Committee holds bill to let Secretary of State verify citizenship and create birth‑certificate voucher program

House Bill 365 would direct the Secretary of State’s office to attempt to verify citizenship through accessible federal or interstate databases before requiring in‑person documentary evidence, and it would create a small voucher program to pay for birth certificates for registrants who can demonstrate indigence.

Sponsor Representative Lynn told the committee the bill addresses practical barriers raised after recent voter‑ID legislation: “If it's possible for the Secretary of State through checking these various databases to verify that you're a citizen… that will satisfy the requirements of establishing citizenship.”

Secretary of State staff told the committee the office supports the bill’s goals but warned the level of service requested affects cost. Committee members pressed the Secretary’s office about the fiscal note: the bill carried an appropriation request of $25,000 in the draft, while the Secretary’s fiscal analysis identified a larger operating need in some scenarios (the office described an implementation range in testimony that could reach roughly $114,000 per year depending on scope). Secretary office staff said they could scale services; they also noted a possible approach of sampling or limited database checks to avoid perceptions of profiling.

The committee chose to retain the bill for further work and invited the Secretary of State’s office to provide more detail about database access and the estimated effort, and to explore pilot validation checks to better estimate likely costs.