Dear Readers;
Apparently too many courts are denying or limiting visitation even when a parent has not been declared unfit. The current standard is no standard at all–best interests of the child and this take precedence even where the judge has no reports on the family or child, s/he has just a few pleadings in front of him or her and then they say “no contact” or “no visitation”. And that’s with no notice, no hearing and no findings of fact!
The below bill will remedy that, allow all parents to claim at least 35% of parenting time, UNLESS they are proved unfit and level the playing field–without divorce attorneys arguing away at $300 to $400 per hous.
Please support this bill and thanks so much to Atty Gearheart for doing this.
JoAnne
From: AirborneNurse [mailto:nurserichardthomas@gmail.com]
Sent: Friday, March 21, 2014 7:15 AM
To:
Subject: Urgent HB 5425…read now…print off and ACT!!!
It’s 4th and Goal and HB 5425 is on the 1 yard line in the Super Bowl of Democracy. Will you help carry HB 5425 across the goal line to righteous victory??? The children of Illinois await your answer. Wednesday, at the Capitol, we had a wonderful 1.5 hour press conference with many Illinois television markets enthusiastically covering the HB 5425 Shared Parenting story(finally!!!).
But the bigger news is that, through dogged determination, we finally met face to face with Rep. Elaine Nekritz and she said she would call the bill for a vote on Monday, March 24th at the 3pm meeting.
We need just 9 yes votes out of 16 votes to pass HB 5425 to a full house vote. That 16 member vote will no doubt be taken on Monday late afternoon.
Number 1: Call all 16 members(see below) of the Illinois House Judiciary Committee and ask them to vote yes on HB 5425 at Monday’s(March 24th) hearing. If you cannot call all the members, please concentrate on the Democrat members because they are in the majority. Democrat Chairwoman Rep. Elaine Nekritz is against HB 5425 and she wields majority influence over the Judiciary Committee. Ask all representatives or their secretaries to fill out the yellow sheet Co- Sponsor form supporting HB 5425. Inform them that we have 16 co-sponsors listed already so there’s no reason not to be a co-sponsor now. Call today and even all day Monday. Report back all comments, good, bad or in-between to me at NurseRichardThomas@gmail.com
Number 2: Come to the Capitol Monday!!! Call in sick(of injustice), take a personal day, bring family, friends and kids….EVERYONE!!! Hitch hike if you have to, ride a wheel chair in if you have to, but come and get the democracy you’ve longed for. Many kids are on Spring Break – bring the kids. Make it a family Democracy Project. Let them make signs to hold up during the vote. Signs that say “HB 5425 Vote Yes.” If your kids are in school Monday, know this – the best educational experience for kids in the state is at the Capitol Monday(Judiciary Hearing Mar 24 2014 3:00PM Stratton Building Room C-1 Springfield, IL).
So, you are the quarterback at the Super Bowl and if you choose to sit on the sidelines, Illinois children will continue to suffer with no assurance that they could be the next victim of the Illinois Family Law Business, a 50 billion dollar a year business. HB 5425 is so close to the most critical victory of getting passed the House Judiciary Committee. We can win – but ONLY if you get in the game right now!
Click on below for full list of Illinois House Judiciary Committee members. There are 6 Republicans, 10 Democrats and Rep. Welch has already signed on has a co-sponsor. Make the calls(respectfully, but insistent) TODAY!!!
http://www.ilga.gov/house/committees/members.asp?CommitteeID=1192&GA=98
MaryGSykes.com 