Dear Mr. Todd:
The committee meets four or five times a year at various locations across the
commonwealth. The committee will meet in Philadelphia in February, Harrisburg in
May and State College in August of 2004. The meetings are not open to the
public. The agendas also are not public, and agenda items vary. The committee
reviews new case law and legislation and agenda items may involve whether an
amendment to the rules is necessary in light of evolving law. Most agenda items,
however, involve inquiries, complaints or suggestions from the committee
members, courts, attorneys, legislators, domestic relations personnel and the
public. The committee also monitors the practices and evolving law in other
jurisdictions. The committee constantly strives to improve the rules, correct
problems and facilitate the fair and expeditious treatment of litigants in all
areas of the state.
The committee is an advisory body. Its only authority is to make
recommendations to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court regarding the rules of civil
procedure governing divorce, support, custody, paternity and protection from
abuse matters. The Supreme Court can reject part or all or a recommendation,
amend it or promulgate it as submitted by the committee. Thus, the committee
does not have documents that are akin to a legislative history for use in
interpreting rules because the committee does not promulgate rules. Any
committee meeting minutes are for internal use only. However, the committee does
include notes and explanatory material with proposed rules. Although they are
published with the promulgated rules to assist in the application and clarify
intent, those materials are not formally adopted by the court and are not part
of the rules. Nevertheless, the explanatory materials are there to provide
insight into the committee's recommendation. Recommendation 67 includes lengthy
explanatory materials.
Federal regulations require that the guidelines be reviewed at least once
every four years and that the review include an assessment of the most recent
economic data on child-rearing costs. As I know you are aware, in light of our
earlier correspondence, the economic expertise for this review was provided by
Dr. Jane Venohr of Policy Studies, Inc. through a contract between Policy
Studies and the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare. Dr. Venohr met will
the committee on two occasions. All committee members reviewed all of the
material provided by Dr. Venohr. In addition, the committee reviewed material on
the cost shares model and U.S. Department of Agriculture surveys at the request
of a support obligor who wrote to the committee. The committee further reviewed
processes and procedures in other jurisdictions, scholarly and news articles,
etc. The committee reviews court decisions on an ongoing basis.
The committee did not issue any interim reports. The only material issued by
the committee was Recommendation 67 and the publication notice inviting public
comment.
The committee is not a legislative body and does not hold public hearings.
The means for providing comment is to write to the committee through this
office. I can assure you that every comment letter is provided to each committee
member. The committee will meet in May shortly after the conclusion of the
comment period to view all comments submitted.
I hope this information is helpful.
Sincerely,
Patricia A. Miles
