BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
130 (Jeffries)
Hearing Date: 08/17/2009 Amended: 06/30/2009
Consultant: Jacqueline Wong-HernandezPolicy Vote: Judiciary 5-0
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BILL SUMMARY: AB 130 would extend the current limitations on the
release and access of birth and death records to marriage
records. Specifically, this bill:
1. Requires the State Registrar to keep comprehensive
marriage record indices confidential and exempt from the
Public Records Act, except as specified.
2. Limits the information provided on noncomprehensive,
nonconfidential marriage record indices for public release.
Limits the information provided in specified marriage data
files released to the public.
3. Provides that the State Registrar, local registrar, or
county recorder may provide a certified copy of a marriage
record to an authorized person, as defined, who submits a
statement sworn under penalty of perjury that the requester
is an authorized person. Requires that, in all other cases
in which the requester does not meet the requirements of an
authorized person, a certified copy may be provided to the
requester but the document shall be an informational
certified copy and shall be redacted, as specified.
4. Requires that certified copies of marriage records
contain be printed on sensitized security paper with
specified features, and requires that issuing agencies take
precautions to safeguard the security paper.
5. Establishes a new fee. This bill requires an applicant
for a certified copy of a marriage record to pay an
additional $1 fee, $.65 of which is to be used by the State
Registrar to develop safety and security measures to
protect against fraudulent use of marriage, birth, and
death records, and $.35 of which is to be used by the
public official charged with the collection of the fee to
defray additional security costs, as specified.
6. Requires the Vital Records Protection Advisory Committee
(VRPAC), which is studying and making recommendations to
protect individual privacy, inhibit identity theft, and
prevent fraud involving birth and death certificates, to
include marriage records in its study.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12
Fund
New privacy requirements Unknown; additional workload will
vary by county Local
for marriage licenses General
Fee on marriage license copies Fee is expected to fully
offset costs Local
Special*
Add topic to VRPAC study Minor and absorbable workload
Special*
*Health Statistics Special Fund, administered by the State
Registrar.
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AB 130 (Jeffries)
STAFF COMMENTS: This bill extends the existing limitations on
the release and access of birth certificates and death records
to apply to marriage records. Official marriage records would be
required to be printed on specified security-enhanced paper,
handled with specified precautions, released with specified
statements (as applicable), and to be released only to certain
individuals; these regulations are consistent with the
requirements of birth and death certificates. This bill provides
for a $1 fee to be assessed on certified copies of marriage
records, $.65 of which would go to the State Registrar and $.35
to the county administering agency. This same fee level and
division is currently assessed on birth and death certificates,
and the County Recorders Association has indicated that it
sufficiently covers the cost of implementing virtually identical
privacy provisions for birth and death certificates. The county
recorders believe this fee is sufficient to cover the cost of
implementing the provisions of this bill.
This bill also requires that nonconfidential marriage record
indices and data files released to the public contain only the
names of each party to the marriage and the marriage date, and
specifically exclude the mother's maiden name. The County
Recorders Association has indicated that marriage data files and
indices released to the public already do not contain the
mothers' maiden names.
The VRPAC was established by AB 247 (Speier, Chapter 914,
Statutes of 2002), and is charged with studying and making
recommendations to protect individual privacy, inhibit identity
theft, and prevent fraud involving birth and death certificates.
This bill adds marriage records to the scope of its study and
privacy recommendations. $.65 of each $1 of the new fee will go
to VRPAC (managed by the State Registrar).