STATEHOUSE (Feb. 25, 2010) - State Sen. Richard Bray’s (R-Martinsville) measure that could help families collect some of $2 billion in yearly unpaid child support bills was unanimously approved today by lawmakers in the Indiana House of Representatives.

Bray’s Senate Bill 163 - proposing casino winnings be withheld from those who ignore their court-ordered child support obligations - passed by a 98-0 vote and can now be considered by the full House of Representatives. 

“More than 165,000 parents owe child support in Indiana,” Bray said. “The intent of this bill is to hold parents accountable and collect late payments for families and children who need the money for day to day necessities.”

According to the Indiana Department of Child Services, it is estimated that more than 165,000 non-custodial parents each owe more than $2,000 in unpaid child support bills.

If SB 163 is passed into law, those who win more than $1,200 at Indiana casinos would have their names checked against a database containing information on parents owing child support. If their name appears in the system, the amount they may owe in support payments would be withdrawn from their winnings.

Indiana could join Colorado in implementing this system, Bray said. More than $600,000 in gambling winnings has been collected since Colorado lawmakers passed a similar law in July 2008.

“Based on Colorado’s figures, I am confident that a lot of unpaid child support could be garnered,” Bray said.

In his recent State of the State address, Gov. Mitch Daniels endorsed Bray’s bill noting it would help improve current practices to collect child support payments. 

“After five years of hard effort, we have raised the percentage of child support collected from about 50 percent to 58 percent,” Daniels said in his annual address. “This of course is still unacceptably low - the best states are upwards of 70 percent.  We need new tools to make further headway.  For instance, allow us to see that a delinquent father who wins money in one of our casinos shares some of the take with his children. Every percent of child support improvement sends $7 million directly into the pockets of some of our neediest households.”

SB 163 now goes back to the Senate for further consideration.