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Civic Engagement: |
Child Support Bill Passes Both Houses: On to Governor for SigningThanks to all who made calls to their Senators and Represenatives in support of SB1278, the Child Support Bill. With the leadership and support of Amy Hirsch, Community Legal Services, and the Community Justice Project, SB 1278 passed both the Pennsylvania Senate and the House, and will now go to the Governor for signing. This bill makes wonderful improvements to the way that child support is treated for families on TANF and for families that have left TANF. A flyer about the bill is attached. The bill keeps child support dollars in Pennsylvania, instead of sending them to Washington, and gets them to families rather than giving them to the government. It also encourages non-custodial parents to pay support, because they will know that the money will directly benefit their children. The bill: 1. More than doubles the Child Support Pass-Through, effective 10/1/2008. When a family gets welfare benefits, the family is required to assign its right to child support to DPW, which currently sends most of the money to the federal government. Only a small amount --a maximum of $50 per month, regardless of the number of children--is actually paid to the family. That payment is called the Child Support Pass-Through. As of October, the family will get the first $100/month of support that is paid for a family with 1 child, and the first $200/month of support that is paid for a family with 2 or more children. 2. Pays Arrears (Back Support) to Families First, effective 10/1/2008. Currently, after a family moves off of TANF, any back support payments (arrearages) that are collected through the federal Tax Intercept program go first to the government, rather than to the family. Starting October 2008, those payments will first go to the family. 3. Gives Families Back the Rights to their Child Support Arrears. Currently, when a family goes onto TANF, the family must sign over their rights to any back support that is owed to the family from the period before the family went onto welfare. The bill gives families that have left TANF back the rights to any support that is owed from the time period between October 1, 1997 and September 30, 2009, and stops making families sign over their rights to back support effective October 1, 2009. 4. Helps Incarcerated Parents, effective 3/31/2008. The bill allows courts, on a case by case basis, to modify support orders where a parent is incarcerated and does not have financial resources to pay the support order. This makes it more likely that parents will be able to get back on their feet and make support payments when they re-enter the community, by reducing the otherwise crushing support debt many parents face, particularly if their children have been on welfare or in foster care while they were incarcerated. 5. Pays the federally mandated $25 per year child support enforcement program fee for families with less than $2,000 per year of support collected. This fee, which was imposed by the federal government effective 3/31/2008, applies to families that have never received TANF. Thank you for your support for this important legislation--it could not have happened without your help. Please remember to thank Governor Rendell and Welfare Secretary Estelle Richman for spearheading this effort .
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