From LRC Public Information

FRANKFORT, Ky. – A bipartisan effort to update child support laws on Monday acquitted the Kentucky House of Representatives.

Rep. C. Ed Massey, R-Hebron, and Rep. Angie Hatton, D-Whitesburg, said they worked with lawyers and judges from the Commonwealth and the Child Support Commission to draft House Bill 404.

HB 404 would update Kentucky’s Child Support Policy to align with federal guidelines.

“It has been over 15 years since we updated these guidelines,” said Massey.

Rep. C. Ed Massey puts forward bill to update Kentucky’s child support policy.

The bill includes updates to the guidelines for joint custody to ensure that maintenance payments go to the child or children concerned. Another part of the bill would change the way child support is calculated for those who have less than 50/50 custody but more than the standard every other weekend custody agreement. Hatton said this section of the bill won’t go into effect until March 1, 2022.

“We want to give the judges time to adjust and find out,” Hatton said. “And we’ll have time to fix the next session if we have to.”

The house unanimously approved HB 404 93-0.

House Bill 402, an act of blatant non-support, also came to the full house today.

Currently, if a parent is in arrears on child child support payments, they can be charged with a felony. Under HB 402, this threshold would be increased to $ 5,000.

Massey, who is the bill’s main sponsor, said the $ 1,000 threshold was out of date and has been in place for as long as he can remember in his 30 years as a lawyer.

That bill would help parents who may lose their jobs and be a month or two behind in payments if they get a crime, Massey said. In some cases, the current law creates a domino effect where one parent is unable to find work due to the crime and therefore falls further behind in making payments.

“That doesn’t mean, ladies and gentlemen, that someone cannot be despised or prosecuted, if you will, for failing to take care of their underage children, but it does stop them from doing so for $ 1,000 To be placed in a criminal state, ”said Massey.

A House Committee representative seeking to change the threshold increase to $ 2,500 instead of $ 5,000 failed on the floor of the house after Rep. Jim DuPlessis, R-Elizabethtown, opposed the motion.

“I can give you an example of a voter who is having trouble making his payments. The payments assigned to them are roughly $ 900 per month and they are only making $ 2,000 per month after tax, ”DuPlessis said.

DuPlessis added that these voters are struggling to make their payments, but they are doing what they can to support their children.

HB 402 cleared the house with 71-22 votes.

Both HB 404 and HB 402 are now being submitted to the Kentucky Senate for consideration.