By:  Dutton (Senate Sponsor - West)                             H.C.R. No. 153
	(In the Senate - Received from the House May 16, 2005; 
May 17, 2005, read first time and referred to Committee on 
Jurisprudence; May 21, 2005, reported favorably by the following 
vote:  Yeas 5, Nays 0; May 21, 2005, sent to printer.)


HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

	WHEREAS, Title 1 of the Texas Family Code was originally 
enacted by Chapter 888, Acts of the 61st Legislature, Regular 
Session, 1969; subsequently, Titles 2 and 3 were added by the 63rd 
Legislature in 1973, Title 4 was added by the 66th Legislature in 
1979, and Title 5 was added by the 74th Legislature in 1995; and
	WHEREAS, The codification of the Family Code and the 
amendments thereto by successive legislatures have done much to 
advance the interests of Texas families and children; and
	WHEREAS, The 1973 enactments provided for suits affecting the 
parent-child relationship and introduced the terms "managing 
conservator," "possessory conservator," "possession," and "access" 
as they relate to the family; and
	WHEREAS, The legislature has declared it to be a public 
policy of this state, in cases of marital dissolution, to encourage 
parents to have frequent contact with their children, as 
appropriate for the circumstances; and
	WHEREAS, During the past 32 years, significant research in 
family dynamics has led to an emergence of new terms that are more 
commonly used to describe the relationship between parents in a 
dissolution of marriage, including "parenting plans" and 
"parenting time" and other neutral terms;  similarly, advances in 
the field have rendered obsolete such terms as "managing 
conservator" and "possessory conservator"; now, therefore, be it
	RESOLVED, That the 79th Legislature of the State of Texas 
hereby request that the Texas Legislative Council schedule a 
revision of the Family Code during the 2005-2006 interim using 
updated terminology as described in this resolution; and, be it 
further
	RESOLVED, That the secretary of state forward an official 
copy of this resolution to the joint chairs of the Texas Legislative 
Council.



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