March 13, 2011, Legislative Update
by Brenda Gadd, VP – Legislation
Anne Carr, Lobbyist
This is the first of our frequent legislative reports to members during the session. Now that the filing deadline is behind us for the 2011 session, I can offer some perspective on what is of interest. The volume of legislation makes it impossible to have detailed knowledge on all bills of interest at this time, however.
To summarize broadly, there are 27 bills relating to domestic violence, approximately 20 on child custody issues, 6 relating to abortion, 4 on employment discrimination, 3 on sex education and lots of others of interest.
On one of our perennial issues, there are two bills, SB286/HB90 and SB423/HB117, adding a rebuttable presumption to current law that shared custody by both parents is always in a child’s best interest. Rep. Hardaway filed both House bills, while Sen. Bell and Sen. Campfield, respectively, are sponsoring the Senate bills. WPC has long opposed efforts to require judges to award shared or joint custody when parents have not been able to agree on the matter in a parenting plan.
Watch for the next report for more information on more legislation we are tracking. For next week, here are items of interest that are scheduled for committee hearings:
HB871/SB83, by Rep. Harry Brooks and Sen. Mike Faulk, removes restrictive language from a statute allowing women to breast-feed in public or private settings where mothers and children are otherwise allowed to be present. Current law protects such breast-feeding women only so long as the child is not over 12 months old. WPC will undoubtedly support the legislation since the caucus promoted the original law after a few instances of breast-feeding women being asked to leave public premises several years ago. (The legislation was amended at that time because passage without an age restriction was considered to be more difficult.) HB871 is in the House General Subcommittee of Health at 10:30 on Tuesday, while SB83 has been assigned to the Senate General Welfare Committee but is not yet scheduled.
HB570/SB509, by Rep. Vance Dennis and Sen. Mike Faulk, is set for both Judiciary Committees next week. It would allow the court to charge a petitioner all costs and fees related to the petitioner seeking an order of protection, if the court determines the petitioner not to be a victim of domestic violence, stalking, or sexual assault. Such a determination would have to be made in a separate court hearing, and the court must find the petition was filed frivolously. WPC does not yet have a position on the legislation. The House Judiciary Committee meets at 10:30 on Tuesday, and the Senate Judiciary Committee meets at 3:30 the same day.
HB171/SB604, by Rep. Jim Coley and Sen. Beverly Marrero, has to do with property forfeiture in cases of human trafficking. HB171 is up in the House General Subcommittee of Judiciary at 3:30 on Wednesday, although the committee is unlikely to get to the bill, number 34 on the calendar.
Below are descriptions of some of the bills that WPC will likely be supporting this year, pending board approval.
HB1332/SB1150, by Rep. Sherry Jones and Sen. Dolores Gresham, establishes a rebuttable presumption that returning an abused or neglected child to the custody of the abusive or neglectful parent is not in the best interest of the child.
HB571/SB803, by Rep. Dennis and Sen. Berke, requires the court to order a custody arrangement that permits both parents to enjoy the maximum participation possible in the life of the child. This is a modest improvement on similar language already in state law.
Three bills allow the victim of domestic abuse or other offenses to terminate or amend housing leases with certain restrictions. They are HB866/SB1208 (Rep. Matt Hill and Sen. Rusty Crowe), HB826/ SB1922 (Rep. Debra Maggart and Sen. Jamie Woodson), and HB415/SB464 (Rep. Jim Gotto and Sen. Jack Johnson). WPC has supported such legislation in the past and will analyze these three to determine which has the best approach for victims.
