March is Women's History Month. We are dedicating this month to celebrate strong women and their accomplishments throughout history and in this present time.
Let us join together in commemorating and encouraging the observance, celebration and advocacy of the vital role of women in American and International history, and what better way to celebrate it than encouraging you, our supporters, to contact your state legislature if you live in the states below, and urge them to support these bills to #EndChildMarriage in the U.S.
We still have 43 to go!!!!!
CHILD MARRIAGE BILLS
California SB 404 was introduced recently by Senator Aisha Wahab to end child marriage here in CA. CA SB 404 was amended in March. Unfortunately, we cannot support the bill in its amended form.
Connecticut HB 5840, State Representative Jillian Gilchrest introduced, An Act Concerning the Minimum Age to Be Able to Marry, with bipartisan co-sponsors. The Bill was referred to the Joint Committee on Judiciary.
Hawaii SB 46 & companion HB206 would end child marriage. It’s sponsored by the same legislator who has sponsored legislation for several years, Sen. Karl Rhoads. It was referred to the HHS and JDC.
Illinois HB 1252 (ending child marriage) has been re-referred again, this time back to the Rules committee. It seems the bill is being given the same committee runaround that it received last year, burning time until session ends on 5/19.
Maine LD 443 (ends child marriage) had a committee work session scheduled for 3/16 at 1:00pm
Michigan: SB 209, SB 210, SB 211, and SB 212. The bills are “tie barred” together, meaning they must all pass together for any of them to take effect. If you look at the text you’ll see that none ends child marriage by itself, but passing together they would do so with a minimum age of 18, no exceptions. All referred to the same committee, Civil Rights, Judiciary, and Public Safety.
New Hampshire HB 34’s status page has now been updated to reflect Rep. Levesque’s tweet. The committee ruled it inexpedient to legislate, killing the bill for this session. The vote was close, 8-7.
South Carolina S 34 would end child marriage in the state. The bill has the same sponsor as previous years, a Democrat. No cosponsors are currently listed, and the bill was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Texas HB 924 would also end child marriage, finishing the job after a 2017 reform limited marriage to emancipated minors. Referred on 3/2/2023 to Juvenile Justice and Family Issues committee. Rep. Rosenthal sponsored similar legislation in 2021, which never advanced from committee.
Vermont HB 148 (ends child marriage) passed the House! Has a hearing scheduled for this Thursday, 3/23, at 10:30 am eastern. Same as on the House side, the agenda already has witnesses listed.
Washington HB 1455 (ends child marriage) passed the House unanimously, 95-0 with 3 excused. The bill now heads to the Senate. Washington has a while left in their session, which goes until April 23.
West Virginia SB 158. HB 3018 was approved by the House as-amended, so is now on its way to the Governor for signature or veto. The bill as-passed sets an age floor of 16, and limits the age difference between parties to 4 years.
Wyoming HB 7 the bill advanced on a 6-3 vote. The bill sets WY’s minimum age at 16 and sends all minors before a judge to marry, though the process does not contain any procedural safeguards. Previous efforts to end child marriage entirely in WY failed on floor votes. The sponsor indicated that the bill will be heard on the Senate side in about 2 weeks, though no firm date is set.
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