January 29, 2013
Charging Ahead in 2013
January
is not quite behind us, and already parental rights are charging ahead
across the country. Both in the States and in the Congress, signs
indicate that it will be a banner year.
In the States
In
the States, both statutes and resolutions are making progress. The
parental rights statutes affirm that parental rights are a fundamental
right demanding “strict scrutiny” protection. This means a parent’s
decisions cannot be overridden without showing a governmental interest
of the highest order that cannot be served by some other means.
Virginia’s statute, SB 908, passed out of committee on an 8-6 vote on Monday and could come before the whole Senate as early as today. Its house companion bill, HB 1642, is scheduled for a committee vote this Friday.
Oklahoma HB 1384 includes fundamental parental rights, but has expanded greatly on the language we provided as a starting point. If it passes, Oklahoma will join Arizona in having the strongest and clearest “parents’ bill of rights” in the country!
Mississippi also has a parental rights statute moving forward. HB 496 is in the House Judiciary B Committee and could receive a hearing as early as this Thursday, January 31. Its companion bill, SB 2650, is in the Senate Judiciary A Committee.
Watch for upcoming alerts if you live in any of these states, as we will let you know when calls or emails are needed to support these efforts. A number of other states will also be seeing statutes introduced in the coming days. We will keep you apprised of those as well.
Mississippi also has a state resolution – SC530 – which would urge the U.S. Congress to approve the Parental Rights Amendment and pass it on to the states for ratification. Six other states – Louisiana, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and Florida – have already passed such measures since 2010.
Nebraska’s LR42 is a similar resolution. Fully 32 of the 49 senators in Nebraska’s unicameral legislature are already cosponsors of this resolution, including 5 of the 8 members of the Judiciary Committee. We are very hopeful this resolution will be adopted, but we’ll take nothing for granted. Watch out for alerts in your state, as well.
Efforts are also underway in Michigan, Texas, Louisiana, Missouri, and other states to pass statutes, resolutions, or both this legislative session. We will pass along details as they are available.
Virginia’s statute, SB 908, passed out of committee on an 8-6 vote on Monday and could come before the whole Senate as early as today. Its house companion bill, HB 1642, is scheduled for a committee vote this Friday.
Oklahoma HB 1384 includes fundamental parental rights, but has expanded greatly on the language we provided as a starting point. If it passes, Oklahoma will join Arizona in having the strongest and clearest “parents’ bill of rights” in the country!
Mississippi also has a parental rights statute moving forward. HB 496 is in the House Judiciary B Committee and could receive a hearing as early as this Thursday, January 31. Its companion bill, SB 2650, is in the Senate Judiciary A Committee.
Watch for upcoming alerts if you live in any of these states, as we will let you know when calls or emails are needed to support these efforts. A number of other states will also be seeing statutes introduced in the coming days. We will keep you apprised of those as well.
Mississippi also has a state resolution – SC530 – which would urge the U.S. Congress to approve the Parental Rights Amendment and pass it on to the states for ratification. Six other states – Louisiana, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and Florida – have already passed such measures since 2010.
Nebraska’s LR42 is a similar resolution. Fully 32 of the 49 senators in Nebraska’s unicameral legislature are already cosponsors of this resolution, including 5 of the 8 members of the Judiciary Committee. We are very hopeful this resolution will be adopted, but we’ll take nothing for granted. Watch out for alerts in your state, as well.
Efforts are also underway in Michigan, Texas, Louisiana, Missouri, and other states to pass statutes, resolutions, or both this legislative session. We will pass along details as they are available.
In Congress
There is already a good deal of excitement on the Hill for the Parental Rights Amendment in this Congress. More than 135 former cosponsors are still in Congress and ready to support us again.
What’s more, both the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and the
chairman of the Constitution Subcommittee are strong supporters of
parental rights. Once the Amendment is relaunched, we look forward to
working to secure hearings in these committees. With leadership backing
us, we hope to see a vote on the Amendment in this Congress.I know many of you are eager to call your congressman and get him or her on board (or on board again). We appear to be only days away from being able to supply you with the details you will need to start making that happen.
In the meantime, we are launching an effort to double our petition list in 2013. If you haven’t gathered petition signers in a while – or even just asked your friends or family members to support parental rights – why not do so now? Twice the voices will seriously boost our efforts at both the state and federal level!
Sincerely,
Michael Ramey
Director of Communications & Research
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