STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8214
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 5, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SAYEGH -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Health
AN ACT to amend the public health law and the domestic relations law, in
relation to providing for a window of eighteen months for people to
receive certain vital records without paying a fee; and providing for
the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Protect
2 Our Vote Act" or the "POV Act".
3 § 2. Subdivision 3 of section 4173 of the public health law, as
4 amended by chapter 288 of the laws of 2020, is amended to read as
5 follows:
6 3. [(a) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (b) of this subdivi-
7 sion, the registrar shall be entitled to a fee of ten dollars for each
8 certification of birth or death or for each certified copy or certified
9 transcript of any record of a birth or of a death or for a certification
10 that a search discloses no record of a birth or of a death, furnished by
11 him to an applicant, except that no fee shall be charged for a search,
12 certification of birth or death or certified copy or certified tran-
13 script of a birth or a death record to be used for school entrance,
14 employment certificate or for purposes of public relief or government
15 compensation or when required by the veterans administration to be used
16 in determining the eligibility of any person to participate in the bene-
17 fits made available by the veterans administration, provided, however,
18 that if such registrar is a city clerk, town clerk or village clerk, he
19 shall collect such fees for and on behalf of the city, town or village
20 in which he serves, provided, however, that an amount equivalent to the
21 sum of such fees shall be paid at least monthly by such city, town or
22 village to such city clerk, town clerk or village clerk entitled to
23 receive fees as a registrar of vital statistics.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11790-01-5
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1 (b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a) of this subdivision, in the follow-
2 ing county jurisdictions the fee shall be set by the county health
3 commissioner: Chemung, Monroe, Onondaga, Tompkins; and in the following
4 local jurisdictions the fee shall be set by the local legislative body:
5 city of Oswego, city of Albany, city of Jamestown. In such jurisdic-
6 tions, the fee may be set up to the amount charged by the commissioner
7 as prescribed in subdivision two of section forty-one hundred seventy-
8 four of this title.] The registrar shall not be entitled to any fee for
9 any certification of birth or death or for any certified copy or certi-
10 fied transcript of any record of a birth or of a death or for any
11 certification that a search discloses no record of a birth or of a
12 death, furnished by the registrar to an applicant.
13 § 3. Subdivision 2 of section 4174 of the public health law, as
14 amended by section 2 of part W2 of chapter 62 of the laws of 2003, is
15 amended to read as follows:
16 2. Each applicant for a certification of birth or death, certificate
17 of birth data or for a certified copy or certified transcript of a birth
18 or death certificate or certificate of birth data shall not be required
19 to remit to the commissioner with such application [a] any fee [of thir-
20 ty dollars in payment for the search of the files and records and the
21 furnishing of a certification, certified copy or certified transcript if
22 such record is found or for a certification that a search discloses no
23 record of a birth or of a death].
24 § 4. Subdivisions 6 and 7 of section 4139 of the public health law, as
25 amended by section 1 of part W2 of chapter 62 of the laws of 2003, are
26 amended to read as follows:
27 6. The commissioner shall not be entitled to [a] any fee [of thirty
28 dollars] for each certification, certified copy or certified transcript
29 of certificate of dissolution of marriage furnished.
30 7. For a search of the files where no such certification, certified
31 copy, or certified transcript is furnished, or for a certification that
32 a search discloses no record of a dissolution of marriage, the commis-
33 sioner shall not be entitled to [a] any fee [of thirty dollars].
34 § 5. Section 20-a of the domestic relations law, as amended by section
35 6 of part W2 of chapter 62 of the laws of 2003, is amended to read as
36 follows:
37 § 20-a. Certified transcripts of records; state commissioner of health
38 may furnish. The state commissioner of health or person authorized by
39 [him] them shall, upon request, supply to any applicant a certified
40 transcript of any marriage registered under the provisions of this arti-
41 cle, unless [he is] they are satisfied that the same does not appear to
42 be necessary or required for judicial or other proper purposes. Any
43 transcript of the record of a marriage, when properly certified by the
44 state commissioner of health or person authorized to act for [him] them,
45 shall be prima facie evidence in all courts and places of the facts
46 therein stated. For any search of the files and records conducted for
47 authorized research purposes, the state commissioner of health shall not
48 be entitled to [a] any fee [of twenty dollars for each hour or frac-
49 tional part of an hour of time of search, together with a fee of two
50 dollars] for time spent searching or for each uncertified copy or
51 abstract of such marriage record requested by the applicant[, said fees
52 to be paid by the applicant]. [Each] No applicant for a certified tran-
53 script of a marriage record shall remit to the state commissioner of
54 health [a] any fee [of thirty dollars in payment] for the search of the
55 files and records and the furnishing of a certified copy if such record
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1 is found or for a certification that a search discloses no record of a
2 marriage.
3 § 6. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
4 have become a law and shall expire and be deemed repealed eighteen
5 months after such effective date.
