OMG! We did it! You did it!
History was made this afternoon.
After an excruciating 2-day of hurry-up-and-wait in the Codes and Rules Committees, and then the Floor A5494/S3419 the Weprin/Montgomery bill passed the New York House 126-2! The Senate passed it two weeks ago. Gov Andrew Cuomo has indicated he will sign the bill when it hits his desk.
New York adoptees are only one step away from the restoration of their right, without restriction or condition, to their Original Birth Certificate, a right that was abrogated by the state 80 years ago.
We will have a longer statement later, but for now, we want to thank the following:
New York Adoptee Rights Coalition Core Organization Members
Adoption and Foster Family Coalition of New York
Adoptee Rights Law Center
Bastard Nation: The Adoptee Rights Organization
Strategic Partner
Reclaim the Records
Supporting Organizations
AdoptieZaken & Familierecht (AZF/Netherlands)
California Open
Canada Open Records
Concerned United Birthparents
Equality for Adoptees
Indiana Open
Italiadoption
Know Your Own
Michigan Open Records
Minnesota Coalition for Adoption Reform
Missouri Open
National Center on Adoption and Permanency
New York Genealogical and Biographical Society
Nevada Open
Post Adoption Center for Education & Resources (PACER)
Other organizations not involved with NYARC, but supported the bill: the American Adoption Congress, New York Unsealed Initiative.
And for deformers who refused to support: a lump of coal!
Special gratitude to Greg Luce (Adoptee RIghst Law Center) and Claud D’Arcy (AAFYNY) who yesterday attended a lobby day on Beacon Hill for a clean restoration bill in Massachusetts and somehow made it up to Albany for an all-nighter and vote today. Also thanks to Tim Monti-Wolhpart from the AAC for all his hard work, and Barb Fuller, who served as an NYARC spokesperson.
Very special huzzahs for Bastard Nation’s own amazing lobby team: sealed records historian/archivist/activist Toff Phillipo who has been at this for over 20 years, ,and the awesome Annette O”Connell (NYARC spokesperson and BN treasurer) for treading the halls of Albany more times than we can recall and making adoptee rights a “household word.” Only she knows how many members she wrangled into signing on. Weprin/Montgomery, in fact, had more sponsors and co-sponsor than any bill this session
Thanks for support and inspiration from our Strategic Partner, Reclaim the Records, the rockstar of access to public records.
Finally thanks to Rep, David Weprin, Senator Velmanette Montgomery and the over 120 lawmakers who saw the rightness of this battle.
,
New York Adoptee Rights Coalition
Sooo – if the bill has now cleared the NYS Legislature (both chambers) and “Gov Andrew Cuomo has indicated he will sign the bill when it hits his desk…”
…when is it supposed to ‘hit his desk?’ Was it sent via China and the Trump Tariffs are holding it up?
The Senate transfers the bill to the Governor’s offie. It has not done so yet. We are all waiting.
No idea. Many jurisdictions do not track adoptions, and it some places it has been illegal to do so We estimate that the US has about 7 million which should include stepparent adoptions.