Public Policy Issues Archive (3.14.05)
This legislative update published March 14, 2005
"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face."
— Eleanor Roosevelt
1. Child Support Bill
2. Strangulation Bill Update
3. Emergency Assistance and Transitional Housing Funding Considered
4. Domestic Abuse No Contact Expansion Bill
5. Funding for Displaced Homemaker Program
6. Medicaid Budget Battles
7. Supreme Court to Weigh Protective Orders
8. Parenting and Adoption Bills
9. Understanding the Budget Process
10. Immigration Forum: A Community Conversation
11. Upcoming Legislative Hearings
12. Contact Us
1. Child Support Bill
The bill which would replace Minnesota's current child support system with an income shares model was heard Thursday March 10 by the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Family Law. The bill, S.F. 630, will next be heard in the full Senate Judiciary Committee. It is estimated that in roughly 25 percent of contested family law cases (like divorce or child custody), one parent is actively abusive towards the other parent. After leaving an abusive relationship, many victims face economic barriers to raising children as a single head-of-household while their abuser fights paying child support as a way to maintain power and control.
Authored by Subcommittee Chair Thomas Neuville (R-Northfield), the bill also offers a credit against child support obligations for parenting/visitation time, requires an economic study of the proposed child support guidelines before the guidelines go into effect and prevents the change in child support guidelines from being, on its own, enough to change a parent’s child support obligation.
As originally introduced, S.F. 630 also recodified the state's divorce and child custody laws. Subcommittee members adopted an amendment, offered by Neuville, paring the bill down to the child support provisions.
Michele Del Castillo and Jen Peterson, members of the Association for Children for Enforcement of Support, said the bill effectively reduces support for many children. Del Castillo said many noncustodial parents fight tooth-and-nail to get parenting rights but do not actually use their time. Del Castillo and Peterson also urged Legislators to focus on improving enforcement and collection efforts before adjusting the guidelines. Sen. Don Betzold (DFL-Fridley) said the Legislature has taken great pains to make it possible for noncustodial parents to collect child support, but at some point those who want to obscure their amounts and sources of income will be successful.
Before acting, the panel also heard from attorneys and parents on the proposal. Michael Ditburner said members of the Academy of Matrimonial Attorneys opposes any guidelines that are lower than those recommended by a 2001 task force. The group supports the income shares approach, but believes different guidelines are appropriate, he said. The guidelines in the bill also underestimate the costs of children, Ditburner said. The parenting time credits will increase litigation as noncustodial parents seek more time to lower their support obligation, he said. Lawmakers should wait to get more information, he said.
However, Neuville commented that no other state uses guidelines similar to the ones advocated by the academy. The guidelines the academy supports have not been shown to have a solid economic base, Neuville said.
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2. Strangulation Bill Update
A bill making strangulation of a family or household member a felony was approved on Thursday March 10 by the Senate Crime Prevention and Public Safety Committee. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Jane Ranum (DFL-Minneapolis), toughens penalties for strangulation in situations of domestic violence.
"As prosecutors, we need this tool for one primary reason, murder prevention," said Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner. She said, "Strangulation is often one of the last violent acts that occur before murder in a domestic assault situation. By creating the crime of felony strangulation, we can decrease the likelihood of future homicides.” Typically, an offender who uses strangulation is charged with assault in the fifth degree, a misdemeanor, she said. A felony strangulation law will send a message to everyone in the justice system to ask the right questions.
Lieutenant Ike Delugo of the Minneapolis Police Department, said he sees approximately five or six strangulation cases a week, but they are misdemeanors. "We have done a lot of training with our officers regarding domestic abuse, for instance, we urge the officers use the word strangulation rather than choking," he said. Delugo was supportive of the bill.
Sen. Wes Skoglund (DFL-Minneapolis) offered an amendment to broaden the scope of the bill to specify it is third degree assault for anyone, rather than just a family or household member, to assault someone by strangulation. The amendment was adopted. Members also adopted an amendment to add the term asphyxiation to the bill.
The bill was approved and advanced to the full Senate Finance Committee.
The bill will also be heard by the House Public Safety Policy and Finance committee on Tuesday, March 15.
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3. Emergency Assistance and Transitional Housing Funding Considered
Each year Tubman Family Alliance emergency shelters and transitional housing are home to over 1,400 women and children homeless due to family violence. The devastating consequences of abuse, at times, may include chemical dependency or mental health problems like anxiety, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder.
