MGC Protests Plan for Drastic Cut in Massachusetts Vital Records Research Hours Available

The following was written by the Massachusetts Genealogical Council:

To Massachusetts Genealogical Community:

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health has announced a drastic cut in the research hours available to genealogists and the public at large. The notice reads:

DUE TO BUDGET RESTRICTIONS AND STAFFING REDUCTIONS, THE REGISTRY OF VITAL
RECORDS AND STATISTICS WILL BE REDUCING RESEARCH ROOM HOURS EFFECTIVE
FEBRUARY 23, 2009. NEW RESEARCH HOURS WILL BE:

MONDAY: 2:00pm - 4:30pm    TUESDAY: 9:00am - 12:00n
WEDNESDAY: NO RESEARCH HOURS
THURSDAY: 2:00pm - 4:30pm     FRIDAY: 9:00am - 12:00pm

We apologize for any inconvenience.

The cutback in hours represents a 16½ hour loss of research time from a previous weekly service level of 27 ½ hours. The reading room is not large enough to fit the current number of users in the new hours, so numerous researchers will be turned away.

Change in Research Hours

Day	New Hours	Old Hours
Monday	2 1/2	5 1/2
Tuesday	3	5 1/2
Wednesday	0	5 1/2
Thursday	2 1/2	5 1/2
Friday	3	5 1/2
Total per week	11	27 1/2

The Registry plays an essential role by providing access to birth, marriage, death and divorce records in Massachusetts from 1916 to the present.  The records are essential for the legal community when searching for legal heirs at law for personal estates as well as law enforcement officials when researching individual backgrounds. Massachusetts’ passionate genealogy community uses the registry to research family history. Visitors from outside the Commonwealth bring countless tourism dollars into Massachusetts every year by doing research at the facility. The medical information contained in the records is critical to building a family history for medical providers of all kinds. By reducing hours at the facility, the Commonwealth is reducing its own revenue stream by losing the nine dollar per hour research fee from researchers.

The Massachusetts Genealogical Council finds this cut unacceptable and we need your help to restore the previous research hours available to the public. Please copy and paste the letter given below and email it to your state representative, state senator and Governor Patrick today.

To find a listing of your representative click here:  
http://www.mass.gov/legis/city_town.htm.  

Governor Patrick’s email contact page is: http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=gov3utilities&sid=Agov3&U=Agov3_contact_us

---

MGC's Suggested Protest Letter to Legislators:

(Subject line email): Objection to drastic cut back in hours at the Registry of Vital Records

Dear [Senator/Representative/Governor Patrick]:

Please act immediately to maintain the current hours at the Registry of Vital Records. The Department of Public Health’s announcement that Registry research room hours will be reduced from the current 27½ hours to a paltry 11 hours per week effective February 23 is unacceptable. The Commonwealth’s citizens need your immediate attention to stop this action.

The Registry plays an essential role by providing access to birth, marriage, death and divorce records in Massachusetts from 1916 to the present.  These records are essential for the legal community and law enforcement officials. Massachusetts’ passionate genealogy community uses the Registry to research family history. The medical information these records contain is critical to building a family health care history. The Registry is a tourism destination for countless visitors from outside our borders, bringing in thousands of dollars to our state government’s coffers every year. The reduction in hours at the Registry will reduce the Commonwealth’s own revenue stream by losing the nine dollar per hour research fee paid by every researcher. It also strangles a revenue stream for the dozens of genealogists who depend on research hours to sustain their small businesses, reducing the taxes they can pay.

Thank you for attention to this important issue. I look forward to your positive action on this matter.

Sincerely

(Your name)
(Telephone Number)