Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Senate Judiciary Committee declines adoption bill after hours of testimony from attorneys, agencies and advocates
Summary
After several hours of testimony from adoption attorneys, agency representatives and supporters, the Judiciary Committee failed to advance House Bill 17-89, a measure aimed at tightening rules and penalties around certain adoptions the sponsor said target trafficking and ‘‘problematic’’ placements affecting Marshallese and other vulnerable populations.
The Senate Judiciary Committee on [date not specified] voted down House Bill 17-89 after extended testimony from legal and adoption-community witnesses and a contested roll call. Proponents said the bill strengthens protections against trafficking and increases transparency in some adoption placements; opponents argued it would unintentionally chill routine, lawful adoptions.
Attorney John Tribble of Little Rock told the committee the bill risks ‘‘punishing 90% or more of adoptions’’ to address problems caused by a small subset of cases, and warned the measure would strain the traditional cooperative relationship among birth parents, adoptive parents and agencies. ‘‘This bill . . . makes that relationship strained and causes more of an adversarial nature to adoption,’’ he said (John Tribble, attorney).
Candy Cox,…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
