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Children and Family Law Committee advances multiple early bills, adopts amendments and places items on consent
Summary
The House Children and Family Law Committee voted in executive session to place several early bills on consent or pass them as amended, adopted an amendment to HB 1225 clarifying child-support tax deductions, and logged unanimous committee support for several actions, the clerk recorded as '150.'
The House Children and Family Law Committee took executive action on several bills Wednesday, placing several early items on the consent calendar and approving amendments intended to clarify tax and child-support calculations.
Representative Coren moved to vote “ITL” (inexpedient to legislate) on House Bill 1036, urging caution because the bill’s alimony provisions could disadvantage long-term spouses; the motion was approved and the item placed on consent, the clerk recorded. Representative Coren said the bill was “good meaning” but could leave someone married 30 years with only “eight years of alimony,” which she called unfair.
On House Bill 1225 the committee adopted amendment 0599H, which the sponsor said “clarifies some of the language” to show how deductions will be handled. The amendment specifies that a self-employed obligor may deduct 50% of actual self-employment taxes, while an employed obligor’s Social Security (OASDI) and Medicare withholding would be factored into adjusted gross income for child-support calculations. Members debated whether that change could create a double deduction because some witnesses said the child-support worksheet already deducts federal taxes; others said the amendment merely clarifies and does not duplicate existing calculations.
Representative Markeel moved that HB 1225 "pass as amended," and the committee recorded a roll-call vote on that motion. Members raised concerns about the potential for double-counting federal withholding, but the motion carried on the committee record.
The committee also took action on HB 1228 and HB 1229. An amendment to HB 1229 (2026-05528H) added a statutory factor — the sponsor cited a 1989 state Supreme Court opinion — and the bill as amended was moved and placed on consent after a roll call.
Clerk roll calls for multiple items were read and recorded in the proceedings; where the clerk announced a numeric total it was read as '150.' Committee members said they would follow up with staff and caucuses where necessary and requested additional research on cross-state practice for referrals and fiscal implications of bills with fiscal notes.
Next steps: The committee closed the executive session items and prepared the consent calendar for floor action. Several members asked staff to pull or prepare additional analyses before floor consideration.
(Reporting on votes and actions is based on in-room roll calls and the committee clerk’s recordings as read into the record.)
