Why we need lobbyists every day of the session

This chronicles a week of my life as a lobbyist. The week of 15 February was an especially trying time in the Indiana General Assembly. I am currently trying to push through two pieces of legislation, SB140 concerning adoption and paternity and SB178 allowing joint legal custody in paternity cases. I have also been watching HB1055 and SB0059 which are two versions of the intact family Grandparent Visitation Bill.

Monday was a rather quiet day in which I didn't go to the State House but instead did administrative work through e-mail and by phone. I did received a call from a client who said his wife told him it was too late to try to make a settlement agreement and they would be going to court on Monday. I called one of the attorneys I work with in Indy and set up a meeting for 9:30 Wednesday morning. I also prepared as much as possible for my legislative work for the week and the Domestic Relations Committee meeting on Friday.

The House Judiciary Committee was to meet at 8:30 on Tuesday morning to hear Senate Bill 140. I arrived plenty early to get the front row for myself, Senator Zakas who authored the bill along with Senator Broden in the Senate, and Steve Kirsh, an Indianapolis adoption attorney who wrote the bill. The bill is co-authored by Senator Boots who had authored SB0070 for me which I requested to be withdrawn since SB140 included its basic language. Senators Steele, Bray, Miller, Gard, Holdman, Becker and Yoder were also added as co-authors.

Four amendments have been proposed for this bill in the House. The first was introduced by Rep Sandra Blanton. This would prohibit the lawful use or possession of firearms or ammunition from being used as a factor to block an adoption. The second was introduced by Rep Jeff Thompson. This would require that a paternity action filed involving a child who is subject of an adoption action be filed in the same court. This adopts the language from my SB0070. The third was introduced by Rep Wesley Culver. This makes a technical correction. The fourth was introduced by Rep Ralph Foley. This adopts the language in House Bill 1314 which would require language be added to the paternity affidavit informing the mother that knowingly making a false statement about who the putative father is constitutes a crime.

Near the conclusion of the House Judiciary hearing I received a call from Representative Yarde, a cosponsor of Senate Bill 178, informing me that there would be a pre committee meeting on SB178 at 11:00am and he would like for me to brief him on the bill before 11:00. While doing that he made mention that SB0178 would be heard upon adjournment of the House Tuesday. I had spoken to the committee chair, Representative Vanessa Summers, the previous week and her aide again on Monday and was told it would be Wednesday at 10:30am. Fortunately I was already at the State House and was able to stay for the hearing.

Senator Steele had authored the bill in the Senate but was unable to present the bill to the House Committee on Children and Families. Rep Eric Koch is a cosponsor and Senator Tim Lanane was added as a coauthor. I had already met with Representative Shelli Vandenburgh, the bill's sponsor, for about a half hour and had fully briefed her on the purpose, content and effect of the bill. Representative VanDenburgh then presented the bill followed by Representative Summers calling for remonstrance.

A lobbyist for the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence complained ad nauseum that this bill mandates that young mothers must let putative fathers take their children from them. Interestingly though the actual bill stipulates that a check off box be added to the Indiana Paternity Affidavit that allows parents to choose joint legal custody by checking the box and both affixing their signatures to the affidavit a second time.

Representative Matt Bell questioned her about the use of the word "mandate" being used for an option parents may select. Representative Bartlett wondered if it would be best to encourage more father involvement in paternity cases since we have had numerous headlines recently about mothers and/or their boyfriends killing the child and maybe the child would be alive if it had been with the father. She then went on to say that people who are not married can't be expected to agree on the legal decisions of a child for the entirety of the child's life so therefore fathers shouldn't be involved. As her droning on became even more senseless Chairwoman Summers introduced me and said she would just let me finish.

I immediately offered what seemed to be the obvious solution. We should mandate that all parents be married because married parents are able to agree upon the education, health care, religion and other needs of a child for the entirety of the child's life. But as I tried to talk over the banter of chuckles, snickers and questions about my marital or parenting status a reality hit me: not all married parents can agree and Indiana does have a process for dissolution of marriage. I think the point was well made and that was one argument shattered.

I was asked by one of the committee members what states have joint legal custody for parents of newborns. I gave the obvious answer of all 50, as long as the parents are married. I have no statistics for out-of-wedlock families. The DV lobbyist immediately responded with "That's not true!" My challenge to her to name any state that does not preserve the natural right of married parents to direct the upbring and care of their children as affirmed by numerous US Supreme Court rulings got no response.

I finished my presentation and answered questions as they were presented to me. Some of the committee members put forth the idea of amending the bill for some type of additional counseling to minor parents about what legal custody is. Representative Vanessa Summers then decided to give the members some time to think about it and continue the hearing at the regularly scheduled time on Wednesday. Some of the committee members and I along with an LSA staff attorney remained and discussed possible language changes to the bill and what the current laws are.

I stayed around for awhile meeting with a representative of the Indiana Family Institute and a legislator about the Grandparent Visitation Bill. I was given about 30 pages of study material to read before presenting my testimony on the bill the next morning.

While sitting on a snow covered rural road in Boone County for an hour I prepared a rebuttal to the issues raised by the DV lobbyist and read through some of the 30 pages I had just received. After that I got a somewhat restless night of sleep, was up early, did my running and then headed to the State House. I luckily saw Representative Summers aide as soon as I walked in. In case I was going to be late to the hearing I gave her my printed material in response to the previous day's testimony on SB178 so the committee members could review it at the 10:30 hearing. I then headed off to meet my client and go see the lawyer I had found for him.