Members of the Senate Jobs, Energy and Community Development Committee, chaired by Sen. Ellen Anderson (DFL-St. Paul), considered a bill on March 7, that would appropriate $15 million for emergency assistance and transitional housing. Sen. Scott Dibble (DFL-Minneapolis), chief author of the bill, said homelessness is a devastating blow for individuals experiencing difficulties due to mental health or chemical dependency issues. Sen. Dibble said the policy consideration in the bill, S.F. 684, is a provision that allows up to 10 percent of the $9 million appropriation for transitional housing to be used for housing and services which extend beyond two years.
Michael Dahl of the Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless said many of the conditions underlying homelessness take more than two years to address. He said sometimes the those progressing well under their case management plans need assistance beyond the current 24 month limit. Becky Fink, Rise Transitional Housing, also spoke in support of the measure. The bill was approved and advanced to the Senate Finance Committee.
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4. Domestic Abuse No Contact Expansion Bill
The Senate Judiciary committee, chaired by Sen. Don Betzold (DFL-Fridley), heard a bill expanding the applicability of the domestic abuse no contact order. S.F. 1143, sponsored by Sen. Jane Ranum (DFL-Minneapolis), clarifies that a domestic abuse no contact order is an order issued by a court against a defendant in a criminal proceeding for domestic abuse, violation of an order for protection, violation of a domestic abuse no contact order, harassment or stalking.
Sen. John Marty (DFL-Roseville) said the language was unclear because the bill seemed to say “violation of a domestic abuse no contact order for violation of a domestic abuse no contact order.” Ranum said clarification was necessary because the county attorney's in the Second Judicial District had determined that a domestic abuse no contact order did not include the cases specified in the bill.
Committee members held the bill over to so that a draft clarifying language in the bill could be constructed.
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5. Funding for Displaced Homemaker Program
A Senate Jobs, Energy and Community Development Committee hearing was held Monday, March 7 to discuss a bill, S.F.1271, sponsored by Sen. Scott Dibble (DFL-Minneapolis), that would increase the divorce fee from $235 to $265 to fund the Displaced Homemaker Program. Sen. Dibble said the bill also increases the standard marriage license fee from $85 to $95 and increases the reduced license fees for couples who have undergone premarital counseling from $20 to $40. The additional funds are also earmarked for the Displaced Homemaker Program. The measure was also approved and advanced to the Senate Finance Committee.
Victims of family violence may be kept from working outside the home by the intentional, controlling isolation of an abusive partner. For these victims and those who chose to be homemakers, they are left to try to care for their families with a diminished traditional work history and possible lack of job skills. For these individuals, resources to address their status as displaced homemakers can offer families a new choice and a new chance.
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6. Medicaid Budget Battles
Federal health care dollars are at stake, with Chairs of the U.S. Senate Budget Committee and U.S. House Budget Committee soon presenting their budget resolution bills for a vote. As it currently stands, the Senate’s Budget Resolution would cut $15.2 billion over five years from programs under the Senate Finance Committee’s jurisdiction — these cuts would largely be made to Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SHCIP). These cuts are twice as large as those proposed in President Bush’s budget.
Around 580,000 Minnesotans, including children, parents, pregnant women, the elderly, and persons with disabilities receive health care through Medical Assistance (Minnesota’s name for Medicaid). Medicaid funds also support public hospitals, community health centers, nursing homes, home- and community-based care providers, and the physicians and nurses who provide health care to Minnesota’s vulnerable citizens. Many women and children homeless due to abuse rely on Medical Assistance to meet critical health care needs.
Any reduction in the federal government’s commitment to this vital health care program would mean unsustainable cost shifting to the state, which continues to face its own budget problems.
Advocates expect that Senators could play an important role in preventing these cuts. During the debate this week, a bipartisan amendment by Senators Smith and Bingaman would remove the $15 billion cut in Medicaid from the budget resolution, and call instead for a bipartisan commission to make recommendations for future changes to the Medicaid program.
