If you like laws and sausages, you should never watch either one being made.

--Otto Von Bismarck

Past Achievements of F.R.E.E.^[tm]

F.R.E.E.^[tm] has really been making strides (and waves) on both the local and national fronts!

F.R.E.E.^[tm] Director for Legislative Affairs (and Associate Director) Brent Wellman is now a familiar figure in the State Capitol at Sacramento, California, where he regularly can be found working towards passage of pro-non-custodial parent and pro-child legislation.

F.R.E.E.^[tm] worked closely to help secure passage of the bill which exempted new mate income from inclusion in child-support calculations, and more recently F.R.E.E.[tm] worked with State Senator Charles Calderon to add a revision to that law which stopped a county judge dead in his tracks in his attempt to implement a local rule which would have end-run the new mate income exclusion!

F.R.E.E.^[tm] also worked very closely with Assemblyman Larry Bowler's office on the "Mrs. Doubtfire Bill."

Brent Wellman testifies before the Judiciary Committee in favor of SB577 in 1994, a bill to require gender-bias training for court-appointed mediators in California.

Photo courtesy Anne Mitchell.

Brent sez: "This bill was eventually vetoed by California Governor Pete Wilson over an insurance provision he found distateful. The author of the bill, State Senator Leroy Greene faces away from the camera. To my right, and obscured is James Cook of the Joint Custody Association. On the dais, can be seen Assemblyman Louis Caldera, one of the lowest rated lawmakers in Sacramento on the subject of fathers' rights, displaying typical disinterest The rest of the committee was hanging on my every word,though!"

F.R.E.E.^[tm] has joined with several other organizations to pass Assembly Bill 1355, which limits the immunity of social workers. F.R.E.E.[tm] worked closely with the author, [Former] Assemblyman David Knowles, himself a former social worker. This bill has been signed into law by Governor Pete Wilson!

F.R.E.E.^[tm]-supported legislation that would award child custody to fathers if the mother levels a false charge of child abuse has passed in California and been signed into law by Governor Pete Wilson! Senate Bill 558, authored by State Senator (now Congressman) Tom Campbell will take effect January 1, 1996. Testimony by F.R.E.E.^[tm]Director for Legislative Affairs, Brent Wellman, F.R.E.E.^[tm] Advisory Board member Carol Marks, MFCC, Children's Rights Council, Sacramento, President Pat Gehlen and Kristi Cotton Spence, Esq. was instrumental in the passage of the bill.

F.R.E.E.^[tm] pushed for the passage of a bill to reduce child support awards in California. This bill faced an uphill battle, even though the current guidelines were based upon spurious and unpublished data, data which even the author repudiates! Opponents of this bill, led by women's advocate and Assembly member Shiela Kuehl, had apparently given up trying to stop the reduction bill on its merits, and introduced a bill to raise the already outragious rates fathers are forced to pay! Their purpose appeared to be to force a stalemate between the two bills. It didn't work! Their bill died in committee. The reduction bill, unfortunately, lost a floor vote.

Brent Wellman [right] confers with Mr. Dan Chick, Aide to Assembly Member Bill P. Morrow, during hearings on the California Child Support Guidelines, November 9th, 1995.

Photo courtesy Jay Bowden.

F.R.E.E.^[tm] also worked in California to secure passage of the "Best Interest of the Child bill," authored by Senator Ray Haynes. It was designed to reduce gender bias in custody proceedings by banning the consideration of "primary caregiver," and discouraging the placement of a child with a parent who is a drug addict or alcoholic (even if the alcoholic is a mom). Assembly Member Kuehl and her followers are also taking the low road to opposition of this measure, proposing a bill of their own, specifically requiring judges to prefer "primary caregivers." F.R.E.E.^[tm] got the bill buried in committee.

To round out the package of reforms for this upcoming year, F.R.E.E.^[tm] is working for passage of a joint custody bill, authored by [Former] Assembly Member Trice Harvey. While joint custody is allowed in California, it is not preferred when one coparent objects. This has the effect of allowing vindictive ex-spouses to perpetuate their battles, rather than bringing them together in a situation in which they must learn to cooperate.

This page last updated Saturday, 11 June, 2005 by: