Track Legislation
Position color key: Support Monitor Oppose
Why hasn't this already happened? Can't we just get Congress to amend the Constitution?
Given that federal courts have declined to consider Constitutional arguments in support of access to OBCs and records, it appears unlikely that there will ever be a related amendment to the U.S. Constitution. History shows that state-by-state legislative reform is rarely a "one size fits all" endeavor. The majority party, lobby groups, legislator personal agendas and unrelated legislative priorities all influence potential amendments and outcomes. ARC believes that advocates in each state are the experts on policy or incremental steps for that state. This site is not intended to tell you how to think about any particular bill. Instead, its goal is to provide tools to help you make the decision for yourself.
State
AZ HB 2070 passed House on Third Reading 2/9. Passed by Senate HHS 3/3.
CT HB 6105 passed out of Joint Committee on Planning and Development
FL HB 1333/SB1700 filed
HB 133/SB122 Baby Box bill has been approved by several committees.
IA SSB1040 (renumbered as SF 559) passed out of Judiciary 3/3, HSB226 (renumbered as HF723) passed unanimously by House 4/13
ID H0059 passed House Third Reading 67-0-3
IN SB 268 passed Senate Third Reading 27-20, assigned to House Judiciary
MA HD.1543/SD.1142 Filed
On calendar in House Health and Gov't Ops 2/25. SB died in floor vote 31N - 16Y.
MN SF328/HF470 - SF328 was amended to include a later effective date, then pulled by sponsor before a committee vote on the bill.
MS SB 2092 died in committee 2/2
SB 2205 passed Senate Third Reading unopposed, then was amended in House Judiciary A and replaced with HB190 language. Died on calendar 3/10.
HB190 died in Judiciary
RI S0250 - Introduced, Judiciary committee recommended the bill be held for further study 2/25
TX HB 1386 passed by House 144-1. SB 1877 filed 3/12.
UT HB 345 signed after an opt-out bill became an unrestricted bill, then became an opt-in bill.
WI SB 521, AB 579 dead
WV SB 50 dead
Introduced, referred to HHR
Image: Billy Hathorn, SC State Senate Chamber
The law must be consonant with life. It cannot and should not ignore broad historical currents of history. Mankind is possessed of no greater urge than to try to understand the age-old questions: “Who am I” “Why am I?” Even now the sands and ashes of the continents are being sifted to find where we made our first step as man. Religions of mankind often include ancestor worship in one way or another. For many the future is blind without a sight of the past.
Those emotions and anxieties that generate our thirst to know the past are not superficial and whimsical. They are real and they are 'good cause' under the law of man and God.
The petition is conditionally granted.
IT IS SO ORDERED
April 9, 1979
[Signed]
WADE S. WEATHERFORD, JR.
Resident Judge, Seventh Judicial
Circuit Court, South Carolina