Oklahoma Congressman Kevin Hern Sponsors Bill That Aims To Empower Tribes In Child Support Enforcement

A bill that would give Tribes the same authority that states have in collecting past-due child support payments is making its way through Congress. The lead sponsor of the bipartisan Strengthening State and Tribal Child Support Enforcement Act is Oklahoma Congressman Kevin Hern, who says, sadly, he understands this issue all too well.

As many of his constituents know, Rep. Hern (R-OK1) was a successful businessman before he ran for public office in 2018. Before that, however, he says he and his family lived mostly in poverty and might have benefitted from the bill he hopes will become law.

"I wish this would have been available back, you know, when I was growing up," Congressman Hern said in an interview last month, "I had a stepdad that wouldn't pay for child support."

Unpaid child support is a major problem in the United States. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, in 2021, non-custodial parents owed $113.5 billion. That's especially problematic in Oklahoma where, a recent LendingTree report showed, that 61.1% of all families receive child support payments. Only three other states, according to the report, have a higher percentage of families receiving child support payments.

"These are huge money opportunities for families, single moms, to get money from people that owe the child support," Hern emphasized, "and the Tribes are going to need this, they do need it."

While state child support enforcement (CSE) programs have had success collecting past-due payments by garnishing non-custodial parents’ federal tax refunds, tax law doesn’t allow Tribes to do the same. As a result, Hern says, many Tribes, in Oklahoma and elsewhere, have had to instead contract with their respective states to tackle a problem they’d rather handle themselves.

"This is a conversation that the Tribal leaders have had with me: we've got to go find these people," Hern explained. "And now they can do this with this bill."

The legislation would essentially put Tribes on an equal footing with the states in the effort to enforce child support agreements and would allow third party contractors to continue to have access to the Treasury's Tax Refund Offset Program.

"The kids need it," Hern said, "and all of us right now are having to pay for that when we have folks out there that have an obligation [and] are just not doing it."

The legislation was ultimately paired with a child welfare measure and together passed the House with near unanimous support last month. It's now awaiting action in the Senate Finance Committee.