Committee lays over bill to allow administrative termination of redirected child-support when not in child's best interest

Representative Isaac Curran introduced House File 102, a bill to add administrative discretion to terminate the redirection of child-support payments when continuing the redirection is not in the child's best interest. Curran said the bill adds statutory authority for administrative termination in cases—particularly foster-care redirections—where funds would better serve reunification or the child's needs.

Trish Schopenhammer of the Ramsey County Attorney's Office testified that current statute allows administrative redirection of support in certain situations but limits the reasons that admins can use to terminate a redirection; the bill would add "not in the child's best interest" as an additional ground to terminate redirection administratively, reducing the need for a court action in some cases.

Members raised concerns about shifting discretion to administrative actors. Representative Nadeau said she was uncomfortable removing a judicial review step for some decisions and pressed for clarity about how often admin redirections occur. Schopenhammer said redirections are a small share of the overall caseload (she estimated roughly 1 percent) and that the administrative process already exists for initiating redirection; this bill affects termination of those redirections. Representative Hicks offered a case example in support of administrative termination to enable a parent to retain funds to secure housing and regain custody.

A fiscal note was requested and Representative Curran changed his motion from re-referral to General Register to a motion to lay the bill over pending the fiscal note. Chair Katiza Watoone renewed the motion to lay over House File 102 for possible inclusion; the motion prevailed and the bill was laid over for further consideration.