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Committee hears technical fixes to child‑support guidelines and alimony enforcement; DHHS flags $300,000 systems cost
Summary
Representative Shane Markel asked lawmakers to clarify how FICA/Medicare deductions are treated in child‑support calculations to avoid disparities between W‑2 and self‑employed payors; DHHS warned of unintended consequences for self‑employed obligees and estimated ~$300,000 to update software and worksheets.
Representative Shane Markel presented HB 1225, a technical bill intended to address perceived inequities in how child‑support guidelines treat FICA and Medicare deductions—particularly the disparity between W‑2 employees and self‑employed payors. Markel explained how the worksheet produces an "adjusted monthly gross" and argued that the current practice can produce disproportionate outcomes because child support is not tax‑deductible for the payor and is treated as untaxed income for the recipient.
"What I'm suggesting is that we make this fairer... one way to do it would be to increase the deduction for FICA and for Medicare," Markel testified, explaining preliminary calculations that implied a modest offset (roughly 3.8–4 percent in his examples) to address the tax imbalance.
Representatives of the Department of Health and Human Services (Bureau of Child Support Services) acknowledged sponsor intent but urged caution. Bureau chief Lisa Decatowski and attorney Matthew Hayes said the change could create inequities if certain deductions were only available to obligors and not to self‑employed obligees. They also noted an implementation cost of approximately $300,000 to update guidelines, the worksheet, and online calculators, and recommended a fiscal analysis and consulting the ongoing quadrennial child‑support guidelines review (economist report due December 31).
Committee members and sponsors discussed the possibility of interim study or coordinating proposed changes with the scheduled guidelines review to avoid unintended consequences and to incorporate recommendations from the department’s economist. Representative Markel and DHHS agreed to further work; the committee later moved HB 1225 to interim study.
