1 rpac state liaison conference call 28 january 2014
TRANSCRIPT
Jan Alpert, RPAC Chair (10 min.)◦ RPAC Overview◦ Responsibilities of State Liaisons
Jan Meisels Allen, IAJGS Public Records Monitoring Committee (20 min.)◦ Model State Vital Statistics Act◦ How a Bill Becomes a Law—See Slides 12 Nov 2013
Examples from 2013, State Liaisons◦ Teri Flack—Texas [killed in committee] (10 min.)◦ Helen Shaw—Maine [legislation through regulation] (10 min.)
Jan Alpert, Chair (5 min.)◦ Response to 2013 Bipartisan Budget Bill closure of SSDI for three years
Fred Moss, Counsel for FGS (15 min.)◦ What’s on the RPAC Blog www.fgs.org/RPAC◦ Visit Your State and US Legislators, Sample Letters and Talking Points◦ Q & A
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Agenda
Joint Committee of FGS, NGS, and IAJGS Participating organizations: APG, ASG, BCG, and
ICAPGen. Other participants: Ancestry & ProQuest State Liaisons (32 of the 50 states currently
represented)
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About RPAC
Jan Alpert, Chair (SC) Josh Taylor, FGS (MA) Fred Moss, FGS (TX) David Rencher, FGS (UT) Curt Witcher, FGS (IN) Linda McCleary, FGS (AZ) Barbara Mathews, BCG (MA) Roger D. Joslyn, ASG (NY) Linda Gulbrandsen, ICAPGEN
(UT)
Jan Meisels Allen, IAJGS (CA) Ken Ryesky, IAJGS (NY) Jordan Jones, NGS, (NC) Donn Devine, NGS (DE) Darrell Jackson, NGS (MI) Kelvin Meyers, APG (TX) Lou Szucs, Ancestry (IL) Bill Forsyth, ProQuest (UT)
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Records Preservation & Access Committee Organizations and their Representatives
Advocate open access to vital records Support strong preservation policies & practices Advise community about federal, state, and sometimes
local regulations and legislation Coordinate genealogical community response
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RPAC Mission
Monthly evening conference call—First Thursday each month
Presentations 2013 at NGS, IAJGS & FGS◦ Some of the State Liaisons have attended
RPAC Blog at http://www.FGS.org/rpac RPAC email list State Liaisons mailing list and Blog
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How RPAC Works
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How We Hear About Threats
◦ Members of RPAC committee◦ Participating organizations in RPAC◦ State Liaisons ◦ Genealogy Blogs
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How RPAC Responds to Threats◦ RPAC supports and assists state genealogy groups and
state liaisons◦ Monitors bills as the legislation progresses◦ Communicates threats and bill status◦ Prepares written statements for key committee hearings◦ Posts sample letters to legislators ◦ Talking Points for visits with your legislators
Usually by state umbrella society Looking for volunteers interested in the political
process Who possibly worked in government affairs, state or
local government
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State Liaisons—How Selected
Monitor state legislative & regulatory activity Timely alert to RPAC Primary link between state genealogical community
& RPAC Build a communications network across the state for
a consistent response Compile state specific data on access and retention
of vital records for RPAC website.
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State Liaison Responsibilities with Support from RPAC
Elizabeth Wells (AL) Connie Bradbury (AK) Linda McCleary (AZ) Jan Davenport (AR) Peggy Rossi (CA) David Coward (CO) Robert Rafford (CT) Donn Devine (DE) John Laurent (FL)
Elizabeth Olson (GA) Jeanie Lowe (IL) Curt Witcher (IN) Cynthia Hofmeister (LA) Helen Shaw (ME) Barbara Mathews (MA) Cynthia Grostick (MI) Nancy Waller Thomas (MO) Terry Atwood (MT)
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State Liaison Roster
Robbi Ryan (NE) Bernice Schroer (NV) Joan Lowry (NJ) Derek Davey (OH) Billie Fogarty (OK) Leslie Lawson (OR) James Beidler (PA)
John Andrews, Jr. (SC) Teri Flack (TX) Linda Gulbrandsen (UT) John Leppman (VT) Barbara Vines Little (VA) Eric Stroschein (WA) Pam Anderson (WI)
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State Liaison Roster
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Jan Meisels Allen
Member, RPACChairperson, IAJGS Public
Records Access Monitoring Committee
President, Jewish Genealogical Society
of the Conejo Valley and Ventura County (JGSCV)
Geneal ogists without records can’t do genealogy!
