DADS of Michigan PAC eNewsletter!
dadspac@dadsofmichigan.org
April, 2006 DADS of Michigan PAC, This is a very important time of the year. The Legislature is back in session for a few weeks before taking off for the summer. When the Legislators return in late summer, their focus will be on the state budget and elections. For the next eight weeks, we need your energy and time to make a lasting impact on YOUR legislator. I can not emphasize this enough; YOU must contact your Legislator. I can not do that. It REQUIRES SOMEONE FROM THE LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT. Find your legislator, under contacts: http://www.dadsofmichigan.org/pacnews.html The DOMP legislative team is putting in a lot of time and effort. You can help by reading and understanding the bills, and telephone your Legislators and tell them your story, and that you want change in family court. DADS of Michigan PAC have opened the door for you. Now we need your voice. Our major push for this next eight weeks is as follows: 1. Send a personal letter to every Legislator requesting support of key legislation. Check http://www.dadsofmichigan.org/pacnews.html for sample letters. 2. Attend legislative hearings for the marriage package, parenting plan, paternity, and shared parenting. Note: Hearings will be conducted over the next eight weeks. 3. Telephone every Legislator and request a position statement on key legislation.
Legislator questionnaire for shared parenting: PAC Legislative Questionnaire.doc
4. Conduct a Legislative Forum in Lansing to brief Legislators. We will also be sending alerts to more then 200 Region Directors and Coordinators in the state. We need you to recruit more people and have them send an email to dadspac@dadsofmichigan.org to sign up. UPDATE ON KEY LEGISLATION Shared Parenting HB 5267: Despite several rumors, the Shared Parenting bill is very much alive. A common strategy for the opposition and saboteurs is to lead you to believe it is dead. We have tried to keep the profile of the bill quiet from the media to
prevent an onslaught of comment. Recent activities: responded to several edits to the bill (many other groups submit edits to the bill and we have to respond to them), several of our Region Directors have taken a leadership role in promoting the bill to Legislators, continued to update the Shared Parenting we site, provided legislators with very significant studies and reports on shared parenting, submitted an article to the MBA FLS journal, and more. Please, please contact your legislator and express your support. DADS of Michigan PAC: http://www.dadsofmichigan.org/shared_parenting.html Fathers: A Childs Right: http://www.fatherachildsright.org/html/mi_hb5267.html Send Letter to you Legislator: http://hb5267.org/SupportHB5267.html Affidavit of Parentage HB 4161: PASSED and Signed into Law: We fought with some success on this. The big success is the presumption of Mom parentage in unwed situations has been removed. The pitfall is we were unable to remove subsection (g) regarding paternity testing, etc. We had people testify at committee hearings and provided written testimony. Is it a home run, no? Is it progress, absolutely. A great deal of credit goes to our Policy Team on Custody and Visitation. HB 4161 of 2005 Family law; child custody; provision regarding presumption of custody in acknowledgment of parentage act; repeal. Repeals sec. 6 of 1996 PA 305 (MCL 722.1006). Military Child Support SB 1128: Passes Committee 5-0; Provided written and verbal testimony in support. Family law; child custody; modification of child support
assessment for certain military personnel; provide for. Amends 1982 PA 295 (MCL 552.601 - 552.650) by adding sec. 15a.
Paternity bill HB 5088 and SB 436: Because of the issues raised by different people and organizations, Senator Hardiman would like to have a work group convened in the next week or so to talk through those issues. This had one committee hearing and we provided a significant and powerful package of written testimony, and had people come in for testimony. We are adding a section to our web site on paternity issues (stay tuned). Our Policy Team has written numerous articles, appeared on TV and radio programs, provided testimony, researched other bills from around the country, and much more. Parenting Plan bill HB 5701: Currently up for a hearing as part of the marriage package. It is also high on our priority list and has gone through a lot of transformation. We are working with Citizens for Traditional Values (CTV) and the Michigan Family Forum (MFF) to shape this legislation. This would allow for written parenting plans prepared by parents. It is a lot more complicated then that, but it will allow your parenting plan to have more influence then the Michigan parenting time guidelines of every other weekend. Marriage Package. Passed House Committee 10-0 on May 3. We are working with Citizens for Traditional Values (CTV) and the Michigan Family Forum (MFF) to shape this legislation. See the bills below. SB 0120 Prior Acts of Domestic Violence: SB 0120 of 2005 Passed and Signed into Law; We are not successful on this one. Criminal procedure; evidence; Prior Acts
of Domestic Violence: allow to be admissible as evidence. Amends 1927 PA 175 (MCL 760.1 - 777.69) by adding sec. 27a to ch. VIII. We continue to challenge the arguments of those groups and organizations that constantly batter family friendly legislation which would support “The Best Parent Is Both Parents” Who shows up at the meetings, the usual suspects…..DHS, NOW, DV groups, Family Court Judge, MFF, FRC,); Dads, Family Law Section, MCC, FOC. Legal Updates Family law Updated Bills or Resolutions:
HB 5698 of 2006 Family law; marriage and divorce; divorce; require a divorce effects program before entry of judgment of divorce. HB 5699 of 2006 Family law; marriage and divorce; prerequisites for issuance of a marriage license; require premarriage program or longer waiting period. TIE BAR WITH: HB 5700'06HB 5702'06HB 5703'06 HB 5700 of 2006 Income tax; credit; marriage preservation tax credit; provide for. TIE BAR WITH: HB 5699'06HB 5702'06HB 5703'06 HB 5701 of 2006 Family law; child custody; child parenting plan; create. TIE BAR WITH: HB 5698'06 HB 5702 of 2006 Family law; marriage and divorce; individuals who can accept payment and perform marriage and family counseling; expand. TIE BAR WITH: HB 5699'06HB 5700'06HB 5703'06 HB 5703 of 2006 Family law; marriage and divorce; recording of certain information on marriage license and certificate; require. TIE BAR WITH: HB 5699'06HB 5700'06HB 5702'06 HB 4086 of 2005 Family law; marriage and divorce; solemnization of marriage; allow all county clerks and their designees to conduct. Amends secs. 7 & 16 of 1846 RS 83 (MCL 551.7 & 551.16).
