DAILY TOOL: Testifying Before a Legislative Committee–

TOOL OF THE DAY: Testifying before a legislative committee for Equal Shared Parenting.

CATEGORY: Family Law Legislation

What is the Attorney BAR Association Strategy?

Inflame the lawmakers by making them think that 50/50 custody causes: (This example was taken from Texas Family Law FoundationObjections.)

1. chaos in children's lives

2. disruption in children's lives by shuffling from home to home and living out of a suitcase

3. and that the statute is already almost equal

How Do I Prove that TFLF is Wrong?

Watch this video as this father proves the TFLF's lies:

How Do I Prove that 50/50 Equal Parenting is Good for Children and in their Best Interest?

There are a lot of studies and links to help you support this argument and persuade your legislator.

Check out the free links that support shared parenting curated by our friends atFUAN.

 

Can you Give me Some Tips on Do's and Dont's for Testifying on a Legislative Bill?

Our friend does a good job in this video. This should help you get started.

 

Can you Show me some Legislative Sessions first to Help me Calm My Nerves Before I Give My Speech?

FUAN has a lot of videos you can binge on. They are in Iowa but many of the issues are the same for equal parenting time.

Do Any States Have Equal Parenting Bills that Have Passed?

Yes! Kentucky passed the first equal parenting bill last year, 2018.

You can WATCH more videos on legislative sessions so you can see how they work and what to expect, watch the FUAN videos Here.

Below is what happened on one of the Equal Parenting Bills in a previous legislative session.

So many people showed up to testify on HB2363 Equal Parenting Bill that it overwhelmed the committee! The chair, Rep. Dutton stated thatthere were 17 people who showed up to testify and that if all of them took 20 minutes that we would be there for another 7 hours. Manyof us said that "we are happy to stay." Over 17 people testified in favor of the Equal Parental Rights Bill in Texas HB2363and only one person testified against.

And I bet you can guess who that one person might be. Yep, a lawyer. Not just any lawyer though. The head lawyer for the Family LawFoundation. She testified against the Bill stating that the current family code in Texas already provides for almost equal time tothe parents. She also testified that this was about the children and not the parents.

Children just like adults have a right to be free from unwarranted government interference into their private lives. What thegovernment does with the best interest of the child standard is impose socialist ideas and all of the negative consequences ofsocialism onto children and their families. The best interest of the child standard is not at all about children. It is aboutgovernment power imposed on a free society.

Who else testified? Many fathers with The Father's Rights Movement of Texas, a mother/grandmother (flew in from another State), acustody evaluator, and Ron and Sherry Palmer with Fix Family Courts testified before the Juvenile Justice and Family IssuesCommittee.

Many of the father's brought up the challenges that they have faced when trying to protect their rights and time to be with theirchild. (Click on the link below to hear them testify.)

The representatives questions seemed to focus on how this would work logistically with school schedules.

Here is the link to view yesterday's Juvenile Justice & Family Issues live video broadcast of the testimony of the parents whocame to support the passage of HB2363 sponsored by Representative Pena.

Go to 4:53:20 time marker to hear the testimony on this Bill.

First Rep. Pena introduces the Bill. Then the testimony begins with Andrew McCrae of El Paso (NPAT and Dads Equal Custody).

http://tlchouse.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=37&clip_id=10699

Our strategy was:

Address as much as possible through the combination of all of the speakers. It was my job to listen for objections and to addressat the very end. They limited us to three minutes per person. We thought that they were not going to limit the time so many of us hadplanned for having more time.

After the session, we all met with Rep. Pena's Chief of Staff and they made changes to the Bill last night to address the schoolobjection that Rep. Riddle had during the hearing. So even though I ran out of time and didn't get to address that objectionspecifically in my testimony, Maricela, Rep. Pena's Chief of Staff made sure that got taken care of afterwards.

 

Watch the video of the testimonies at the link above.

Please then go to this page, "Protecting Parent-Child Relationships", and contact your House Representative and ask them toput pressure on the House Reps that are part of the Juvenile Justice and Family Issues committee to pass the Bill through to the Housefloor. There is a letter on that page that you can download and e-mail to your representative to help you with this.

Please write to me at sherry@fixfamilycourts.com if you noticed that other objections were not addressed and if you have anything elseyou want to communicate to us regarding this Bill.

HOW LOUD CAN YOU MAKE YOUR VOICE? Rustin Wright's interview has gotten 4.1 thousand shares on Facebook in one week! You are makingan impact by showing the lawmakers that this issue matters to you.

WHAT EFFECT HAVE YOU HAD SO FAR?
You got the attention of Rep. Dutton's office (Chairman of the Juvenile Justice and Family Issues Committee) with over 200 phonecalls. He knows you want the bill passed through now but we are told that wasn't enough for them to vote it through yet.

What Do I Say When I Call a Legislative Office?

A legislative Aid will answer and tell her/him to please pass along your wishes to the representative that you support the Bill, givethe Bill number, and that you would like your representative to vote FOR THE BILL. If the bill is in committee let them know that youwould like the bill to pass through committee to the house or senate floor right away.

If you are not sure what the Bill is about you can watch the video recording at the post here: DAILY TOOL: Testifying Before aLegislative Committee | Fix Family Courts – http://modo.ly/1DLEdky

Thank you for taking action! The future generation will thank you for stepping up and fixing this and not leaving the mess to theirgeneration.

 

Updated on February 3, 2019