At 10:30 we left the lawyers office and I hurried back to the State House and joined the committee hearing that was already underway. This is rather unusual as start times usually range from 15-45 minutes after they are scheduled and I had arrived just 15 minutes late. The members received my written materials and no action was taken. The chair did not call SB0059, the Grandparent Visitation Bill. The House version had also been killed earlier in the day.

I was then briefed about the anticipated progress of my bills and I hit the hallways for some meet and greets with legislators. Wednesday brought about a great lunch as various downtown eateries such as the Skyline Club, Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, Champions and other upscale eateries participated in the Taste of Indy. I was pleased to see plenty of offerings for the vegetarian patrons. I was able to speak with quite a few legislators over lunch and exchange ideas about family law reform.

Most of my afternoon was spent sending and receiving text and emails from three clients who all needed work done at that moment. I was able to successfully complete some calls on my damaged phone. I completed a modified settlement agreement which I sent to the attorney for his review even though the wife had said it was too late. Since I had already had his attorney call her attorney during our 9:30 meeting just to introduce himself I knew it was far from too late.

I staggered out of the State House through the tunnel and to the parking garage. After a two and a half hour nap and dinner I made it back up to Lebanon shortly before 8:00. I went to the Lebanon Bowling Center for my usual Wednesday night bowling. This time I warmed up for 20 frames before starting to throw a smattering of strikes and spares. Pure exhaustion left me somewhere around 110.

Thursday found me in no hurry to get to the State House as there were no hearings where I was scheduled to testify. Still, I never know what will crop up so I ran some quick errands around town before heading to Indy. I spoke with all the interested parties who were considering amendments to SB178 and learned that nothing had been proposed yet. I also spoke to some who had offered amendments on SB140. I learned that the Senate version of the Grandparent Visitation Bill had been revived and was set for a hearing in the Family and Children Committee for Monday. Thus, I knew I would now have to fully study those 30 pages and get meetings set for the first thing Monday with both sides of this issue.

I met with another advocate from the Fort Wayne area who was put in contact with me by Senator Travis Holdman. We spoke with his local legislators, Senator David Long and Representative Phyllis Pond, before he had to get back to work. I remained and worked the halls for awhile longer while catching up on my on-line work. I was thrilled to see that Jeff Berkovitz of the Domestic Relations Committee had sent an e-mail saying that the DRC meeting for Friday had been canceled because of a quorum issue. Although I had already assembled a 17 page presentation for the committee I was more than happy to take the day off.

I left the State House just in time to hit the afternoon rush and went to the nearest Revol store for a new phone. That encounter lasted a short time and I made my way to the location I usually use where I was quoted 1/3 the price for the same phone. So I upgraded for $20 by getting the 'on-line special' price which I couldn't do on-line and was told by their customer service that I could go to a store and get. It was a bit of a hassle but I also got a car charger thrown in at no charge. The gal that works there honoured the price I was told. She had played real football for Lebanon High School which we talked about that the first time I went in the store when I happened to be wearing my LHS coach's coat.

I managed to make it home for a 20 minute respite before going to Lebanon Middle School for a meeting about the 5% reduction in funding from the State. I spoke with administrators about what legislative efforts would be helpful in the future. As I would be seeing members of the Education Committee during the week anyway it shouldn't be any trouble to mention these concerns to some of them.

Friday started with a day off of awakening around 7:00. I listened to tunes and cleaned my room for two hours. Once completed there was visible floor space and I can actually lay in my sleeping space without being on clothes and paperwork. I exercised my chubby little body for two hours before heading to the office at 2:00. By 6:00 I was back home sleeping although that wasn't my intention. I was awakened by the second phone call which came around 7:30. I haven't adjusted my mind to awaken to the new ringtone yet.

I gathered my dinner and headed out to my little buddies place in the country for some relaxation. I brought three bags of clothing that another girl who is my height now had outgrown. I ate my dinner and then she and her mom went through the clothing. We all headed to bed rather early. Out of Sight with Clooney and Lopez was the evening movie that cast me into a slumber.

Saturday morning started with my usual pancake breakfast. This is no minor achievement either. I make a blend of four spices, honey and fruit in the mix that has to sit for awhile before cooking. I then had various fruit toppings to go on them. For Valentines Day they were heart shaped with blueberry filling since I forgot to bring the strawberries which I would have cut into naturally heart shaped slices.

I did some shopping that afternoon and in the evening did some running before starting my studying of Grandparent Visitation law. Sunday started with my usual stretching and workout except I didn't run because I wasn't near my treadmill. I prepared banana pancakes and then just relaxed for awhile. In the afternoon I headed home to play futsal at the Boys and Girls Club in Lebanon. Futsal is similar to indoor soccer but the walls are not used.

That completed this past week of my life as a lobbyist. I never expected going into this that I would need to be there everyday. I was under the impression that I would submit and idea, someone would write a bill, there would be a hearing I would need to attend that and then the legislators would vote.

The reality is that I may have to write the bill. I may need to find a Senator or Representative to introduce it. Then I have to start working on the members of the committee to get them to understand the purpose, intent and effect of the bill. Testifying at the hearing may be the easy part. If someone wants to amend the bill I may have to discuss that or help write it if asked. Hearing times can be changed with little notice. Members may go into caucus and want to discuss the bill before doing so. There are 150 legislators that may be voting on a bill. Personally speaking to each one of them is not a must but is very helpful. Personally thanking each one who voted in favour was much appreciated. This is not something that can be done on a part time basis.

I can't be in two places at once as I am sometimes needed but it is great to be getting some help. If you care to ever come experience this for a day please contact me.


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©2010 Stuart Showalter, LLC. Permission is granted to all non-commercial entities to reproduce this article in it's entirety with credit given.