As President of the National Council of Child Support Directors (NCCSD), I want to make the Committee aware of the enclosed Resolution, adopted by our Council on June 4, 2002. The Resolution relates to Section 304 of HB 4, the welfare reauthorization bill now before you. That section would impose, solely on families receiving child support who have never received public assistance, an annual user fee of $25, to be deducted from child support beyond the first $500 collected.
NCCSD respectfully urges that the Committee reject this fee. We believe the fee proposal is ill-considered as public and program policy, and inefficient and ineffective as an income producer. While our reasons are set forth more fully in the enclosed Resolution, we believe the proposed fee would be administratively-inefficient, cost-ineffective, and family-unfriendly. Such a fee would discourage families who have managed to avoid public assistance even though quite often their economic circumstances are no brighter than those of many families who receive, or previously received, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF).
Further, states' costs to implement such fees would be a substantially greater burden than any income that might be realized. Because the fee would be counted as program income, the state essentially would receive $8.50 of the $25.00, with $16.50 going to the federal government. The administrative and shared costs of implementing and administering this requirement - including extensive reprogramming of complex automated case management and payment distribution systems - would devour most if not all of the added program income.
Thank you and the Committee for your consideration. Please call on NCCSD if we may be of service in your deliberations.