Florida Legislature will consider legislation the House speaker says would tackle the “fatherhood crisis” in the state.
The bill, which provides funding for various initiatives such as financial assistance to struggling fathers and mentoring programs for at-risk boys, has drawn support from former NFL player Jack Brewer and Florida House Speaker Chris Sprowls.
“I am overwhelmed with emotion and appreciation that Speaker Sprowls and the state of Florida are considering a fatherhood bill,” Brewer told the Washington Examiner. “I have worked tirelessly on these issues the majority of my life. I am humbled to support this type of legislation in Florida. I pray that other states around the country follow their lead. This is the American civil rights issue of our time.”
H.B. 7065 provides over $70 million in funding for those programs. It designates June as Responsible Fatherhood Month in the state and funds various programs to help single fathers meet their child support commitments and “become self-sufficient.” It also provides grant funding to nonprofit organizations in neighborhoods that run leadership programs for children and increases the state’s Postsecondary Education Supports and Services job college readiness program for foster children.
An estimated 1 out of 4 children live without a father in the United States, according to the National Fatherhood Initiative. The group also estimates children with a father are 80% less likely to go to jail and twice as likely to go to college. Children who grow up in a house without a father in the home are four times as likely to end up living in poverty, according to the group.
Sprowls said the negative impact of fatherlessness on children is a national struggle the state hopes to combat with this legislation.
“We cannot legislate fatherhood, responsibility, or character,” Sprowls told the Washington Examiner. “But we can direct some state resources to ensure that fathers, father figures, and mentors have the support they need to be inspired, equipped, and excited about being present and active in their children’s lives. Today, we are making historic investments toward this critical goal and calling on all Florida men to rise up and be the fathers and role models our sons need.”
The bill passed the Florida House House Children, Families, and Seniors Subcommittee on Feb. 3, and Scott hopes it will pass the state House Wednesday and head to the state Senate next. Supporters of the bill, including Sprowls and Brewer, plan to hold a press conference Wednesday to generate support for the legislation.
“I think it will be bipartisan,” Sprowls told the Washington Examiner. “If you look at every major bad thing that impacts our children whether its suicide rates, academic achievement gaps, depression, ending up in prison — a lot of those things have a common element, and that is having an absent father in your home.”
This article was originally published by Washington Examiner. Read the original article.
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