| As we gear up for our big Lobby Day on the Hill and Legislative Breakfast, March 4, the following is a comprehensive recap of Legislation the Caucus is tracking. Tuesday’s gathering will be a great opportunity to show your support for our mission and the goals we strive to achieve. I look forward to seeing you there.
http://www.nashvillewpc.com/events.htm
http://www.legislature.state.tn.us/
Holly Spann
Vice President, Legislation
TWPC & NWPC
Emergency Contraception for Rape Victims
Another bill pending from 2007 is HB1989/SB2073, by Rep. Janis Sontany and Sen. Beverly Marrero. The bill is assigned to the House Public Health Subcommittee and the Senate Judiciary Committee and would require hospital emergency rooms to offer emergency contraception (EC) to rape victims. (Hospitals may opt out by claiming religious affiliation, although rape victims must at least be told about EC.) We will be asking the sponsors how we can help get the legislation moving since the Caucus supports this bill. A bill filed back in 2005 did not pass but did not have a liberal opt-out provision for hospitals, as this one does.
SJR 127-Constitutional Amendment to Ban Protections for Abortion
This is the resolution calling for a state constitutional amendment that would prohibit the application of a privacy provision in Tennessee’s constitution to any rights pertaining to abortion. The Caucus has long opposed SJR127. The proponents argue that its passage is necessary to eliminate judicial interference in legislative attempts to regulate abortion. Three statutory provisions were indeed struck down several years ago, including a 48-hour waiting period, an informed consent requirement that applied to physicians, and a requirement that second trimester abortions be performed only in hospitals. However, a parental consent provision and a ban on partial birth abortions remain in statute, and informed consent for surgical procedures is required by other parts of the code.
SJR 127 passed the Senate with a 26-9 vote but was recently defeated in the House Public Health Subcommittee by a 3-6 vote along partisan lines (3 Republicans and 6 Democrats on the subcommittee). House lead sponsor Rep. Delores Gresham has indicated she will make an effort to pull the resolution directly to the House floor, which requires 66 votes, or to the House Health Committee, which would require 13 of the 22 votes on the committee. House support for the resolution may have diminished slightly due to the Senate’s rejection of several amendments seeking continued constitutional protection for women who are the victims of rape or incest or those whose lives are endangered by a pregnancy.
Joint Custody/Equal Parenting
Although a similar bill was not approved in subcommittee in the House last year, two new joint custody bills have been filed this year. SB3717/HB2964, by Sen. Reginald Tate and Rep. G.A. Hardaway, and SB3859/HB3655, by Sen. Bill Ketron and Rep. George Fraley, would both establish a legal presumption that “equal parenting” is in the best interest of a child of divorcing or unmarried parents. The Caucus and the Tennessee Bar Association oppose the bills, and the Tennessee Judicial Council has expressed reservations about the concept. Under current law, divorcing parents are required to develop a parenting plan that includes custody and other important issues, and about 90% of couples are able to so. These bills would take away judicial discretion to decide the remaining cases on an individual basis depending on the best interests of the child/children.
Mandatory Paternity Tests
Two bills requiring paternity testing have been filed. SB3146/HB2969, introduced by Sen. Black and Rep. Hardaway, requires paternity tests prior to all court custody decisions, and SB3711/HB2964, by Sen. Tate and Rep. Hardaway, requires paternity testing prior to listing a father on a birth certificate, even when the father has agreed to stipulate that he is the child’s father. The Caucus opposes these bills, as does the Department of Human Services and the Tennessee Bar Association.
Personal Asset Protection Exception for Child Support
SB3882/HB2888, sponsored by Sen. Jim Kyle and Rep. Kent Coleman, would eliminate a potential problem related to “spendthrift” trusts, which have recently become available in Tennessee after passage of a bill sought by the Tennessee Bankers Association last year. The trusts allow the protection of personal assets from any creditor after a four-year waiting period. According to the experts at the Tennessee Bar Association, the statute should include an exception for child support orders as is the case in several other states, and the Bar is seeking introduction of legislation that would add one. The Caucus supports this bill.
Resource Mapping of Funds Used to Support Children
SB4012/HB3936, by Sen. Diane Black and Rep. Sherry Jones, requires the Commission on Children and Youth to design and oversee a resource mapping of all federal and state funding sources and streams that support the health, safety, permanence, growth, development, and education of children in Tennessee. It is in the Senate Judiciary Committee and the House Child and Family Affairs Committee. The Caucus supports this bill.
HJR116 (Rep. Brenda Gilmore) requests the Department of Correction to review the National Bill of Rights for Children of the Incarcerated and to update a1995 report on Children and Families of Incarcerated Felons. It is in the House State Government Subcommittee. (Supported by Caucus).
Lottery Scholarships for Non-traditional Students
Lottery scholarships for non-traditional students, a priority issue for the Caucus, remains pending from 2007. HB653/SB611, with prime sponsors Rep. Les Winningham and Sen. Jamie Woodson, passed both the House and the Senate last year, although in differing versions. Although both bills improved the situation for non-traditional students somewhat, there have been other contentious differences. Also introduced last year, SB1063/HB871, by Sen. Woodson and Rep. Randy Rinks, now appears to be the vehicle for additional improvement in lottery scholarship opportunities for non-traditional students, and, to that end,Sen. Woodson has presented amendatory language to the Senate Education Lottery Scholarship Subcommittee. The Caucus supports Sen. Woodson’s efforts on behalf of non-traditional students. Please ask both Senate and House members to support the Senate subcommittee’s amendatory language affecting non-traditional students.
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