"It is outrageous that at a time the President is bailing out corporate executives at AIG and Bear Stearns, that single parents are being taxed on their child support payments," said Gillibrand, a mother of two. "We need to restore basic fairness here and immediately take steps to correct this in the economic stimulus that Congress and Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke, have called for. Why should the federal deficit be balanced on the backs of single parents?  It just doesn't make sense."

Yesterday, Congresswoman Gillibrand wrote to Congressional leaders to waive this child support tax in the next economic stimulus.

October 21, 2008

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi                          The Honorable Harry Reid
Speaker of the House                                    Senate Majority Leader
H-232 The Capitol                                       S-221 The Capitol      
Washington, DC 20515                            Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable John A. Boehner                   The Honorable Mitch McConnell
House Republican Leader                         Senate Republican Leader
H-204 The Capitol                                       S-230 The Capitol
Washington DC 20515                                   Washington DC 20515    

Dear Speaker Pelosi, House Republican Leader Boehner, Majority Leader Reid, and Senate Republican Leader McConnell,

At a recent Congress At Your Corner meeting in my district I was approached by several single mothers in despair after being taxed on their child support payments. After researching the issue I discovered that in 2005, Congress passed legislation requiring the states to charge an annual $25 fee for child support payments collected by the Child Support Enforcement program.  As the mothers I spoke with pointed out, $25 is a week’s worth of lunches for her sons and daughters.

  Earlier this month, New York State announced that it would begin to deduct the fee from child support payments sent to single parents across the state.  This fee, required by a provision in the 2005 Deficit Reduction Act and intended to reduce the program’s administrative costs, unfairly targets the neediest in our communities and constitutes a significant hardship to working families across the country. 

        At a time when the federal government is spending billions of dollars to bail out Wall Street firms, single parents are feeling the pinch.  While states have the option of charging the fee to those who pay support or covering the fee themselves, most have chosen to charge the fee to the parents who receive support.  Child support payments are intended to help single parents put food on the table, and in a slowing economy, I do not think that working moms and dads should be stuck with the cost of paying down the federal budget deficit. Congress should revoke the option which allows states to charge the fee to custodial parents or deduct it from support payments as part of a second stimulus package to be considered this year. 

        Working families are the heart of our economy, and our present economy has demonstrated the need for Congress to take action to help those hit by our economic crisis.  As single parents are more likely than anyone to feel the effects of job losses, service cuts, and price increases, I believe that preventing states from taking money away from our neediest citizens would be an excellent first step.

                                                Sincerely,