| From the HSLDA E-lert Service: |
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| Date: From: Subject: | 12/3/2003 3:45:53 PM Home School Legal Defense Association New Jersey--2003 Legislative Wrap-Up |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== December 3, 2003 Dear HSLDA members and friends: New Jersey's two-year legislative session is coming to an end. A new biennium will begin in January. HSLDA tracked many bills, both good and bad, but none made significant progress. Threats to homeschool families included efforts to: expand the age of compulsory attendance, authorize the imposition of daytime curfews, and require all reports of abuse or neglect, no matter how flimsy, to automatically go to the local police (in addition to the Division of Youth and Family Services). On the positive side, there was: an effort to increase access to state scholarships, a bill to safeguard parental rights by declaring them to be of fundamental importance, a bill that may have provided a tax benefit, and a bill that would have restricted the power of grandparents to demand visitation over the opposition of parents. Looking ahead, only time will tell whether recent biased press reports will influence lawmakers to launch a legislative attack on homeschool families. If so, we will need the help of every New Jersey homeschool family to protect the blessing of liberty. A crucial juncture in the legislative process is when a bill comes up for a hearing in a committee in the Senate or the House. Sometimes a hearing is announced with as little as five days notice. Because of this, HSLDA and other homeschool organizations may be asking homeschool families to come to Trenton to help protect liberty on short notice this coming year. There are also encouraging developments. Although there were early reports that lawmakers McKeon and Previte were considering legislation hostile to homeschool families, an outpouring of phone calls, letters and emails seems to have led them to reevaluate. Recent events provided a catalyst for a number of state homeschool organizations to work together. In 2000, it was the combined efforts of several state organizations that helped produce the New Jersey Department of Education's balanced homeschool policy statement. In 2004, it may take the cooperation of state organizations and the hard work of thousands of families to defeat any emerging legislative threats. We expect the remainder of this "lame duck" session to conclude with little fanfare. Next year could be a whole new ballgame, however. Sincerely, Scott Woodruff HSLDA Staff Attorney {{JoinAd}} ====================================================================== The HSLDA E-lert Service is a service of: Home School Legal Defense Association P.O. Box 3000 Purcellville, Virginia 20134 Phone: (540) 338-5600 Fax: (540) 338-2733 Email: info@hslda.org Web: http://www.hslda.org ---------------------------------------------------------------------- How To Subscribe: - Subscribe to the HSLDA E-lert Service at our website: https://secure.hslda.org/hslda/elert/account.asp?Process=Subscribe - Or send an email with name and complete mailing address to: subscribe@hslda.org ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscription Information: - You subscribed to the HSLDA E-lert Service as: {{Email}} - To unsubscribe from the HSLDA E-lert Service send an email from the email address you want to unsubscribe to: unsubscribe@hslda.org - To change your email address or make other changes to your subscription, visit the HSLDA E-lert Service account web page at: https://secure.hslda.org/hslda/elert/account.asp ---------------------------------------------------------------------- POSTMASTERS: This message is being sent to the most recent address we have for our subscribers. If this is an invalid email address or you have other problems, please reply to webmaster@hslda.org. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DISCLAIMER: This is considered a private and confidential message from HSLDA to its bonafide HSLDA E-lert Service subscribers. HSLDA cannot attest to the authenticity of copies posted, forwarded, or sent by any party other than HSLDA. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: Please do not reply or otherwise use this email address; hslda@hslda.org is for broadcast purposes only and is not intended to receive incoming messages. We cannot reply to any email sent to this address. If you have comments or questions, please send email to info@hslda.org or call HSLDA at 540-338-5600. HSLDA members can also email staff directly through the Members website at http://members.hslda.org/contact.asp. Thank you for your cooperation. ====================================================================== | |
