Date: 04/24/2015

Final
BILL SUMMARY for SB15-012

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC HEALTH CARE & HUMAN SERVICES

Votes: View--> Action Taken:
Refer Senate Bill 15-012 to the Committee on ApproPASS



02:45 PM -- SB 15-012

Representative Pettersen introduced Senate Bill 15-012. The bill allows the state and county departments of human services to disregard child support income a Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) recipient may be eligible to receive and pass-through such income to the TANF recipient. Under the bill, any child support income a TANF recipient receives will not be considered income when calculating the basic cash assistance grant an individual may receive. However, such child support payments, with applicable disregards, will be considered income for the purposes of determining eligibility. She responded to questions from the committee.

02:55 PM -- Chaer Robert, Colorado Center on Law and Policy, distributed a handout to the committee (Attachment A) and testified in support of the bill. She responded to questions from the committee regarding penalties for nonpayment of child support. Representative Singer commented on the bill. Representative Pettersen responded to questions from the committee regarding the fiscal note. Ms. Robert commented on the fiscal impact of the bill.

150424 AttachA.pdf150424 AttachA.pdf

03:05 PM -- Peter Severson, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry Colorado and Colorado Council of Churches, testified in support of the bill. He stated that the bill will help reduce the level of poverty for children in Colorado and increase the number of non custodial parents paying child support.

03:09 PM -- Bridget Kaminetsky, 9 to 5, testified in support of the bill, stating that child support that is collected for a child should stay with the child. She shared stories of women who have been negatively affected by the current policy to not pass through child support to TANF recipients.

03:13 PM -- Rich Jones, Bell Policy Center, testified in support of the bill and distributed a copy of his testimony (Attachment B). He discussed studies of other states in which child support payments were passed through to families on welfare.

150424 AttachB.pdf150424 AttachB.pdf

03:16 PM -- Jennifer Corrigan, Department of Human Services, testified in support of the concept of the legislation.

03:17 PM -- Mike Auran, Department of Human Services, offered to respond to committee questions. Mr. Auran and Representative Pettersen responded to questions from the committee regarding the bill's fiscal impact. The committee discussed in what circumstances the county would stop passing through the child support, and what notice families would receive in this circumstance. Representative Pettersen responded to questions from the committee regarding how the bill affects TANF eligibility.

03:31 PM

Representative Petterson gave concluding remarks regarding the bill.

BILL:SB15-012
TIME: 03:31:44 PM
MOVED:Singer
MOTION:Refer Senate Bill 15-012 to the Committee on Appropriations. The motion passed on a vote of 11-2.
SECONDED:Primavera
VOTE
Conti
Yes
Danielson
Yes
Everett
No
Ginal
Yes
Joshi
No
Landgraf
Yes
Melton
Yes
Moreno
Yes
Sias
Yes
Tyler
Yes
Windholz
Yes
Singer
Yes
Primavera
Yes
Final YES: 11 NO: 2 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS