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Lawmakers hear testimony on bill to pass 100% of child support to custodial families on assistance
Summary
Delegate Emily Shetty asked for a favorable report on HB 8-81, a proposal to ensure families on Temporary Cash Assistance receive 100% of child support paid on their behalf and to exclude those payments when calculating SNAP eligibility.
Delegate Emily Shetty told the committee House Bill 8-81 would require that 100% of child support payments be passed directly to custodial parents even when those parents receive Temporary Cash Assistance (TCA), and would stop counting those child support payments as income when determining SNAP benefits.
"This bill mandates that all child support payments — 100% of them — are directly received by the family, regardless of whether they seek assistance with the family investment program," Shetty said, describing the bill as an attempt to ensure more money reaches low-income children.
Multiple witnesses — including representatives from Maryland Family Network, Maryland Legal Aid, the Center for Urban Families and the Homeless Persons Representation Project — testified in support. Lisa Klingenmeier, deputy director of policy at Maryland Family Network, summarized the current pass-through: "If a family is on temporary cash assistance and there is a child support order in place that's being paid ... if the person has 1 child, dollars 100 is passed through and then disregarded when calculating their TCA benefit. If they have 2 or more children, we pass through $200 and then disregard that when calculating their benefit." She urged the committee to expand the pass-through.
A Maryland Legal Aid attorney, Ami Vora, described the current welfare cost-recovery policy as harmful: "For decades we've been punishing poor families for getting on TCA by robbing them of additional resources from within their family and it's time for those immoral policies to end," she testified, and cited Maryland figures showing the state kept $19.2 million in past year through cost-recovery cases.
Committee members asked about program design, potential fiscal impacts and how the state would address repayment of interest-free loans in other bills; witnesses and the sponsor noted the policy's intent is to boost family income and cited research showing pass-throughs increase child support payments and improve family outcomes. The Department of Human Services was reported to be working with sponsors on amendments to reduce the bill's fiscal note.
Discussion vs. decision: the hearing recorded extensive testimony and questions but no committee vote or amendment adoption in the transcript. Sponsors and advocates asked the committee for a favorable report and indicated willingness to work with DHS to refine implementation and fiscal assumptions.
Why it matters: witnesses said passing through full child support can increase family income, improve child outcomes, and reduce reliance on public benefits; they also said the policy aligns with research and recent recommendations from Maryland studies on TCA.
Next steps: sponsors indicated follow-up work on fiscal impacts and specific reporting language with DHS; the committee did not take a vote on the bill during the session recorded in the transcript.
