BIRTH CERTIFICATES FROM STATE REGISTRAR
House Bill 4152 as enacted
Public Act 53 of 2020
Sponsor: Rep. Steven Johnson
House Bill 4153 as enacted
Public Act 54 of 2020
Sponsor: Rep. Vanessa Guerra
1st House Committee: Families, Children and Seniors
2nd House Committee: Ways and Means
Senate Committee: Families, Seniors and Veterans
Complete to 3-4-20
SUMMARY:
House Bills 4152 and 4153 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 the individual was born or his or her adoption was ordered, rather than obtaining the record directly from the state registrar.
House Bill 4153 defines the term allowable individual for purposes of the Public Health Code.
Allowable individual means an individual who is the subject of a birth record that is available only through the office of the state registrar and who meets either 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, 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 amends the Public Health Code to provide that if a local registrar receives a written request and payment of the appropriate fee from an individual eligible to receive a certified copy of a birth record of an allowable individual, the local registrar must notify the state registrar. Upon receiving the notification, the state registrar must conduct a search for the allowable individual’s birth record within 24 hours and do one of the following, as applicable:
· If the local registrar has access to the central issuance system, electronically transmit the birth record to the local registrar. If the local registrar does not have access to the central issuance system, the state registrar must mail a copy of the record to the local registrar. (However, the state registrar is not required to transmit or mail a birth record whose request is described in section 2882(2) or (3) of the code, which pertains to requests made by adult adoptees and confidential intermediaries appointed under the Probate Code to act on behalf of adult adoptees.)
· If the allowable individual’s birth record cannot be located after conducting the search for the record, notify the local registrar of that fact.
Central issuance system means the database maintained by the state registrar from which a state certified copy of a birth record may be issued.
The state registrar must provide the birth record or notification, as described above, without charge to the local registrar or the individual requesting the record.
MCL 333.2891
The bills take effect June 1, 2020.
BRIEF DISCUSSION:
According to news reports and committee testimony, birth certificates for those born to unmarried parents before 1978 are kept by and available from the state registrar only, and not from the clerk of the county where the person was born. (Other birth certificates are available from the county clerk.) This means that some individuals have to pay higher fees—and often make a trip to Lansing—to obtain a document that others can obtain locally at less cost.
FISCAL IMPACT:
House Bills 4152 and 4153 would increase costs 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 statutory fee of $34 in certain circumstances. The state vital records program is supported by fees established under section 2891 of the Public Health Code. DHHS estimates $600,000 of costs initially, assuming about 5,000 qualified requests per year, including $150,000 for one additional employee, $250,000 for information technology, which may include some one-time costs, and lost fee revenue of $200,000. Additional revenue may need to be appropriated 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.