Moving to consolidate their growing control over the bodies of women, Florida lawmakers passed a well publicized anti-abortion parental notification bill, but they have also voted for lesser known legislation designed to regulate the sexual activities of alimony recipients.
See, the legislature thinks that divorced women should be able to pay their bills or fuck, but absolutely, under no circumstances, should they be allowed to do both. Uh, unless they are engaging in hot lesbian sex, in which case Ed Bullard would even pay to watch…
The Legislature gave final approval Friday to a measure allowing judges to reduce or cut off alimony when a former spouse decides to move in with a new lover.
The hot-button topic provoked heated debate on the heartbreak of divorce, gay relationships, the meaning of love and the morality of living with a member of the opposite sex, .
The Senate approved the measure Friday by a 34-6 vote. The House approved it earlier in the week.
……Gov. Jeb Bush said he’s planning to sign the measure.
“I think the concept is really worthy of looking at,” Bush said, adding that current policy “basically increases an incentive for people to live together and not get married. That’s wrong.”
Anyone who wants to keep receiving alimony might want to keep any new relationships casual. A judge would weigh factors such as a shared mailing address and joint property when determining whether to adjust payment. The bill would affect people in “supportive relationships” with one another.
The new restrictions don’t apply to someone who moves in with a same-sex partner after a divorce. As currently written, the proposal only applies if the former spouse lives with a member of the opposite sex.
Asked if he was promoting gay relationships, bill sponsor Rep. Ed Bullard, D-Miami, said he didn’t think homosexuality would be much of a factor.
“I guess if someone does decide to do that, it’s going to be beneficial for them,” Bullard said. “But I don’t think that’s really going to happen.”
The proposal drew strong opposition from women in both the House and Senate. Rep. Eleanor Sobel, D-Hollywood, the head of the House women’s caucus, said the bill doesn’t take into account the sacrifices many women make for their marriages.
“When a woman is married for 30 or 40 years and builds up her husband’s business, she should be entitled to her contribution to the marriage. That’s what alimony is all about,” Sobel said.
Rep. Audrey Gibson, D-Jacksonville, called the proposal “antiwoman” and scolded members for their cynicism.
Ed Bullard, the bill’s sponsor, suggests this site for women who might be tempted to enter into a sinful post-matrimonial heterosexual relationship.