Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm today signed into law Public Act 165 of 204 (formerly SB943 and HB5478). These two bills will give parents a greater voice in the sex education curriculum in their local school district and will also provide penalties for school districts that violate state sex ed standards.

Michigan Family Forum has worked diligently over the past year to help design this legislation and today celebrated its implementation. Brad Snavely, Executive Director, and Dan Jarvis, Director of Public Policy and Research were on-hand to witness the Governor’s signature.

Petitions continued to flood the headquarters of Citizens for the Protection of Marriage this week at such a rapid pace that counting all of them became nearly impossible. With less than two weeks remaining, every signature is valuable and important.

"Reaching the goal of 450,000 signatures is certainly attainable," said Executive Director Brad Snavely. "Every citizen who has a petition in their hands needs to work to fill it in with signatures and return it to the coalition headquarters by June 30."

The Michigan House this week approved HB5471. This bill, introduced by Rep. John Moolenaar, encourages divorcing parents with minor children to create "parenting plans" that determine how they will parent their children after the marriage dissolves.

The U.S. Senate has scheduled a vote on the Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA) for the week of July 12. This vote is expected to be the first "test" of where Senators actually stand regarding the FMA.

"Leading Edge" and "Momentum 2004" drew hundreds of teens to Lansing and Grand Rapids last week. Both events featured an inspirational message from Miss America 2003, Erika Harold and the theatrical humor of Kyle Warmington.

Miss Harold challenged attendees in Grand Rapids to remember that no matter what anyone tells them, they are infinitely valuable in God’s eyes. The Grand Rapids event also featured musical guests Crisi Dykstra and Wayburn Dean.