Since Kentucky passed the country’s first explicit equal shared parenting presumption in 2017, one thing has become very clear about shared parenting bills: they enjoy strong bi-partisan legislative support!

Kentucky’s 2017 law, which passed as a result of the efforts of Matt Hale and his NPO-Kentucky team, created a presumption of equal shared parenting for temporary orders, during the pendency of the trial. This bill passed both chambers of the Bluegrass state’s legislatures with no negative votes. In 2018, the Kentucky legislature passed a similar presumption for final orders. This passed the Senate unanimously and the House by a vote of 81 to 2.

In 2018, South Dakota legislators followed Kentucky’s lead by establishing a presumption of equal shared parenting during temporary orders. The bill creating this presumption in the Mount Rushmore State passed both chambers of the legislature with no negative votes.

Three years later, in 2021, Arkansas became the second state with an explicit presumption of equal shared parenting for final order. The bill creating this law, Senate Bill 18, passed the Arkansas house by a vote of 71 to 16 and the Senate by a vote of 33 to 2.

Last year, West Virginia passed Senate Bill 463 by a vote of 82 to 14 in the House and 24 to 8 in the Senate.

And this year two states (so far!) have passed equal shared parenting presumptions. Florida’s CS/HB 1301 passed the House by an overwhelming 105 to 7 and the Senate by an equally impressive 34 to 3. Missouri’s equal shared parenting bill, championed for years by NPO’s Linda Reutzel, passed the Missouri House by 114 to 9 and the Senate by 30 to 4.

There is an earlier relevant precursor, too. In 2012, as a result of a legislative reform effort led by Professor William Fabricius (Psychology, Arizona State University), Arizona passed Senate Bill 1127. While this bill didn’t create an explicit presumption of equal shared parenting, it was a strong shared parenting bill and subsequent research has shown that it is being treated by Arizona courts as creating an equal shared parenting presumption. SB 1127 passed the Arizona House by 46 to 9 and the Arizona Senate by 28 to 0.

We know that scientific research supports a presumption of equal shared parenting. We know, too, that the public overwhelmingly supports such presumptions and that this support cuts across every demographic divide: race, ethnicity, education, income, political affiliation, and gender.

It is worth taking note of the lopsided nature of these states’ votes for equal shared parenting presumptions because it reminds us that, despite what roadblocks special interests can put in the way of bills to create presumptions of equal shared parenting, when these bills are able to make it to a floor vote, in state after state, they receive extraordinarily strong bi-partisan support.