The bill, similar to one that passed the Senate in the last session but failed to clear the House, passed the Senate yesterday. Sponsored by Sen. Joel Gougeon (R-Bay City), the bill was sent to the House on a 37-0 vote.
"Fathers who were merely paying child support to the custodial wife were becoming disconnected with their children," Gougeon said, citing studies on the issue. "Research shows that both parents' (involvement) is best for the child."
The measure would create a legal presumption of shared parental responsibility and provide for parenting plans in child custody cases.
Shared parental responsibility would mean a court order requiring parents to share the decision-making authority and responsibility for the child and that the child would have to live with each parent for a certain length of time.
It would not require that the child live with each parent for an equal length of time, however.
Now, joint custody can be requested by either parent and the judge must consider it. Under the bill, the court would have to order shared responsibility unless it determined such an arrangement was not in the child's best interest.
However, the parents could agree to a parenting plan other than shared responsibility, and the court would have to order it unless it found it not in the child's best interests.
The bill passed yesterday without debate. Last year's bill required a presumption of joint custody, not just joint responsibility.
In other action yesterday, the Senate passed, 37-0, and sent to the House a bill designed to encourage the land application of sewage sludge.
Under the measure, the Department of Environmental Quality would have to draft rules for the land application of such "wastewater biosolids."
Fees would be imposed on sludge generators and distributors estimated to raise about $650,000 a year for the Department of Agriculture and administration of the new law.