House committee introduces bill to move child-support rule into statute, removes prior legal-cost provision

The Idaho House Health and Welfare Committee on an unrecorded voice vote introduced RS 32,491, a bill-style request that would move IDAPA rule 16.03.0.03 relating to child support services from administrative rule into statute.

Representative Lucas Kaler, R-Caldwell, told the committee the measure is an administrative clean-up aligned with the governor's directive on zero-based regulation. "No new laws were created," Kaler said as he described the change as part of the agency director's effort to tidy rule sections.

Kaler told the committee the draft was revised from an earlier version, RS 32,391; a provision that had been added in the earlier draft — described in the RS as "Idaho Code seven-twelve oh 3, section 7" — would have required the Department to deduct legal costs incurred by the Department "up to a maximum of 20 for any collection." Kaler said the agency notified him that the department had already removed that provision from rule and the section has been removed from the current RS.

Representative Levitt moved to introduce RS 32,491. The chair called for the voice vote; members answered "aye," and the motion passed. The committee did not record a roll-call vote or a tally by name in the transcript.

The RS as presented does not create new substantive law, according to Kaler, and the committee did not take further action on the underlying child-support rule during the meeting.

The committee hearing process will next place the introduced RS into the bill-docket process; no hearing date on the resulting bill was recorded during the session.