We are facing crises worldwide on access to vi tal records
Due to mi sunderstanding by those in power about Identity Theft
Budget Cuts
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Enacted in 1992. Many western states have followed Model Act
◦ Restricts access to birth records for 100 years◦ Restricts access to marriage, divorce, & death for 50 years
In 2009 working group began revisions Genealogical community was not asked to testify or
submit statements on the 2011 draft.
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Model State Vital Statistics Act
Working group reported revision May 2011◦ Restricts access to birth records for 125 years◦ Restricts access to marriage or divorce records for 100 years◦ Restricts access to death records for 75 years◦ Restricts access to indices until the embargo dates◦ Requires confidentiality restrictions on indices as well as records
April 2012 Dept. of Health & Humans Services (HHS) put Model Act “on hold”
January 2013 HHS promulgates final regulation on privacy and permits medical information on deceased to be released after 50 years less than revision act of 75 years
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2011 RevisionModel State Vital Statistics Act
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In anticipation of the new Model Act being approved, several states have introduced bills◦ Passed in Oklahoma in 2011—no one noticed◦ Bills introduced in Virginia, Washington, Oregon, and Texas—
mixed results RPAC, together with state and local genealogists have
been working to stop any adverse changes Watch for introduction in your state legislature Could be in form of regulations
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2011 Revision Model Act
Birth record Birth certificate Death record Death certificate Divorce record Marriage record Marriage certificate Still birth record Domestic partnership record-certificate
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Key Words to Look For In New Legislation
Vital records Public records State archives Model vital record act Vital statistics Social Security Number State registrar Disclosure of records Name of your state’s vital records
regulatory agency
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Key Words Continued
Regulations are way for state regulators to require actions that are not in state law and to “reinterpret” state laws
NAHPHSIS 2013 conference said since they did not do well in legislatures in 2014 they will start enacting Model Vital Records Act by regulation.
We are already seeing movement on privacy language for Maine Vital Records proposed regulations following Model Act
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Remember to Watch For Regulations Too
Find out when your state’s legislature begins and ends. Many start in January- but the end dates vary- some go year ‘round
See: http://www.statescape.com/Resources/Sessions/Sessions.aspx?h=&year=2014
As January is around the corner this is the time to find out who are your representatives, their contact information and make your selves known to them
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Things to Do Now
Invite your local legislators to a Society meeting
Send all your legislators-federal, state, local your blog/newsletter—remember you and your society members are their constituents
Stop into their local offices and get to know them and their staffs
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What You and Your Society Can Do
See slides on the RPAC Blog (www.fgs/RPAC/publications) last bullet
See slides #25-30; 34-38◦ Terminology◦ How a bill becomes a law
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State Liaison Meeting 12 Nov 2013
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Monitor Bills
Actively monitor and review all future versions of the bill
How to read changes:
Underlined/italicized words are new
Crossed-out words are those being removed
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New language in italics
Removed language
crossed-out
Each Country and State Is Different
You need to know how your country or state writes
legislation
How a bill becomes a law
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Nevada
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NN
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Every step on the
“How A Bill Becomes A Law”
is an opportunity to shape the outcome…from the day it is introduced,
the hearings, going to the floor of the legislature, to the desk. Take the
necessary steps at each opportunity!
Who do you write?◦ Committee Chairperson◦ Committee Members◦ Author of the Bill (may or may not be a member
of the committee) If the bill has passed?
◦ Write the Governor or President who will be asked to sign the bill
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Write a Letter to the Committee(s)Which Will Hear the Bill
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Massachusetts Legislature Page
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All politics are local!
Each Liaison and your society board member and others in
your society should get to know:
Your local State RepresentativeYour local State Senator
Your Federal CongresspersonYour US Senators
Your Country’s Governing MembersAnd their staffs!
