Having dedicated so much mental energy in examining SB 236, I have just now sat down and looked at SB 475. I am all for tougher child support laws, but gee wiz. Under the current law, you are deemed to have intentionally not paid your child support if: 1)You were more than $5000 in arrears or 2)you have not paid in a year.

Under the new law…..it is just a crime to not pay regardless of how late you are or how much behind. Well, I’m confused….does this mean I will have been deemed to have committed a crime if I am say, one day late? Have I committed a crime if I am one dollar short ?…YES

I can discern the wisdom of the present law in the presumption that if you go late for more than one year, or if you are $5000 in arrears, then is it more likely than not that the intentional element to prove a crime exists.

I am a little tickled at the stupidity of making it a crime to be one day late or a dollar short. My child support is due on the first of each month and I send the payment in on the first…(because I get paid on the first). I suppose I will be a felon within two months since I am hyper-technically late each month by two or three days. And for all of you who do not know…you can’t pay DSS in advance…they will send you a refund. These are facts.

How many custodial parents pay their rent or mortgage exactly on the first of each month?

This proposed change to the law is a bit ridiculous. I will support tougher child support laws but not absurd ones.
I almost secretly hope the law passes just to witness the carnage at the District Attorney’s Office of custodial parents trying to have someone thrown in jail only to find out they misplaced the check. The non-custodial parent in the meantime would have been arrested and labeled a “dead-beat”. Sounds to me like this law is just simply designed to give leverage to the custodial parent and enable them to threaten the non-custodial parent with jail time virtually every month.

Do these Senators even bother to read Senator Quinn’s proposed legislation?

Why not just have a minimum payment provision to avoid the application of the criminal statute of say 50% of the child support obligation? In other words, keep the present law in place but add that “if such obligation has fallen below 50% of the total support obligation for one year or is greater than $5000“. …..I dreamed that up in 30 seconds…can’t our Senators spend a little mental energy and come up with something better.