact your representative (see below for web links to find your representative and his/her contact information). Simply say or write that you urge him or her to:
1. support bill H-3448 by Stephen LeDuc, "An Act Relative to Birth, Marriage, and Death Records," and
2. oppose the alternative set of bills H-3642, 3643, and 3644 by Thomas O'Brien.
CONTACTING YOUR REPRESENTATIVE
For a list of representatives (and senators) by town go to:
http://www.mass.gov/legis/citytown.htm
To find your ward and precinct, fill in your address at:
http://www.wheredoivotema.com/bal/myelectioninfo.php
For contact information (email and telephone) for representatives by name go to:
http://www.mass.gov/legis/memmenuh.htm
To write to them by mail, use an address of the following form:
Representative [name of rep]
State House
Boston, MA 02133-----------------------------------------------------------
The full text of the MGC sponsored bill that supports continued public access to indices and vital records with "special certified" copies for genealogists (not legal identification purposes) may be found online: H-3448: An Act relative to Birth, Marriage, and Death Records http://www.mass.gov/legis/bills/house/ht03/ht03448.htmThis bill provides for birth records up to 1925 and marriage and death records through 1960 to be transferred to the Massachusetts Archives within three years of January 1, 2007, with additional transfers occurring every five years thereafter (currently the archives has records through 1915). All records and indexes would remain open to public examination through the present time. It also provides for a "special certified copy" of records for research information, as opposed to legal purposes.
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RECORDS CLOSING THREATThe full text of the H-3642 bill that imposes the restrictions on the the electronic database and index access, as well as issuance of certified copies (those restrictions are detailed in the H-3643 bill ammendments to Chapter 46, Sections 2a and 13) may be found online: H-3642: An Act TO ESTABLISH AN ELECTRONIC SYSTEM OF VITAL RECORDS. http://www.mass.gov/legis/bills/house/ht03/ht03642.htm
The full text of the H-3643 bill that closes the post-1910 birth and post-1950 marriage and death records (and the indices) to public access may be found online: H-3643: An Act ESTABLISHING STANDARDS FOR VITAL RECORDS. http://www.mass.gov/legis/bills/house/ht03/ht03643.htm
The full text of the H-3644 bill that explains fees, funding and regulation extensions to the prior two bills (and refers to a non-existent "Massachusetts Genealogical Society" instead of the Massachusetts Genealogical Council) can be found online: H-3644: An Act TO FUND A SYSTEM OF ELECTRONIC VITAL RECORDS. http://www.mass.gov/legis/bills/house/ht03/ht03644.htm
-----------------------------------------------------------The full text of the existing law in Chapter 46 can be found online: http://www.mass.gov/legis/laws/mgl/gl-46-toc.htm
If you have any questions or need any further information, please write to H3448@MassGenCouncil.org.
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Permission to forward to other genealogical and Massachusetts records researchers is granted.
