HCR 7 – AS INTRODUCED
2007 SESSION
05/09
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 7
A RESOLUTION urging federal action on the earned income tax credit and other tax benefits related to child custody.
SPONSORS: Rep. Matarazzo, Hills 20
COMMITTEE: State-Federal Relations and Veterans Affairs
This house concurrent resolution urges the federal government to provide greater flexibility in allocating tax benefits for parents with child support obligations by permitting both parents to receive the benefit in appropriate cases.
07-1119
05/09
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Seven
A RESOLUTION urging federal action on the earned income tax credit and other tax benefits related to child custody.
Whereas, the New Hampshire general court finds that the federal government treats the income of child support obligors and child support obligees inconsistently, thus frequently causing undue hardship on some obligor parents and their children; and
Whereas, under New Hampshire law, there is no longer a “non-custodial” parent or a non-custodial parent household, and the law encourages, whenever possible, shared parental rights and responsibilities, including residential responsibility; and
Whereas, many federal programs operate under the assumption that a minor child resides primarily with one parent or the other and the manner in which such programs calculate available household income inaccurately reflects the living situation of many children who divide their time between 2 households; and
Whereas, many federal programs treat those who pay child support and those who receive it differently, in as much as those who pay child support are often denied services or public assistance at their household in whole or in part because the federal government does not calculate an accurate household income by subtracting court-ordered support from the available income; and
Whereas, the Current Population Survey (CPS) entirely disregards the financial circumstances existing at the obligor parent’s household, notwithstanding the fact that the children may be spending 49 percent of their lives at such household, and, as a result, a child who is not considered to be living in poverty at the obligee parent’s household may well be living in poverty when under the care of obligor parent, yet the CPS refuses to account for such circumstances and is thus representing an inaccurate picture of child poverty in the United States; and
Whereas, it is clear that financial resources paid by an obligor parent to support another household are no longer available to benefit the children or the obligor parent at the obligor’s household and should not continue to be counted as household income; and
Whereas, as New Hampshire moves in the direction of facilitating the continued meaningful involvement of both parents in the rights and responsibilities of raising their children after separation or divorce, it is inappropriate that federal programs neglect the adverse impact of a lower standard of living for minor children while in the care of an obligor parent; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:
That the federal government consider both parent households when determining child poverty rates and when determining eligibility for federal benefits, tax credits, and tax exemptions; and
That eligibility for the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EIC) and other tax benefits related to child custody be amended to provide greater flexibility in allocating tax benefits to one or both parents in appropriate cases; and
That a signed copy of this resolution be sent by the house clerk to the President of the United States, the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, and each member of the New Hampshire congressional delegation.