Two house bills, 2237 (https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=2237…) and 2254 (https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=2254…), will receive a House Civil Rights & Judiciary committee hearing tomorrow morning at 8 am. These bills will impact parenting plans and child support for parents in Washington.
Anyone can sign up to testify (including remotely) at https://app.leg.wa.gov/csi/House (choose the Civil Rights & Judiciary in the committee dropdown and 1/17/24 for the meeting date) but you must register at least one hour prior to hearing to receive a Zoom link.
Written testimony can be submitted for up to another 24 hours after the start of the hearing, until 8 am Thursday.
The main issue with bill 2237 is how the “Protective Actions” section can be weaponized by parents who do not want to follow the parenting plan. For every protection and legal tool that advocates of domestic violence want to create for victims, those same tools are used by parents seeking legal, financial, and custodial advantages. If all a parent has to do is claim they felt fear or coercive control (thanks to HB1901 from 2022) as a legally valid reason to break the parenting agreement and avoid shared parenting, we can expect custodial interference to become significantly worse in Washington State.
The main issue with bill 2254 is that increasing the economic support tables without any provision for sharing that money (residential credit) will create significant conflict. The 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019, and 2023 Child Support Workgroups have all recommended various ways to implement residential credit that the legislature continues to ignore. Until residential credit is law, the economic tables should not be increased. Putting more money on the table that only the lawyers in superior court (administrative judges cannot order residential credit) get to split between families is a recipe for more litigation and conflict. Right now, the currently amended version of HB 2254 is the biggest and best gift the divorce industry could hope for in 2024.
Washington State is rated an F by National Parents Organization. If these bills pass without significant amendments, NPO may have to adjust its ratings to F-.