STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3183

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2310

S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirtieth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2020

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Judiciary and Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 2310, S.D. 1, entitled:

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

beg 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 public assistance;

(2) Require the Department of Human Services to disregard passed through child support payments when calculating the income of an applicant for or recipient of public assistance; and

(3) Increase the maximum fine for an employer who discharges from employment, refuses to employ, or takes disciplinary action against any noncustodial parent subject to income withholding or who fails to comply with an order of assignment of future income to pay child support.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Human Services, Department of the Attorney General, Hawaii Children's Action Network Speaks!, Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice, American Association of University Women of Hawaii, and Zonta Club of Hilo.

Your Committees find that under existing law non-custodial parents must pay child support to the State of Hawaii up to the amount of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits paid. The State keeps a portion of that money and passes on the rest to the federal government as reimbursement for providing TANF assistance. This measure would allow the custodial parents to retain a higher amount of the child support payment.

Your Committees have amended this measure by inserting an effective date of June 18, 2050, to encourage further discussion.

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. 2310, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2310, S.D. 2.

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

________________________________ DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair

________________________________ KARL RHOADS, Chair