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HUMAN SERVICES FEDERAL ISSUES

HUMAN SERVICES AND WELFARE COMMITTEE

 

December 10, 2007

The Honorable Max Baucus                             The Honorable Charles Grassley
Chair, Senate Finance Committee                    Ranking Member, Senate Finance Committee
United States Senate                                      United States Senate
Washington, D.C.  20510                                Washington, D.C.  20510

RE:  Child Support Funding

Dear Chairman Baucus and Ranking Member Grassley:

The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) strongly supports efforts to repeal the provision in the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) of 2005 that prohibits states from using child support incentive funds to match federal funds for the program, and we urge you to enact this repeal before Congress recesses.   

States have used incentive funds to draw down federal funds used for integral parts of the child support enforcement program.  These funds have allowed states to establish and enforce child support obligations, obtain health care coverage for children, and link low-income fathers to job programs.   The DRA cut ignored the fact that funds for child support enforcement are used effectively and responsibly.  In fact, the child support enforcement program received an OMB Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) rating of “effective,” and continues to be one of the highest rated block or formula grants of all federal programs.  

Consistent child support helps save children from being raised in poverty.  Reductions in child support administrative funds inevitably lead to lower child support collections, leaving families less able to achieve self-sufficiency.   The reduction in federal funds has another unfortunate result.   States cannot afford to move forward an important improvement made in the DRA—the ability to pass through more child support to families—if they are having to fill holes in their child support budgets due to having fewer federal dollars for the program

NCSL thanks you for your consideration of this important issue.  If you have any questions about NCSL’s position, please do not hesitate to contact Sheri Steisel (sheri.steisel@ncsl.org) or Lee Posey (lee.posey@ncsl.org).  They can be reached at (202) 624-5400.

Sincerely,

Representative Pete Hershberger
Arizona
Chair, NCSL Human Services and Welfare Committee