HB 5953 of 2006 Family law; marriage and divorce; provision regarding property rights; modify. Amends sec. 1 of 1909 PA 259 (MCL 552.101).
Subscribe to Legislative Updates at the Michigan web site. If you wish to change your notification settings or unsubscribe, please login at the Michigan Legislature Website and visit the Notify page. Bicycle for Shared Parenting: Robb McKenzie will extend his bicycle challenge for shared parenting beginning June 14th from Lansing to Washington, DC. Robb is running and working out every day to get tuned up for this trek. We have linked up with ACFC
affiliates along the way to provide escorts for Robb. Stay tuned for maps and details of Robb’s Ride for Shared Parenting. A national publicity program is being prepared and will be available for distribution shortly.
Precinct Delegates
Become a Precinct Delegate for your legislative district and vote in your political party on important policy and agenda issues. DADS of Michigan PAC is supporting a state wide initiative to have a Precinct Delegate in every legislative district. Sign up by completing the form and sending to the DADS of Michigan address on our home page. We will help ensure that this is correctly registered, or you may register yourself. Precinct Delegate Form, Instruction. Once we file your Precinct Delegate Affidavit with the County Clerk's office, your name will be put on the August 8th Primary ballot under "Delegate to County Convention". Campaigning for Delegate does not fall under any Michigan campaign finance laws. I encourage you to get a neighborhood organization together, to help you get out the vote. If you are elected Delegate, you will receive a letter from the County Clerk's office stating you have won your Delegate seat. Once elected as a Delegate, there are a few mandatory events that you should note in your calendar. The next date to put on your calendar will be the State Convention, which will take place Friday and Saturday August 25th and 26th in Southeast Michigan! Location and venue to be announced. OAKLAND COUNTY: Your main responsibility will be to attend the first County Convention of 2006 on August 17th starting at 7:00 PM at the Commissioners Auditorium located at 1200 N. Telegraph Road in Pontiac. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us at dadspac@dadsofmichigan.org
VAWA Update
As we reported in our last newsletter, our colleagues at RADAR (Respecting Accuracy in Domestic Abuse Reporting) http://www.mediaradar.org/ http://www.acfc.org/site/R?i=4OGUsjraVu6qRIXSHYubRA, have been working diligently over the past weeks to inform the public and our elected officials about the problems inherent in the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Many of our readers have experienced the trauma of false accusations and have seen the 'abuse card' played in their custody cases. VAWA, and its hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer funds is the federal legislation that facilitates these shenanigans. This week RADAR is asking you to contact your elected representative in Congress and let them know what you think of this legislation. Please take a minute of your time and TAKE ACTION HERE. We are simply asking Congress to follow the President's budget request which provided no
funding for new VAWA programs and lessened the funding to a number of existing programs. http://www.acfc.org/site/R?i=SSnSDqSdvusxdJDniYO7jw..
Latest Stephen Baskerville Column
Human Events Online, an influential conservative publication in Washington, DC carried commentary by ACFC President Stephen Baskerville. Dr. Baskerville's article 'How Government Promotes Child Abuse' is must reading for those interested in the unintended consequences of expansionist bureaucracies and ill formed gender driven public policy. Read this revealing article here. http://www.acfc.org/site/R?i=D9K4kcaxPa8iGZX2nVTXQw..
PAC Action: Many of you can not commit the time to be in Lansing for legislative sessions and we have engaged a very effective lobbyist to get in front of the legislators. We need your financial support. With many of the pending bills reaching a critical stage, DADS of Michigan PAC engaged a lobbyist to further these issues. This is not free and we need you to make a monthly financial commitment of $10, $15, $25, $50, $100, $500, $1000 per month for the next year. We can process these via credit card each month. Please call our hotline at 248-559-3237 today to make your pledge or email dadspac@dadsofmichigan.org. "Fathers are responsible parents too…because the best parent is both parents”