Hearing Delayed on Assembly Bill to Ease Child Support Burden on Fathers

SACRAMENTO — An Assembly committee hearing that had been set for Wednesday was delayed for a week on a bill designed to ease the burden of ballooning child-support payments borne largely by divorced fathers.

The Judiciary Committee ran out of time to hear the measure authored by Assemblyman Trice Harvey (R-Bakersfield) before it had to adjourn for a special afternoon session of the entire Assembly to discuss the state budget.

The bill, which is being supported by disgruntled fathers from Orange County to Eureka, will be heard on May 26.

If enacted into law, it would phase in higher child-support payments over time. A growing collection of fathers are complaining that new rules have boosted the payments so high that in some cases they are filing for bankruptcy, losing their homes and being pushed precariously close to poverty.

The rules have been supported by women’s rights groups and divorced mothers struggling to care for their children. They contend the state’s guidelines for child support were woefully low and the changes, which went into effect last July, have simply brought California up to parity with other parts of the nation.