With Washington state facing a $13 billion deficit, Governor Bob Ferguson wants to garnish child support payments of low income families as a way to help balance the budget. The idea didn’t go over so well on “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio.
Under federal law, if your family is on public assistance, the state can garnish child support payments to reimburse the government for that money. It’s been the practice in Washington state for decades. But a bipartisan bill aims to end this practice by 2026, with proponents of the bill arguing this is all just a tax on low income families.
The pushback
State Rep. Travis Couture (R-Allyn) sponsored the bill. He recently criticized the governor’s plan to keep garnishing child support payments of low income families.
“Raising taxes on poor families is the wrong way to balance the budget,” Couture said. “We should be looking at other areas to cut.”…