Senate Bill S9200

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   9200
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 13, 2026
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. SKOUFIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Health
 
 AN ACT to amend the public health law,  in  relation  to  requiring  the
   department  of  health to enter into a contract for the digitalization
   and indexing of certain vital records
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  The  public health law is amended by adding a new section
 4180 to read as follows:
   § 4180. VITAL RECORDS DIGITALIZATION. 1.  FOR  THE  PURPOSES  OF  THIS
 SECTION, THE TERM:
   (A)  "VITAL  RECORDS  INDEX"  OR  "INDEX"  SHALL MEAN A SYSTEMATICALLY
 ORGANIZED LISTING, COMPILATION, OR DATABASE DERIVED FROM ORIGINAL  VITAL
 RECORDS  MAINTAINED  BY  THE  STATE  LOCAL REGISTRARS, INCLUDING BUT NOT
 LIMITED TO VITAL RECORDS RELATING TO BIRTH, DEATH, MARRIAGE, AND DISSOL-
 UTION OF MARRIAGE, WHICH INCLUDES AT A MINIMUM, THE NAMES OF ANY  REGIS-
 TRANTS,  THE  DATE  AND  LOCATION  OF  THE EVENT'S REGISTRATION, AND ANY
 ASSIGNED IDENTIFYING REFERENCE NUMBERS.
   (B) "QUALIFIED ENTITY" SHALL MEAN A NATURAL  PERSON,  FIRM,  ORGANIZA-
 TION, PARTNERSHIP, ASSOCIATION, CORPORATION, OR ANY OTHER ENTITY EXPERI-
 ENCED IN MAINTAINING GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH DATABASES.
   2. THE DEPARTMENT SHALL ENTER INTO A CONTRACT WHICH SHALL BE NO LONGER
 THAN  SEVEN YEARS IN LENGTH WITH A QUALIFIED ENTITY TO CREATE, MAINTAIN,
 AND UPDATE AN ONLINE GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH DATABASE  OF  IMAGES  OF  NEW
 YORK  STATE  BIRTH, MARRIAGE, DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE, AND DEATH CERTIF-
 ICATES AT NO DIRECT COST TO THE STATE,  IN  EXCHANGE  FOR  ALLOWING  THE
 QUALIFIED  ENTITY  TO  ALSO PROVIDE SUCH DATABASE TO ITS SUBSCRIBERS AND
 CUSTOMERS. SUCH ONLINE DATABASE SHALL BE  DESIGNED  AND  CONSTRUCTED  TO
 HAVE  THE  CAPABILITY  OF  ALLOWING  A  VITAL  RECORDS  INDEX  OF BIRTH,
 MARRIAGE, DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE, AND DEATH CERTIFICATES TO  BE  LINKED
 TO  A  DIGITAL IMAGE OF THE UNDERLYING ORIGINAL BIRTH, MARRIAGE, DISSOL-
 UTION OF MARRIAGE, OR DEATH RECORD ONCE ANY SUCH UNDERLYING  RECORD  HAS
 BECOME  PUBLIC  INFORMATION UNDER SECTION FORTY-ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY-FOUR
 OF THIS TITLE, AND THE ONLINE GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH  DATABASE  SHALL  BE
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD11667-07-6
 S. 9200                             2

 DESIGNED  TO  ALLOW  THE DEPARTMENT TO CREATE AND ACTIVATE SUCH LINKS TO
 DIGITAL IMAGES OF THE ORIGINAL  RECORDS.  ANY  SOCIAL  SECURITY  NUMBERS
 APPEARING  ON  SUCH  RECORDS  SHALL  BE REDACTED FROM THE DIGITAL IMAGES
 PROVIDED TO THE PUBLIC, WHICH MAY INCLUDE BULK REDACTION OF SOCIAL SECU-
 RITY FIELDS FROM THE IMAGES VIA AUTOMATED METHODS. SUCH INDEXES SHALL BE
 A  PUBLIC  RECORD  AND  SUBJECT  TO THE STATE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION LAW
 UNDER ARTICLE SIX OF THE PUBLIC OFFICERS LAW.
   § 2. Subdivision 3 of section  4174  of  the  public  health  law,  as
 amended  by  section 2 of part W-2 of chapter 62 of the laws of 2003, is
 amended to read as follows:
   3. (A) NOTWITHSTANDING ANY CONTRARY PROVISION OF LAW, THE COMMISSIONER
 SHALL HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO DETERMINE THE MEANS AND METHODS BY WHICH THE
 FOLLOWING GENEALOGICAL RECORDS SHALL BE RELEASED TO AN APPLICANT MEETING
 THE QUALIFICATIONS TO RECEIVE THE RELEVANT RECORD TYPE AS  DESCRIBED  IN
 THIS  SECTION  OR  IN ARTICLE THREE OF THE DOMESTIC RELATIONS LAW: (1) A
 RECORD OF BIRTH THAT HAS BEEN ON FILE FOR AT LEAST  SEVENTY-FIVE  YEARS;
 (2)  A  RECORD  OF  MARRIAGE, DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE, OR DEATH THAT HAS
 BEEN ON FILE FOR AT LEAST FIFTY YEARS;  OR  (3)  ANY  RECORD  OF  BIRTH,
 MARRIAGE, DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE, OR DEATH FOR WHICH THE REQUESTER IS A
 LINEAL OR COLLATERAL DESCENDANT.
   (B)  For  any search of the files and records conducted for authorized
 genealogical or  research  purposes,  the  commissioner  or  any  person
 authorized  by  [him]  THE  COMMISSIONER  shall  be entitled to, and the
 applicant shall pay, a fee of twenty dollars for each hour or fractional
 part of an hour of time of search, together with a fee  of  two  dollars
 for  each  uncertified  copy or abstract of such record requested by the
 applicant or for a certification that a search discloses no record.
   § 3. (a) Notwithstanding any law, rule, or regulation to the contrary,
 all rights or benefits, including terms and  conditions  of  employment,
 and  protection of civil service and collective bargaining status of all
 existing employees of any state or political subdivision  thereof  which
 currently  performs any work related to this act, or similar work, shall
 be preserved and protected.
   (b) Nothing in this act shall result in the: (1) displacement  of  any
 currently employed worker or loss of position, including but not limited
 to  any partial displacement such as a reduction in the hours of non-ov-
 ertime work, wages, or employment benefits, or result in the  impairment
 of  existing  collective  bargaining  agreements; or (2) transfer of any
 job, duty or function not directly authorized by this act to the  quali-
 fied entity.
   (c)  Nothing  contained  in this act shall be construed to affect: (1)
 the existing rights of employees  pursuant  to  an  existing  collective
 bargaining  agreement;  and  (2) the existing representational relation-
 ships among  employee  organizations  or  the  bargaining  relationships
 between the employer and an employee organization.
   § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.