The path to getting a valid birth certificate from Jersey City or Hudson County just hit a roadblock.
The bill that would allow Jersey City residents to avoid a trip to Trenton to pick up a valid state-issued birth certificate was conditionally vetoed by Gov. Chris Christie today.
In his condition veto, Christie called the bill a “hollow gesture” because until the U.S. State Department begins accepting birth certificates as valid, a birth certificate issued locally would be “nothing more than a useless piece of paper.”
Christie wants language inserted that would allow the county and city to issue birth certificates if the State Department provides written assurance that the city and county-issued documents would be accepted by federal agencies.
The feds stopped accepting Jersey City and Hudson County-issued birth certificates in 2005 when four people were convicted or pleaded guilty in a scheme to create and sell false documents — many for the purpose of creating false birth certificates for people not born in the United States.
The state stepped in and ruled that only birth certificates issued by the state would be considered valid.
The bill was sponsored by Hudson County legislators Angela McKnight, Nicholas Chiaravalloti and Raj Mukherji in the Assembly and Sandra Cunningham and Brian Stack in the Senate. The Assembly approved by bill, 55-20-2, and the Senate vote in favor, 23-10, in December.
It would would have gone into effect on Sept. 1, 2017.
“While I understand the Governor’s concern about the Department of State’s acceptance of birth certificates issued by Jersey City, we’re talking about a 13-year-old fraud that has Jersey City residents stuck dealing with the consequences today,” Mukherji said in a statement. “Nevertheless, the CV is a positive step in that it would allow Jersey City residents to obtain birth certificates in Jersey City once the Department of State says it will accept them, which we are pursuing on a parallel track.”
For the past 12 years, birth certificates issued by the county or Jersey City offices of vital statistics have not been accepted for passports or by other federal agencies. People born in Jersey City have to go to Trenton to get a copy, for a $25 fee, or they could make the request by mail — which could take 4-6 weeks.
“This veto violates common sense. This bill’s sole purpose was aimed at making the lives of Jersey City residents easier. Why this would be vetoed makes very little sense,” said city spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill.
Stack’s office did not respond to a request for comment on the conditional veto.
The state Motor Vehicle Commission accepts Jersey City- or Hudson County-issued birth certificates for people born in 1965 or later. Those born before 1965 must get their birth certificate copy from the state.
In 2012, a similiar bill was sponsored, but failed to gain traction.
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