Pennsylvania House Bill 1499, sponsored by Representative Jamie Flick, addresses an issue that deeply impacts families across our Commonwealth — a child’s opportunity to maintain meaningful relationships with both willing, able and loving parents, and their extended families.

House Bill 1499 updates Pennsylvania’s child custody laws to establish a rebuttable presumption that shared legal custody, shared physical custody, and parenting time as close to equal as practical are in the best interest of a child when both parents are fit and willing. The bill also modernizes custody terminology, requires courts to explain any departure from equal parenting time, and ensures custody decisions prioritize children’s safety and well-being.

This legislation has generated strong bipartisan interest, with 68 members signing on as co-sponsors as of March 9th. That level of support reflects a growing recognition that children need the active involvement of both parents while growing up to have the best chance of having successful and fulfilled adulthoods.

We respectfully ask the House Judiciary Committee to bring HB 1499 up for consideration and have an up-or-down vote so it may have the opportunity to advance through the legislative process.

If the bill were to pass out of committee, a timeline that would potentially allow for a full house vote going into Father’s Day weekend could give it time to move through the Senate prior to the current legislative session concluding later this year.

Why is this important?

• 874,000 (35%) of Pennsylvania children live in single parent families.
• 94% of Pennsylvanians believe children have the right to spend equal or nearly equal time with both parents.
• 85% of Pennsylvanians support a change in law that creates a rebuttable presumption that shared parenting is in the best interest of a child after parental separation. 

For more information on HB 1499, go to https://dadsrc.org/more-information-on-hb-1499/

Want to do more (PLEASE)?

You can use this to find out who your state representative is and how to contact him or her about co-sponsoring or supporting HB 1499.

https://www.palegis.us/find-my-legislator

You can use this to contact members of the House Judiciary.

https://www.palegis.us/house/committees/60/judiciary

PLEASE SIGN AND SHARE THIS VOCIFEROUSLY.

Help us to get this out and garner all the support we possibly can. Forward this petition to everyone that may have some interest in this issue, not once, but multiple times. 

Organized by Dads’ Resource Center

www.dadsrc.org

Supported by National Parents Organization

https://www.sharedparenting.org/