To: Governor Ron DeSantis
VETO Alimony Reform Again, Governor Scott!
The Florida House and Senate have approved an Alimony Reform Bill that still fails to meet your demand that it will not be applied retroactively. Just as you said in 2013 when you vetoed the Alimony Reform Bill, “it applies retroactively and thus tampers with the settled economic expectations of many Floridians who have experienced divorce", you must say again when SB668 arrives at your desk. We demand that you veto SB668 to reinforce to our lawmakers that Florida legislation must prioritize the children and families whom they are representing.
Why is this important?
Parents like mine agreed decades ago that one parent would work outside the home for an income while the other would work inside the home raising children. A circumstance like a divorce should not erase the loss of earning potential and professional experience that the stay-at-home parent has endured for such a mutual arrangement. When divorce happens (in my family's case, 19+ years into marriage), alimony laws should not empower alimony payors with the generic, destructive ability to retroactively (or even currently) claim that all of the earned income belongs to one of the parents and the other parent has to return to the workplace or vocational school at the age of a retiree. Governor Scott has the power to veto this bill and emphasize to our legislators that we are not a society that burdens aging, divorced parents with lost alimony as a result of a flawed Alimony Reform Bill. We must demand that for both our elders and children.