Bill Summary for Bill Number SB05-181

Final
BILL SUMMARY for SB05-181

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY

Votes:

Action Taken:

Move Amendment L.002 (Attachment A). The motion p

Pass Without Objection

01:35 PM -- Senate Bill 05-181 - Concerning Genetic Testing and Child Support Obligations

The committee came to order. A quorum was present. Representative Morgan Carroll acted as chair during the committee deliberations on Senate Bill 05-181, as Representative Terrence Carroll was excused to present a bill in another committee of reference.

Representative Jahn, prime sponsor, distributed Amendment L.002 (Attachment A) to the committee members and explained the provisions of the bill. She explained that the bill proposes statutory changes for additional advisements for genetic testing related to child support obligations, fixes the conflict in the law regarding personal jurisdiction over nonresidents, and allows orders regarding parental responsibilities to be brought in proceedings under the Court Proceedings Act. The committee discussed the current laws that allow up to five years to have genetic testing performed for child support obligations.

The following persons testified on the bill:

01:41 PM -- Ms. Andrea Baugher, representing the Colorado Division of Child Support Enforcement, testified in support of the legislation and responded to committee questions. Ms. Baugher commented that the time frame for genetic testing differs depending upon whether the child is born of marriage or to an unmarried couple. For a child born of marriage, if the husband wishes to challenge his paternity, testing needs to be performed before the child is five years old or a reasonable amount of time after events (such as a divorce) trigger the belief that the child may not be part of the biological family. In the case of an unmarried couple, the action for testing can be brought at any time without a five-year limitation. Ms. Baugher commented on the events that led to the bill's inception. Ms. Baugher commented that the state needs to do a better job of advising couples that there is a statutory time-frame for requesting genetic testing and this is what Senate Bill 05-181 accomplishes. Ms. Baugher closed by saying that the advisement is most beneficial for parents who represent themselves during a trial.

The committee discussed different presumptions and scenarios that could trigger a request for genetic testing by families or couples. The committee discussed the time frame for requesting a genetic test to determine whether a child is part of the biological family. The committee also discussed language on page 2, line 9, of the bill that addresses the concern that if a person requests a genetic test, the request might prejudice the court in the future when parental responsibilities are decided by the court.

Representative Judd commented that specific language needs to be added to the bill to ensure that the court does not prejudice its decisions on parental responsibilities should a parent ask for a genetic test. Representative Morgan Carroll commented that usually advisements mirror existing rights, but inn this bill there is an advisement of an implied right. Representative Morgan Carroll suggested a need for language to create a right to be advised of in the bill. Representative Morgan Carroll closed by saying that it is desirable to have advisements match existing requirements in law.

02:03 PM -- Ms. Pat Ratliff, representing Colorado Counties Incorporated, testified in support of the legislation. Ms. Ratliff commented on Amendment L.002 saying that the amendment clarifies that the bill does not intend to drive a caseload or increase the work requirements for the child support work unit.

The bill was placed on the table for action. Representative Jahn requested that if any conceptual amendments are added to the bill (in addition to Amendment L.002) to address the language on page 2, line 9, which was previously discussed by the committee, that the amendments be added in committee rather than on second reading. Representative Morgan Carroll commented that the bill would be laid over to allow time for a conceptual(s) amendment(s) to be drafted. She then accepted a motion on Amendment L.002.


BILL:	SB05-181
TIME:	02:06:07 PM
MOVED:	Jahn
MOTION:	Move Amendment L.002 (Attachment A). The motion passed without objection by those members present.
SECONDED:	Judd
		VOTE
	Boyd
	Brophy
	Decker
	Harvey
	Hefley
	Jahn
	Judd
	Kerr
	McGihon
	Carroll M.
	Carroll T.
Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection