S_HHS_2016A 03/16/2016 11:11:29 AM Committee Summary

11:11 AM -- HB 16-1183



Senator Crowder, sponsor, presented House Bill 16-1183. The bill makes changes to align state law on eligibility for the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCCAP) with federal law. Specifically, if an eligible participant's income rises above the level set by the county to deny child care assistance during the twelve-month eligibility period, the county must continue providing the child care subsidy until the next twelve-month redetermination period.



During the subsequent redetermination period, if the participant's income level exceeds the allowable level to qualify for assistance, the county may deny the participant by immediately notifying them that they are no longer eligible. The county must provide no less than 90 days and is encouraged to provide six months of the subsidy while the participant makes other child care arrangements. If the participant's income exceeds the maximum federal eligibility level at any point, no child care assistance is to be provided.



11:13 AM -- Bill Jaeger, Colorado Children's Campaign, testified in support of the bill. Mr. Jaeger responded to the questions from the committee.



11:21 AM -- Brian Conly, Colorado Department of Human Service, testified in support the bill. Mr. Conly responded to the questions from the committee.



11:32 AM



Committee discussion continued about the provisions of the bill and the process used to redetermine eligibility for the child care assistance program.



11:38 AM



Senator Lundberg laid the bill over.









11:39 AM -- HB 16-1165



Senator Crowder, bill sponsor, presented House Bill 16-1165. This bill amends child support guidelines and related statutes based on the findings of the Colorado Child Support Commission. These changes include:

• allowing for the discovery and seizing of insurance claims for the purpose of meeting past due child support obligations;
• requiring the annual exchange of information between parents to include financial information and the verification of child care expenses;
• changing the formula to determine gross income to include child support that is obligated to be paid for another child;
• changing the reasonable cost threshold percentage for the enforcement of court-ordered medical support from 20 percent to 5 percent;
• changing the definition of shared physical care to include overall time a parent spends with a child and not just overnight stays;
• limiting the period for when a party can seek retroactive child support to five years; and
• adding language providing notice to presumptive fathers.
  

11:41 AM -- Pauline Burton, Colorado Child Support Commission, testified in support of the bill.



11:45 AM -- Larry Desbien, Colorado Department of Human Services, testified in support of the bill.



11:45 AM -- Tracy Rumans, Colorado Department of Human Services, testified in support of the bill.



11:46 AM -- LeAnn Anderson, Colorado Department of Human Services, testified in support of the bill.





11:46 AM



Committee discussion and questions followed. The committee asked questions about the process the department uses to collect child support.



11:55 AM



The committee dialogued with Ms. Burton, Mr. Desbien, Ms. Rumans, and Ms. Anderson.





11:59 AM



Senator Crowder made closing comments. Committee members made closing comments.

12:03 PM



The committee adjourned.