SENATE BILL REPORT

SHB 2627

As Reported by Senate Committee On:

Human Services & Corrections, February 25, 2010

Title: An act relating to child support order summary report forms.

Brief Description: Concerning child support order summary report forms.

Sponsors: House Committee on Judiciary (originally sponsored by Representatives Kelley, Green, Miloscia and Kenney).

Brief History: Passed House: 1/28/10, 97-0.

Committee Activity: Human Services & Corrections: 2/18/10, 2/25/10 [DP].

Majority Report: Do pass.

Signed by Senators Hargrove, Chair; Regala, Vice Chair; Stevens, Ranking Minority Member; Brandland, Carrell, Kauffman and McAuliffe.

Staff: Shani Bauer (786-7468)

Background: Federal law requires that Washington's child support guidelines be reviewed once every four years to ensure that the guidelines result in the entry of appropriate child support awards. As part of the review a State must analyze case data, gathered through sampling or other methods, on the application of, and deviations from, the guidelines.

In order to gather appropriate data for the quadrennial review, the Administrative Office of the Courts is required to develop a child support order summary report form. The form must be filled out by one of the parties to a support order and be filed with the court any time a support order is entered or modified. The summary report form is then forwarded to the Division of Child Support (DCS) to be used to compile a report for the next quadrennial review.

In 2007 the Legislature required the Joint Legislative Audit Review Committee (JLARC) to analyze data from the summary report forms. JLARC found that the information received from these forms is incomplete, may not be accurate, and is unusable for purposes of the quadrennial review. In its final report, JLARC recommended that the Legislature eliminate the summary report forms, specified that DCS should use data from the actual child support orders to compile its report, and specified that the quadrennial review work groups use the DCS report based on data collected from the orders.

Summary of Bill: The support order summary report form is eliminated. DCS must prepare a report at least every four years using data compiled from child support court and administrative orders. The report must include all information DCS determines is necessary to perform the quadrennial review.

Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Available.

Committee/Commission/Task Force Created: No.

Effective Date: Ninety days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.

Staff Summary of Public Testimony: PRO: The current process relies on too many different people and parties to put complicated information into a series of forms. We support JLARC’s recommendations.

Persons Testifying: PRO: Representative Kelley, prime sponsor; David Stillman, Director of Child Support, DSHS.