I have spoke with father’s who are being criminalized through the current child support system. Many of whom want to be in their child’s life, but the mother chooses the money rather than what’s right. 

The current child support system will currently issue a warrant for arrest and a suspension of the father’s drivers license if they fail to pay their monthly fee on-time. But the question being asked is, what is “too much” for child support?

Child support does not count the NET income, but GROSS income. This means that if someone makes $1,400 every two weeks, but has $595 in taxes and deductions taken out (with insurance), they are only having a NET of $805 for every two weeks of work being cleared. Child support currently takes around 50% of GROSS income, so in this case, $700 would be taken out in addition to the $595, leaving only $105 for the father to survive for another two weeks.

As your congressman, I will push to protect the rights of fathers who are not listed on the birth certificate by putting a cap of 25% of NET income going to child support. If the father’s name is not on the birth certificate, they should not be held at the mercy of a witch hunt.

In addition, I would offer the opportunity for dispute audits to be done for any expenses indicated by the custodial parent.