Tribes that run child support agencies may soon get help collecting past-due child support. KLCC has the latest on a bill sponsored by Oregon Democratic Senator Ron Wyden and South Dakota Republican John Thune.
The U.S. Senate has just passed the bill, which lets the 60 Native American tribes with child support agencies access the Federal Tax Refund Offset Program to collect past-due money.
Senator Wyden says this is what state agencies already do.
“The legislation empowers tribal agencies with the same tools as states have to ensure non-custodial parents are meeting their child support obligations. This is about fairness for our tribes.”
Through the program, the U.S. Treasury Department can withhold a tax refund of a non-custodial parent if they owe past-due child support, and send it to the child support agency to disperse to the family.
In Oregon, the Klamath Tribes and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation have their own child support agencies.
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