Gov. Cellucci vetoes commission to investigate court treatment of fathers
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cting Governor Argeo Paul Cellucci wants to see "Acting" dropped from his job title, but did you know that he is also taking a run at former Governor Weld's unofficial title as the all-time anti-fatherhood heavyweight in Massachusetts politics?Cellucci has consistently catered to the anti-fatherhood faction from the beginning of the Weld administration. He's given a gold-standard, gubernatorial seal of approval to the battered women's lobbying efforts, and chairs the Domestic Violence Commission. But in August he broke new ground when he vetoed outside section 217 of the state's budget bill, S2230.
The section contained a provision to create a commission to review the Probate and Family Court's handling of issues affecting fathers: child support, parental rights, joint custody, visitation, and domestic restraining orders.
The bill, originally filed by five Republican senators (Tarr, Hedlund, Lees, Knapik and Tisei), was passed by both the House and Senate. It contained no provisions for expenditures.
Earl Sholley of the Fatherhood Coalition spoke with the Governor's office and was told that the commission was vetoed because it is unnecessary. According to Cellucci's office, these issues are already handled by the Commission on Responsible Fatherhood and Family Support and the above-mentioned Domestic Violence Commission.
If Paul Cellucci says all men are pigs, is Paul Cellucci a pig?
None of this should be surprising. On March 17, Cellucci was heard on Boston's WAAF FM joking that "All men are pigs," in response to a question from Morning Show host Gregg Hill about his support for legislation to legalize women-only health/fitness centers. [Even NOW opposed this bill which legitimizes sexual discrimination against men.]
It takes a real emergency to get the Republican Acting Governor and the overwhelmingly Democratic legislature to cooperate in legislative matters and get something drafted and agreed upon in days. A man had filed a sex discrimination suit against a women-only health club, and the courts agreed that he should be allowed in. The health club argued that the presence of men can be threatening to any abused women who might be present; they wanted to maintain the right to restrict the facility's membership to women.
With the Acting Governor's support, the legislation was enacted without a whimper or a murmur.
Whether by intent of ignorance, Cellucci has sent a clear message that he sees only dividends in beating up on divorced fathers.
He's already given state workers 15 paid days leave for domestic violence related issues. Next up the pike from the pandering one: a bill to make subsequent violations of a 209A protective order subject to a mandatory ten years in jail.
- MC