WASHINGTON – Reps. Benjamin L. Cardin and Nancy Johnson today reintroduced a bipartisan child support measure that would encourage states to send more collected child support to low-income families. A similar bill overwhelmingly passed the House last year in a 405-18 vote.

Currently, the state and federal governments are entitled to child support payments collected on behalf of families on welfare, and in some cases, on behalf of families that have left public assistance. The Child Support Distribution Act, HR 1471, would require the federal government to relinquish its share of nearly all of these collections when a state opts to pass-through child support payments to families. In addition, the legislation includes bipartisan provisions on promoting responsible fatherhood that are similar to a bill passed last year by the House.

"Child support should be for children. This legislation will bring that common-sense policy one giant step closer to reality. In fact, estimates from the Congressional Budget Office suggest the bill will send more than $6 billion in child support payments to low-income families over the next 10 years compared to current law, " said Rep. Cardin, Ranking Member of the Ways & Means Subcommittee on Human Resources.

"I am very pleased that Chairwoman Johnson and I are reintroducing a measure that clearly had strong bipartisan support in the last Congress. It will achieve a number of goals: connecting fathers to their children, providing crucial financial support to poor families, and simplifying the administration of the child support system," said Rep. Cardin.

The measure would provide states with various options to send child support to low-income families with the federal government acting as a financial partner. For example, states would be permitted to pass-through up to $400 a month to families receiving cash welfare, as long as the amount is disregarded for welfare payment purposes. In addition, states could send all support to families that have left cash welfare, including past-due support that may have accrued when the family was on public assistance.