PLEASE MAKE A DIFFERENCE! 
YOUR HELP URGENTLY NEEDED TO PROTECT MARRIAGE, FAMILIES AND ESPECIALLY MINOR CHILDREN!
Contact Your State Senator Today!

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Tuesday; February 4, 2020
 

Dear John,

We need your help now to protect marriage, family and especially minor children!  Your voice can make a powerful difference on this issue.

AB 439 is a bill that completely eliminates the waiting period after a divorce is finalized before a remarriage by either person involved in the divorce. Currently, Wisconsin has an excellent and reasonable waiting period of 6 months. That waiting period is primarily to make sure the husband and wife both have some time to heal and restore from the dissolution of their marriage before beginning another one and also--and likely most critically--for minor children who are greatly impacted by both the divorce and any remarriage. You can find out much more about the background on this bill and talking points on why Wisconsin Family Action opposes it HERE. The bill is authored by Republicans (Rep. Cindy Duchow from Pewaukee and Sen. Alberta Darling from River Hills and supported/co-sponsored by a significant number of Republican lawmakers, in addition to Democrat legislators. 

At the public hearings this past fall in both the Senate and the Assembly, I did something I've never done before in a hearing: I offered a compromise, largely because so many Republicans support it and it was obvious the bill was purposefully being fast-tracked. My compromise offer had two ideas:  1) Keep a waiting period for everyone rather than eliminate it completely; but reduce the time from 6 months to 3 months; 2) Keep a waiting period of some sort for couples with minor children.  To date no lawmaker has offered any amendment to do either of these suggestions. 

Late last month the Assembly, at the insistence of Republican leadership, passed AB 439 on a voice vote, which provides cover for everyone and doesn't put any individual legislators on the record as being for or against the proposal.  The bill is now ready for a vote in the state senate, which could happen as early as next week.

If you agree with us that Wisconsin should retain a waiting period (and we would argue that there is really no good reason to change what we currently have--6 months), please contact your STATE SENATOR and let him or her know you oppose this bill and encourage them to contact senate leadership and share their opinion and position. The most effective way to contact your senator is by phone, but email can work as well.  You can find out who represents you HERE, along with full contact information. Just put your address in the area "Who Are My Legislators?" area on the home page.

Thank you for taking time to contact your senator. One other action step you could take is to forward this email to others who share your values, asking them to join you in contacting their state senator.  If you would be so kind as to send me a quick email to let me know you contacted your senator, I would be grateful. It helps me know where we might need to put some additional effort.  God bless you for your time and effort on this bill.



For families,







Julaine K. Appling
President, Wisconsin Family Action