STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2612

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2749

S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2018

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Judiciary and Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 2749, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CHILD SUPPORT GUIDELINES,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to align provisions in the Hawaii Revised Statutes relating to child support guidelines to be in compliance with federal regulations.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of the Attorney General, Department of Human Services, and one individual. Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Judiciary.

Your Committees find that the federal final rule amendments to guidelines for child support payments require states to implement such amendments in their child support guidelines. This measure provides more opportunity for the public to be involved in the review of child support guidelines, access to information on how the review was conducted, and overall access to the guidelines. Your Committees further find that the Child Support Enforcement Agency is best situated to collect the data necessary for the quadrennial review required by section 2 of this measure, as amended by your Committees, and that more financial resources will be required to effectively facilitate the collection of the necessary data. Your Committees find that the Department of the Attorney General has suggested amendments to this measure that would further the purpose and intent of this measure.

Accordingly, your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Modifying the required contents of a child support order when the court imputes income, deviates from the child support guidelines, or when the child support order is issued by default;

(2) Clarifying that the factors for imputation apply in all situations, and that imputation is not automatically required for incarcerated individuals;

(3) Clarifying that the data necessary for the quadrennial review shall be collected by the Child Support Enforcement Agency;

(4) Making an appropriation in a blank amount to the Child Support Enforcement Agency to facilitate collection of data to be considered in the quadrennial review;

(5) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2035, to encourage further discussion; and

(6) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Judiciary and Ways and Means that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2749, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2749, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Judiciary and Ways and Means,

________________________________ DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair

________________________________ BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair