Bill to Raise Default Minimum Child Support Payment From $250 to $1,000 Passes Committee

A bill that seeks to raise the default minimum child support payment from $250 to $1,000, referred to as “the most meaningful proposed child support legislation [in] recent years,” was successfully voted out of the Committee on Government Operations, Veterans Affairs and Consumer Protection on Tuesday.

Under an amended version of Bill 35-0226, Bill Sponsor Senator Carla Joseph intends to increase the minimum default payment on monthly child support payments from $250 to $1,000 for the first child, and $150 for each additional child.

The bill targets non-custodial parents who fail to provide the necessary documentation to calculate the appropriate amount of child support to be paid. The original draft of the legislation proposed a modest increase in the minimum default payment from $250 to $350 for the first child and $60 to $75 for each additional child. However, several lawmakers argued that those figures would do little to incentivize parents to comply with child support laws.

Nonetheless, Kathryn Jensen-deLugo, director within the Department of Justice’s Division of Paternity and Child Support indicated her support for the bill even before Senator Kenneth Gittens suggested a technical amendment to increase the dollar amount. She told lawmakers that over the past fifteen years, “we have seen an increase in failures to appear for hearings and failures to present requested financial information.” Parents who earn income in cash through the “underground economy” are those most likely to avoid making payments, leaving custodial parents to “struggle to feed, house and clothe their children as the cost of living continues to rise.”