Bill > H1962

This bill establishes the Secure Vital Registry Trust Fund, a dedicated account managed by the Department of Public Health to support the development, maintenance, and operation of a centralized, automated database for vital records and statistics, which are official records of life events like births and deaths. The fund will be financed by fees collected for certified copies of vital records, with the first $20 of each fee retained by the local city or town clerk issuing the copy, and the remainder sent to the Commonwealth to be deposited into the trust fund. The fund can also receive money from legislative appropriations, public and private gifts, grants, donations, and interest earned on its balances, and any unexpended money in the fund at the end of a fiscal year will not be returned to the general state budget.