Dear Neighbor,
I am pleased the House this week passed a bipartisan bill to help resolve child-custody issues. This can be a dicey subject and it is good we took a step forward to improve the process.
Some courts have operated under a presumption of sole custody, but the legislation we passed indicates there is no presumption for or against joint physical custody, except when domestic abuse has occurred.
Another key provision would allow for modification of court-ordered parenting time plans over time – based on the child’s best interest and their developmental needs.
The bill, which passed the House 122-0 and now is in the hands of the Senate, also includes:
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a provision that when the court is considering awarding either joint legal or joint physical custody, it may not use one of the four factors considered to the exclusion of all the other factors;
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that a disagreement over sole or joint custody is not to be considered an inability of parents to cooperate when considering the factors in awarding joint legal or physical custody; and
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a requirement that the court make detailed factual findings whenever the parties disagree about an award of either sole or joint physical or legal custody.
This was a good start, but we also need to take a closer look at how child support maintenance is determined. There are problems with our system that actually act, in some cases, as disincentives for people paying child support to work. We all lose when that happens.
So again, the custody bill provides a good, bipartisan framework. I advocate taking this approach and applying it to making improvements regarding child support.
Another bipartisan bill we passed this week authorizes special license plates for women who have served in our military. The new plates simply would read: “WOMAN VETERAN.” Here’s a link to a brief video of me speaking in support of this proposal on the House floor.
Reports indicate there are some 29,000 women veterans in Minnesota and 15-percent of our current force is female. Like other specialty plates, these would carry an additional $10 charge. I am proud we passed this bill 118-0 and urge the Senate to approve it quickly so we can get it to the governor for his signature.
On a different note, the subject of allowing prescription use of marijuana also has been making headlines in St. Paul. Key questions I have regarding this issue could be answered if we adopted a system like Wisconsin’s, which legalized FDA-approved marijuana extracts. Some concerns may be eliminated by using a tightly controlled byproduct of the plant to treat patients instead of opening up the door to smoking.
This approach led Wisconsin legislators not known to be past supporters of medical marijuana to provide support in its passage. The same could happen in Minnesota if we took that route.
Wisconsin’s new law is not perfect and there still are questions regarding extract accessibility to be addressed, especially where federal regulations come into play. I still believe it is the right approach and we should give further consideration to taking the extract approach in Minnesota. It would help us provide relief to those in need without some of the consequences full-fledged marijuana could bring.
Gov. Mark Dayton will issue his State of the State Address tonight. I will circle back to that with my thoughts later.
Good luck,
Jeff