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House subcommittee hears bipartisan push to modernize child support enforcement, employer reporting and IT systems
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Summary
Witnesses and members urged Congress to update statutory tools and federal systems so child support enforcement can account for gig work, multi‑employer pay, and aging state case management platforms; Texas and Wisconsin described state-level reforms and employment programs that officials say improve outcomes.
Representative Darren LaHood, chair of the House Work and Welfare Subcommittee, opened the hearing by saying the session would focus on “opportunities for modernization” in the federal child support program, noting that states collected more than $25 billion in 2024 and that the system relies on tools designed for a different labor market.
The most immediate issue discussed was enforcement of child support when parents earn via nontraditional channels. Ruth Ann Thornton, director of the Texas Office of the Attorney General Child Support Division, told the panel that Texas adopted statutory changes and operational rules to require platform companies to comply with new‑hire reporting and, for limited purposes, income withholding. “We have a statute in Texas that requires…platforms and companies that run platform‑type work to comply with both new hire reporting and wage withholding,” Thornton said, describing limited successes and urging a national standard for platforms that operate across states.
Connie Chesnick, administrator with Wisconsin’s Division of Family and Economic Security and president of the National Child Support Engagement Association, recommended expanding withholding to additional pay sources — including lump‑sum payments and gambling winnings — and establishing a nationwide standard for employer reporting to speed identification and distribution of funds to families. “Income withholding is our most effective enforcement tool, accounting for 74% of collections,” Chesnick said.
Witnesses and members flagged operational constraints. Texas described a 2025 modernization that retired a legacy 1997 mainframe and moved to an agile, product‑led development model to improve data quality and financial processing. Thornton said the state used frontline staff and embedded product owners to ensure the system reflected how work happens in practice, and she warned that changing distribution rules without rigorous testing could create unintended consequences.
Members discussed implementation details that would follow any federal statutory changes: how to identify platform or contractor income, how to avoid double withholding when parents have multiple employers, and how to ensure paycheck deductions are sized correctly. Jessica Tolstrup of the Congressional Research Service reviewed the program’s legislative history and cautioned that the program’s statutory architecture — built around wage withholding and standardized employer reporting — assumes a labor market that was more payroll‑centric than today’s economy.
Several members described workforce and engagement programs as complementary tools. Thornton and other witnesses highlighted Texas’s NCP Choices employment program and coordinated partnerships with workforce agencies that, according to Texas officials, have increased employment and timely payments for participating noncustodial parents. Chesnick and Thornton argued these supportive programs reduce arrears and improve family stability when paired with enforcement tools.
The hearing ended with lawmakers and witnesses urging careful statutory drafting that balances stronger enforcement of support with safeguards for fairness, accuracy and survivor safety, and with a call for additional federal support for states to modernize legacy systems.