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Get To Know Your Local Representatives
You need to know what is going on Read online the capitol’s newspaper and
key political columnist Keep in touch with other genealogy
societies to know what they are doing Post updates on your society
website/blog/newsletter
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Keep Informed
Sacramento Bee-Capital Alert
http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/
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Examples of Key Political Columns
Politics
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Dan Walters- Political ColumnistSacramento Bee
YOU ARE NOT ALONE!
REACH OUT!
ARCHIVISTS
HISTORIANS
LIBRARIANS
LOCAL/STATE PRESS
OTHER GENEALOGICAL SOCIETIES
IAJGS/RPAC
OTHER ORGANIZATIONS DEPENDING ON ISSUES IN BILLS
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COALITION-BUILDING
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We need you to be the eyes and ears for early alerts about the bills.
Your local presence and involvementis key to success!
Oregon—Jan Meisels Allen◦ Passed with no change in embargo periods◦ Limited access to the indices
Texas—Teri Flack◦ Killed in Committee
Maine—Helen Shaw◦ Law changed 2010.◦ Researcher card to provide access to
genealogists◦ 2014 pending regulations incorporate some Model Act provisions (to make the indices
private)
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Recent Vital Records Legislation
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Jan Alpert, ChairRPAC
The Bipartisan Budget Bill passed by both houses in
December and signed by the President 27
December 2013, is now the law.
Under Section 203, SSDI records are closed for three
years after the death of each individual
Although we are not happy, the outcome could have
been worse. Two bills asked for permanent closure of
the Death Master File/SSDI.
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2013 Bipartisan Budget Bill
We are asking the Commerce Department to certify genealogists
who need immediate access (estimated to be not more than 3,000):
Department of Defense repatriation of remains
Identification of unclaimed persons
Missing and unknown heir cases involving estates, trusts, real estate, oil & gas &
mineral rights, quiet title actions, and similar activities.
Settlement of estates
Tracing and tracking heritable medical conditions
Repatriation of stolen art
Identifying Native American blood quantum to determine eligibility for tribal
benefits
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RPAC Response to 2013 Bipartisan Budget Bill—Part I
On a parallel path RPAC is working to convince
key Congressional Committees that identity
theft of the deceased from use of the SSDI is no
longer a problem.
◦IRS flags have closed many loop holes
◦The current SSDI is no longer available for free
◦If the SSN is masked for three years, the rest of the
record should be available to all genealogists49
RPAC Response to 2013 Bipartisan Budget Bill—Part II
2011 Model Vital Statistics Act 2013 Bipartisan Budget Bill Sample letters to write
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RPAC Will Provide Talking Points
Counsel for FGS Grandfather of the famous author, Evan Moss, who
published his first book at age 7.
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Fred Moss, JD, LL.M.
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Genealogy = “Just a hobby”, Nosey Neighbors
Open Records Promote Identity Theft Vital Records can be closed without costs
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Myths, Misperceptions &Unstated Assumptions
We as genealogists have inadequately educated the general public and decision-makers about:
◦ Why we do what we do◦ What we need to do it right◦ How we & society benefit from this effort
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Thesis
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Do you know your elected representatives? Do they know you? Call on your state and federal legislators
◦ Office Visits during Congressional Recesses and holidays We also recommend joint calls between President of
State Genealogical Society and APG Chapter President
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What is Needed NOW ?
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US Senate: http://www.senate.gov/
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US House of Representatives:http://www.house.gov/
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Congressional Schedules113th Congress, 2nd Session
www.hobnob.com
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Congressional Schedule 2014
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Congressional Schedule 2014
Statements sent to Congressional Committees about the need to keep the SSDI available
Copies of letters to state legislators and/or Governors on the 2011 Model Vital Statistics Act
Other state actions: Maine, Georgia Archives
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RPAC Blog Posts
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RPAC Bloghttp://www.fgs.org/rpac/
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RPAC Blog http://www.fgs.org/rpac/publications
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RPAC Blog http://www.fgs.org/rpac/publications
Watch the RPAC Blog www.fgs.org/rpac for updates We can help! We need to know early and stay informed throughout
the legislative process Contact RPAC at [email protected]
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Contact RPAC
Other questions?
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Thank You State Liaisons