Earlier this month, we reported that a Colorado politician planned to introduce legislation that would require a “waiting period” for couples seeking to divorce. Now, apparently, that’s off the table. As the legislative session opened recently, the bill was not on the agenda as many expected it would be.
According to the Huffington Post, Sen. Kevin Lundberg decided not to introduce the bill. He apparently took some heat for it and he recently announced that he thought there would simply not be enough time in the session to address it.
The bill would have required parents with minor children who are planning to divorce to undergo mandatory counseling, as well as a waiting period before filing for divorce.
There would have been exceptions: anyone in situations of alcohol addiction or substance abuse, long-term incarceration of a spouse or physical abuse would potentially have been exempt.
Ironically, Colorado already requires parenting classes for divorcing parents. It’s not clear what further education would have been required under the stalled law.
The politician says he is still looking for ways to address problems associated with divorce, and was recently quoted as saying that he thinks it’s too easy for people to get out of a marriage.
What do you think of the senator’s decision to take the bill off the table? And since a similar bill was introduced but faded away in 2001, is it likely another bill of this nature will appear in the future?
Source: Huffington Post, “No cooling off for divorcing couples in Colorado,” Mandy Walker, Jan. 19, 2012