As lawmakers deal with the budget shortfall, they must also face the issue of family fragmentation, state Rep. Mark McCullough said today.
“Clearly, legislation alone will not solve the problem of divorce and family fragmentation, but we cannot afford to ignore the issue as it drains hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars,” said McCullough, R-Sapulpa.
House Bill 2634, by McCullough, would require two hours of pre-marital counseling before the issuance of a marriage license and provide a $45 dollar discount on a marriage license for couples getting more than eight hours of pre-marital counseling. The measure also allows for a “covenant marriage” license and requires court directed pre-divorce education classes for couples with children.
McCullough noted the counseling and divorce education provisions are already in state law, but are permissive and currently do not require participation.
House Bill 2634 was approved by the House Judiciary Committee this week on a 6-5 vote.
However, a similar measure was defeated on the House floor on Monday. House Bill 2543, by state Rep. John Wright (R-Broken Arrow), would have required couples to go through one hour of divorce counseling before they can file for divorce. The measure was defeated 37-57.
“Some are hesitant to support this legislation because of concerns about government becoming involved in this issue,” McCullough said. “Unfortunately, the state is already involved – big time. State government spends more than $400 million every year on the fallout of divorce.”
A recent study, “The Taxpayer Costs of Divorce and Unwed Childbearing” conservatively estimates divorce has a dramatic impact on the cost of state government (largely through public assistance programs) – up to $430 million annually in Oklahoma.
“The bills Representative Wright and I filed each have a simple theme: reasonable, rational, and quite frankly, pretty mild proposals to encourage people to be deliberative about the marriage and divorce process,” McCullough said. “These are two simple proposals that could help Oklahomans that have no real downside.”
A third measure, House Bill 2279, by state Rep. Sally Kern (R-Oklahoma City), would have slowed the divorce process for couples with young children where just one spouse seeks a “no fault” divorce. That bill was defeated 3-7 in the House Judiciary Committee.
“Representative Kern knew it was controversial to challenge no fault divorce, but her perception is that the consequence of no fault – 40 years on – has been nothing less than catastrophic to the institution of marriage,” McCullough said. “Why not challenge the axiom of no fault’s supremacy?”
McCullough noted that research shows children from broken homes are 12 times more likely to be incarcerated, seven times more likely to live in poverty and three times more likely to be expelled and receive lower grades. They also are more susceptible to substance abuse and mental health disorders.
“Government will not solve this problem but government is already heavily involved,” McCullough said. “We cannot pretend the state does not have role in the increasingly clear problem of family fragmentation.”