To contact Senator Mark Dayton (D-MN) -Click Here
To contact Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN) - Click Here
For more information on the Senate’s Budget Resolution, visit the Center on Budget and Policy’s web site at Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
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7. Supreme Court to Weigh Protective Orders
The National Law Journal reports that on March 21, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in Town of Castle Rock, Colorado v. Gonzales. In that case, the High Court will consider whether a civil rights remedy—the right to sue the police for inaction—is available to domestic violence victims whose pleas to enforce protection orders go unheeded by local police departments.
"People feel very strongly that the system is not working for women," said Lorelie S. Masters of Chicago's Jenner & Block, amicus counsel to the National Association of Women Lawyers and others. "We need to do something here to turn things around and have a sanction on the kind of failure in this case to enforce these mandatory arrest orders. Section 1983 is a way historically to provide a remedy for situations where violence was continuing in states because local legal regimes were not doing their jobs. This in our view is the same situation."
For the complete National Law Journal article, click here.
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8. Parenting and Adoption Bills
Three bills were heard Thursday March 10 by the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Family Law.
S.F. 1337, authored by Sen. John Marty (DFL-Roseville), requires persons with custody of children to notify the court, the local child protection agency and the noncustodial parent if the custodial person is sharing a residence with a person convicted of a crime that disqualifies someone from getting custody. The panel also adopted an amendment, offered by Sen. Marty, requiring sex offenders to inform their supervisory agents if they are residing in homes with children. Marty also said he was working on language placing noncustodial parents under similar requirements, since a child could be placed in a dangerous situation while visiting. The bill was advanced to the full Senate Judiciary Committee.
S.F. 1152, authored by Sen. Rod Skoe (DFL-Clearbrook), allows “putative fathers” to register with the Fathers' Adoption Registry after the ordinary time to do so has elapsed, if the father can show that he was actively misled about the existence of the pregnancy or birth of the child. The bill was laid over for further consideration.
S.F. 1211, authored by Sen. Don Betzold (DFL-Fridley), revises adoption procedures for children in need of protection. The bill requires the consent of the commissioner of human services before an adoption can go forward and requires a background check to be performed on relatives or parents before placement. The bill was laid over for further consideration.
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9. Understanding the Budget Process
In the 2005 Legislative Session, the Minnesota Legislature will pass the state’s budget for the next two years. Advocates, leaders, front-line staff, and members of the public will all benefit from understanding how the state’s budget process works and how to participate in that process on behalf of the programs they care about and the people they serve.
In this popular workshop, held on Tuesday, March 22, you will gain an understanding of the following:
· The basics of the Minnesota state budget
· The timeline for the state’s budget process
· How the Governor's budget proposal is developed
· How the budget travels through the Legislature
· Opportunities for input and advocacy in the budget process
This workshop is led by Nan Madden, Director of the Minnesota Budget Project, an initiative of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits. The Minnesota Budget Project provides independent research, outreach, and advocacy on budget and tax issues that impact low- and moderate-income persons and the organizations that serve them.
For information or to register - Click Here.
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10. Immigration Forum: A Community Conversation
Join hundreds of your neighbors and colleagues in a three-part discussion on immigration in Minnesota. A cross section of community leaders will discuss immigration in Minnesota and help shape a state-level policy agenda. These events will raise difficult issues, while bringing people together to exchange ideas and discover areas of common ground.
To register or for more information, visit the Minnesota Meeting website, email info@minnesotameeting.com, or call 612-617-1117.
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11. Hearings at the Capitol This Week
Tuesday, March 15, 8:15 AM
Tuesday, March 15, 10:15 AM
Tuesday, March 15, 12 noon
Wednesday, March 16, 12:30 PM
Thursday, March 17, 10:15 AM
Friday, March 18, 10:30 AM
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12. Contact Us
This legislative update is produced by Tubman Family Alliance, a pioneer in family violence prevention nationwide. Tubman Family Alliance offers a full range of services for all community members—men, women, and children—with the aim of preventing and ending family violence.
Get involved by volunteering at Tubman Family Alliance, or invite the Tubman Speaker’s Bureau to bring violence prevention outreach to your workplace, faith community, civic group or professional association.
For further information on legislative issues and how you can help take action, contact Randy Schubring, Director of Public Affairs at Tubman Family Alliance at 651-770-8544/612-825-3333 or at grassroots@tubmanfamilyalliance.org.
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This Public Policy Update Published March 14, 2005.
Editor: Randy Schubring
Writers: Christina Fahling and Margaret Ostrander
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