APG-L Archives

Archiver > APG > 2007-07 > 1185395407


From: "Melinde Sanborn" <>
Subject: [APG] Vital Records Massachusetts Legislation
Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2007 16:30:07 -0400
In-Reply-To: <200707111445.l6BEjP3k011651@mail.rootsweb.com>


For those who are following the current legislative work being done by the
Massachusetts Genealogical Council - Our bill was "heard" at the capital
this afternoon. Six members of MGC attended the packed session; two spoke.

Among her many good comments, MGC President Barbara Matthews, CG, voiced our
opposition to competing bills, one of which created the requirement that
genealogists using Massachusetts records be licensed. She praised our
present bill that made adjustments for potential Patriot Act related changes
in the issuance of birth certificates AND re-established a committee,
already called for in the law, where genealogists have several seats at the
table. The current committee calls for those seats to be held by people from
organizations that do not now and never have existed.

Bernard Couming, Civil Records Committee Chair, spoke about the federal
requests for changes and their continued delays. He indicated, as is widely
held, that if the "regulations" are delayed past November, that they will
not be issued at all for more than two years. He explained that identity
theft is usually a crime of opportunity, not accomplished by combing through
vital records for birth certificates to be used fraudulently.

We did what we could.

I must say as a personal aside that the other bills heard by the committee
before ours came up were extremely sobering. The tale of lives destroyed by
truly horrific conditions in schools and areas near highways in
Massachusetts made our issues seem humble indeed.

Melinde

This thread: