MFRW Weekly Legislative Update Feb 17
2-17-23
Thank you to everyone who called or emailed the House Ways and Means Committee this past week in support of the Save Women's Sports Act. Debbie Yatsuk, Amy Waycoff and I waited 4 hours to testify in person and Laurie Halverson onlne in favor of HB 359, plus a gentleman who was a sports referee. Others submitted written testimony, but we are hearing that the W&M Committee has voted against protecting girls and women's sports again this year. Thank you for excellent testimony Debbie Yatsuk, Amy Wagner, and Laurie Halverson.
On a happier note we are also hearing that Senator Kagan will withdraw SB 378 for children 14 years old to consent to receiving a vaccine without parental knowledge or consent. We will watch the General Assembly web site for confirmation.
It is shocking to see the number of bills that seek to block parents from guiding their children in decisions about their education and health care decisions. There is a bill we will want to support HB 666 establishing that a parent has a fundamental right to direct the upbringing, education and care and development of their child. The hearing on HB 666 by Delegate Miller et al will be on February 22 at 1 p.m. in the Judiciary Committee.
As we said in our ALERT last week the hearing on HB 705 - Constitutional Amendment to the Declaration of Rights to establish a Right to Reproductive Freedom will have a hearing on Tuesday, February 21 in HGO. Now is the time to send emails to the members of the HGO Committee to voice your concerns.
Updated email lists for all House and Senate Committees are posted on the MFRW website at: http://www.mfrw.org. At the Action menu tab click on "Legislative Committees" and scroll down to the appropriate committee and click on the button "email committee" and copy and paste the list into your email.
Reviewing and adding bills to our Weekly Legislative Update is ongoing. Please check for new listings in the topic categories of importance to you and your club.
Be sure to check the "status" column as some bills are being reported out of committee.