BIRTH CERTIFICATES FROM STATE REGISTRAR
House Bill 4152 as introduced
Sponsor: Rep. Steven Johnson
House Bill 4153 as introduced
Sponsor: Rep. Vanessa Guerra
Committee: Families, Children and Seniors
Complete to 3-12-19
SUMMARY:
Taken together, House Bills 4152 and 4153 would amend the Public Health Code to allow certain individuals to obtain a birth certificate that is available only from the state registrar by making a request and paying a fee to the local registrar of the jurisdiction where he or she was born or his or her adoption was ordered, rather than obtaining the record directly from the state registrar.
Each bill would take effect 90 days after its enactment. The bills are tie-barred to each other, which means that neither could take effect unless both were enacted. A detailed description follows.
House Bill 4153 would define the term eligible individual for purposes of the Public Health Code.
Eligible individual would mean an individual who is the subject of a birth record that is available only through the office of the state registrar and who meets all of the following:
· He or she was born in the jurisdiction of the office of the local registrar where the certified copy of the birth record is being sought.
· If the individual was adopted and his or her place of birth is not listed on the birth record, his or her adoption was ordered by a probate court located in the jurisdiction of the office of the local registrar where the record is being sought.
MCL 333.2803
House Bill 4152 would amend the Public Health Code to provide that if a local registrar received a written request and payment of the appropriate fee from an individual eligible to receive a certified copy of a birth record of an eligible individual, the local registrar would have to notify the state registrar. Upon receiving the notification, the state registrar would have to search for the birth record of the eligible individual and furnish to the local registrar for issuance to the individual making the request either one certified copy of the birth record or an official statement that the record cannot be located. The state registrar would have to do so without charging the individual requesting the record a fee that is in addition to the fee charged by the local registrar and without charging the local registrar.
MCL 333.2891
FISCAL IMPACT:
House Bills 4152 and 4153 would increase costs by a modest amount for the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) in establishing that the state registrar in DHHS shall provide the service of a search and certified copy of a birth certificate without receipt of the standard fee of $34 in certain circumstances. This would apply when payment of a local fee has been made by an individual to a local registrar, but the birth record is found to be only available from the state registrar. The state vital records program is supported by fees established under section 2891 of the Public Health Code. If the bill applies to a significant number of requests for copies of birth certificates, additional revenue may be needed to offset the cost of the uncompensated services. The Michigan vital records system totals over 32 million records.
Fiscal Analyst: Susan Frey
■ This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan House Fiscal Agency staff for use by House members in their deliberations, and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.