Well the House passed the Senate Bill 5332 on April 12th and the President of the House signed the bill on the 15th of April. It now goes to the governor for his signature, which I will guess he will sign it to become law.
Here is the summary of the final bill:
FINAL
BILL REPORT ESSB 5332
Synopsis
as EnactedBrief Description: Concerning vital statistics.Sponsors:
Senate Committee on Law
& Justice (originally sponsored by Senators Pedersen, Rivers,
Wilson, C., Walsh, Randall, Cleveland and Liias; by request of
Department of Health).Senate Committee on Law & JusticeSenate
Committee on Ways & MeansHouse Committee on Health Care &
WellnessHouse Committee on AppropriationsBackground: History of
Recording Vital Statistics.Before 1900, maintaining
vital records was a state and
local responsibility. Before 1900, the United States
Census Bureau developed the
first standardized reporting form for vital
statistics, known as the
U.S. standard certificate of death. The census bureau recommended all
local vital records registrars to adopt the form by 1900. By 1902,
federal legislation directed the Census Bureau to collect copies of
records filed in vital statistics offices of those states and cities
having adequate death
registration systems. Beginning in 1891, Washington State’s laws
required each county to keep vital records. In 1907, the state
assumed responsibility for collecting birth and death records. In
1968, the state assumed responsibility for collecting marriage and
divorce records. Depending on the date of a vital record, the
records may be located in
different places. The Washington State Library, under the Office
of the Secretary of State,
maintains a web page to
assist persons searching for genealogical records.Current Vital
Statistics Program at the Department of Health.Washington’s
Department of Health (DOH) collects and stores all reports of
specific vital life events in the state. These vital life events are
births, deaths, fetal deaths, marriages, marriage and domestic
partnership dissolutions, marriage and domestic partnership
annulments, and legal separations. Under current law, DOH retains
permanent custody of all vital
records in its statewide vital records system.The state registrar of
vital statistics oversees the system and is responsible for the
system’s operations and integrity. The state registrar also develops
uniform vital statistics reporting requirements and forms for local
registrars across the state. ––––––––––––––––––––––This
analysis was prepared by non-partisan legislative staff for the use
of legislative members in their deliberations. This analysis is not
a part of the legislation nor
does it constitute a statement of legislative intent.Senate
Bill ReportESSB 5332- 1 –
Access
to Birth and Death Records.Washington’s vital records certificates
contain all the information required by the federal Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health
Statistics (NCHS), including social security numbers. Under
Washington’s current vital statistics law, the state Board of Health
may require additional information
in a confidential section of the birth certificate. The confidential
section is not publicly available unless (1) a member of the public
obtains a court order, or (2) the person who
is the birth certificate’s subject, where it is limited to the
information about the child, but not the child’s parents. The state
has both a long form and a short form death certificate. The short
form death certificate and informational copies of death certificates
are not publicly available. DOH releases the long form death
certificate to anyone who has the decedent’s name, date and county of
death. The long form includes such information as the decedent’s
social security number, residence and address, marital status and
spouse, cause and
manner of death. DOH sends a monthly death index to the state
archives. The death index contains the decedent’s full name, county
of death, county of residence, sex, age, and date of death. DOH sends
its vital statistics data to NCHS. Contracts between NCHS and each
jurisdiction’s vital records office set mutual responsibilities,
uniform standards
and procedures for reporting vital statistics.Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention Model Vital Statistics Act.NCHS operates and
maintains the national vital statistics system as the official source
for national vital statistics data. NCHS compiles, analyzes, and
disseminates vital statistics from all 50 states, New York City, the
District of Columbia,
and five United States territories. NCHS provides data on health
indicators to support public health policy work at the national,
state, and local levels. For example, the system provides data on
risk factors for adverse pregnancy outcomes, life expectancy, and
leading causes of death. NCHS develops a model state vital statistics
law and
regulations to promote uniformity among the states in the
definitions, registration practices, data disclosure, and other
functions of state vital statistics systems. The federal government
developed its first model act in 1907 and produced revised versions
in 1941, 1959, 1977, and 1992. NCHS proposed its most recent version
in 2011. The National Association for Public Health Statistics and
Information Systems endorsed the 2011 model act. NCHS’s purpose in
developing its 2011 version is to address system security,
the electronic information
environment, continuity of operations planning, data confidentiality
and disclosure, and changes to the scope of vital statistics data,
for example assisted reproduction and same-sex marriage. The 2011
NCHS model state
vital statistics law provided the framework
for this proposed vital statistics bill.Summary: DOH may only release
a certified death certificate to a qualified applicant. Qualified
applicants include the decedent’s spouse or domestic partner, child,
parent, stepparent, stepchild, sibling, grandparent, great
grandparent grandchild, legal guardian immediately prior to death,
legal representative, authorized representative with a notarized
statement from a qualified applicant, next of kin, funeral director
within 12 months of the date of death, or a government agency or
court for its official duties. A short
form death certificate does not display information related to cause
and manner of death. The DOH may release a short form certificate to
a qualified applicant. Additionally, DOH may release a short form
certificate to a
title insurer or title insurance agent handling a
real property transaction involving the decedent,
or a person who shows the short form is necessary for a Senate
Bill ReportESSB 5332- 2 –
determination
related to the death or the protection of
a personal or property right
related to the death.DOH may only release a birth certificate to the
subject of the record or the subject’s spouse or domestic partner,
child, parent, stepparent, stepchild, sibling, grandparent, great
grandparent, grandchild, legal guardian, legal or authorized
representative, or a government agency or court for official
duties.Informational copies of vital records are available
to the public. Informational
copies only contain the information allowed by rule. Informational
copies are derived from the original document but cannot be used for
legal purposes.Access to vital records is not
governed by the Public Records Act, but is governed under this vital
records chapter in the RCW. DOH is authorized to investigate fraud
including periodic testing and auditing of the vital records system
to detect fraud. The DOH will
provide adjudicative proceedings for certain adverse actions.The
state registrar must transfer custody of records to the state
archives. The transfer applies to: birth records, 100 years
after the birth date;death records, 25 years after the death date;
and marriage, divorce, dissolution of marriage or domestic
partnership, declaration of invalidity of marriage or
domestic partnership, or
legal separation, 25 years after
the event.The state archives may provide noncertified copies of
original vital records in
its custody to the public. The state archives may charge for the cost
of operating the state archives through the central services billing
model. Sealed records must
remain sealed and in DOH custody. DOH may retain records for the
purpose of providing certified copies.
Votes
on Final Passage:
Senate
33-15
House
79-16
Effective:
The bill contains several effective dates. Please refer to the
bill.Senate
Bill ReportESSB 5332- 3 –
