Juneau -- The Alaska House of Representatives Thursday passed House Bill 428, sponsored by the House Finance Committee.

HB 428 requires the Child Support Enforcement Division (CSED) of the Alaska Department of Revenue to pay interest on child support payments mistakenly ordered by the State. The bill requires the agency to pay six-percent interest, the same percentage of interest the agency charges on child support arrearages.

In addition, HB 428 simplifies current procedures by charging a consistent six percent, the amount of interest CSED must pay when it is delinquent returning overpayments withheld by an employer after a support order has been satisfied. The current rate is based upon a more complex set of factors involving Federal Reserve rates, the time of year, and quarterly compounding.

"HB 428 is in response to an inequity in the State's child support collection system that allows CSED to charge interest on late child support payments but does not require it to pay interest on overpayments caused by the agency's own mistakes," said Representative Gene Therriault (R-North Pole), Co-Chair of the House Finance Committee. "HB 428 provides an incentive to the agency to be more careful when calculating support payments and more prompt about returning overpayments."

The House approved HB 428 unanimously. The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration.

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