STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2262

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 3028

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2018

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Human Services, to which was referred S.B. No. 3028 entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Require certain amounts of child support monies collected by the Department of Human Services for public assistance of a child to pass through to the family receiving the public assistance; and

(2) Require the Department to disregard a certain amount of pass through child support payments when determining the needs of an applicant for or recipient of public assistance.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Human Services, Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice, Domestic Violence Action Center, American Association of University Women-Hawaii, Hawaii Children's Action Network, Hawai‘i State Democratic Women's Caucus, and two individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General.

Your Committee finds that, in 2013, child support payments accounted for over 70.3 percent of annual income for custodial parents in the United States living below poverty who received full child support payments. According to testimony received by your Committee, under state law, individuals who receive public assistance in the form of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits do not receive child support payments. This is because a parent who owes child support to a family receiving TANF must pay child support to the State rather than to the custodial parent. The Department of Human Services retains a portion of that money to reimburse itself and the federal government for providing TANF. Allowing child support monies for public assistance of a child to pass through to the family receiving public assistance will allow families to be more financially secure and ultimately depend less on public assistance.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3028 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Human Services,

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JOSH GREEN, Chair