Last year there was a Bill in the NY Legislature that would have all the old vital records filmed for free and put online. It passed in both the House and the Senate and then sat on the Governor’s desk for a few months until she finally vetoed it.

A new version of the Bill has has been offered as Senate Bill S9200. The wording is either the same as last year or really close. Next step is to be approved by the Health Committee. That committee met on St. Patrick’s Day but the Bill wasn’t mentioned.

Meanwhile in NY 2026-27 Proposed budget is the following: “The Executive Budget includes $7 million annually in FY 2027 and FY 2028 to modernize the State’s vital records system. Funding supports technological upgrades, digitization of archival records for genealogical and historical requests, and staffing enhancements to reduce backlogs for birth and death certificate processing.”.

The New York  Genealogical and Biographical Society (NYG&B) sent this letter in February in support for the additional $7 million in the budget.

But I noticed that the budget doesn’t appear to increase the number of full time employees in the Vital Record office. The State could be using contract help or maybe that money is going to a third party organization. Right now the Vital Records office is 4 years behind in filling genealogy requests. It is going to take at least a couple of years to catch up after the budget has passed. The budget is supposed to be passed by April first but is almost always a week or two late before being passed..