House Bill 1386 is scheduled for a hearing in the House Public Health Committee on Wednesday, March 17th, 2021, beginning at 8:00am. Here’s what’s happening.
TXARC’s Shawna Hodgson will be testifying at the hearing along with Marley Greiner and other TXARC supporters. TXARC is also submitting a packet of support letters from various organizations, coalition partners, and individuals who have endorsed HB1386 and SB1877. Representatives from Support Texas Adoptee Rights (STAR), with whom TXARC is working collaboratively to get HB1386 enacted this session, is also expected to have representatives present for testimony.
Last week we emailed all of our supporters who are Texas residents, asking them to contact their House representatives (if you don’t get our emails, you should sign up here). If you are a Texas resident and an adoptee, adoptive parent, birthparent, or supporter of adoptee rights, you can also use an online Texas legislative comment system to submit written testimony to the committee. That system is here. You must enter your name and address and verify that you are a Texas resident. And make sure to click the box next to HB1386 to add your comments on the bill and what enactment would mean to you, your friends, or your family.
If you use the legislative comment system (which is limited to 3,000 characters or about one page of written text) please make sure you request that HB1386 be approved with a DO PASS recommendation.
If you are not a Texas resident—and particularly if you are a Texas-born adoptee who no longer lives in Texas—you can email members of the committee directly. We have listed the committee members’ emails below. Representative Stephanie Klick, who is listed first, is the committee chair, and it’s best to address your email as “Dear Chairwoman Klick and Members of the Committee.”
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Thank you for supporting our work and, most importantly, for supporting equality for all Texas-born adoptees.
The Texas Adoptee Rights Coalition is a coalition of Texas and national organizations working to secure the right of all Texas adult adoptees to obtain their own original birth certificates, without discriminatory restrictions.