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Committee advances HB148 to restate parental rights in constitutional language with technical sub changes
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Summary
A sub for HB148 that changes 'each parent' to 'parents' and removes 'custody' in one clause was adopted to mirror language from a 2023 bill; sponsors said the measure reflects current case law and preserves government authority to act on abuse, neglect or termination of parental rights.
Representative Pasquale explained a sub for HB148 that makes two technical changes to mirror prior language adopted in 2023: replacing "each parent" with "parents" in one clause and removing the word "custody" from a list describing parental rights.
"We changed the word each parent to parents to mirror the bill we passed in 2023," Representative Pasquale said, and noted the change to remove "custody" was intended to align with existing bill language. Pasquale and other sponsors said the measure reflects current case law and does not create new parental rights where rights have already been terminated; the bill states the government may still demonstrate a compelling interest to override parental rights in abuse or neglect cases.
Committee members asked for clarifications about how termination of rights, custody orders and court decisions would interact with the proposed constitutional text; sponsors replied the measure tracks current law and is not intended to expand parental rights beyond existing case law. The committee adopted the sub and gave HB148 a favorable report as amended.
