"Big Brother" is how many Kansas legislators from both parties referred to a bill designed for child support collection expansion that the federal government said we MUST pass in order to comply with the "Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996". Innocuous sounding enough isn’t it? This is a mandate that came along with the Welfare Reform Act. Every state was required to do likewise, and it would be interesting to see how the states differ in the final version of their bill. I would love e-mails from those who are familiar with it. I am giving the bill Kansas started with as an example, because that is what I have been most familiar with. Hopefully your legislators objected as strongly as mine did. In objecting they protected some of our civil liberties, however, it is still "Big Brother".
First though, I think it is important to point out a few things that are disturbing, and I believe, dangerous about the power the federal government grants itself, and the power it shifts from the courts to the state Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS).
EVERYONE, regardless of sex, age, marital status, or even the fact of whether or not you are a parent will have to be registered. That is the dangerous part. The federal government then has it’s hands on every pertinent piece of information that exists about you. I don’t think any of us are naive enough to believe that this resource will not be abused.
The SRS is also empowered with the authority to order your utilities to, for lack of a better word , "spy" on you. They will be required upon request to submit all information they have about you and your property.
"SB140 (PRWO) violates individual rights to privacy, due process and equal protection. It savages the doctrine of separation of powers. It is an intolerable affront to civil liberties....its implementation is altogether bad. This odious federal mandate must be resisted. I vote "NO" Kansas Rep. John Edmonds.
DUE PROCESS
The "Big Brother" bill gives unprecedented powers to the SRS - to subpoena financial records, order genetic testing for paternity, and payroll withholding. These are powers that belong to the courts. Not a governor-APPOINTED state bureaucrat. It also submits us to the authority of foreign courts and demands, and gives those authorities access to your assets.
This to me is unthinkable and is one more step willingly taken to undermine the sovereignty of our nation.
SEPARATION OF POWERS:
The federal government also has no business telling the states how they are to implement policy and procedure. The "Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996" requires that states have a centralized agency for collection and disbursements of child support payments, and for control
of the "directory".
OPPRESSION:
"Big Brother" is going to be able to suspend your Drivers License and Occupational License should you decide not to pay up. (We could call this the "Pay-Up or Walk" Act) You would also be unable to obtain a passport if you are behind in child support to the tune of $5,000 or more.
THE CONSTITUTION:
17 law makers in the Kansas House issued this joint statement:
"Our forbearers bestowed upon us the wondrous gift of the freedoms and liberties guaranteed and protected in the Bill of Rights. If those liberties are lost, it will happen gradually and voluntarily. SB 140 erodes those civil liberties. As a legislator, above all, we should desire that our legacy be the continued preservation for future generations of the most precious gift of all - freedom. Therefore, Mr. Speaker, for the children, we vote no on 140."
So, as you see, some of our lawmakers stood up to this egregious abuse of power and voted for the people of Kansas. What did they pass in your state?
In Kansas they added this paragraph to their final version, that unfortunately did pass. "In accordance with Kansas law, the attorney general of the State of Kansas is hereby required to file and vigorously prosecute a suit challenging the constitutionality of conditioning receipt of federal funds on the state’s compliance with the provisions of the Personal Responsibility and Work opportunity Act of 1996."
What was the price for our Bill of Rights? In Kansas it was a mere $30 million in block grants of title IV funds. What did your states charge for yours?
It is amazing to me that liberal legislators resist passage of a ban on the most abhorrent forms of abortion on the grounds that they believe it is unconstitutional to do so. Yet they will line up for legislation like this that is a "wholesale assault" on constitutional rights, as one Kansas lawmaker stated.
Without a doubt this legislation will be challenged in court, and has every possibility of ending up at the Supreme Court. But the fact that most people didn’t know anything about it until after it was passed is proof positive of the general apathy and distaste the American people have for the legislative process. Congress is guilty of writing legislation so voluminous and so complicated that it is nearly impossible for us to understand it. It is easy to slip a provision like PRWO into almost anything they pass. Friends, if we are unwilling to take time to keep an eye on what our lawmakers are doing, especially at the federal level, we will deserve all the oppression and abuses they will impose on us.
Find out how your lawmakers voted on this issue. Remember that if your representation voted against it, they should be commended, but they will be bashed for it by their opponents come time for reelection. They will be accused of being against child support enforcement, which you know is a ridiculous accusation. It will be our challenge to refute the inaccurate charges that will be leveled at these legislators.
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