January 2024 NCSEA CSQ

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I was asked to testify on Monday afternoon, just two days before the hearing. I felt I was not the expert from my office who should have been testifying, but I was chosen to stand in for the most knowledgeable person in our Tribal Offset Partnership program, who was injured and unable to fly. Above: Child support witnesses testifying at the Work and Welfare and Oversight Subcommittees hearing on child support enforcement. Front row (left to right): Vicki Turetsky, Independent Consultant; Jim Fleming, Child Support Director, State of North Dakota; Bryan Tribble, IV-D Administrator, State of Illinois; Susan Smith, Director, Lac Courte Oreilles Child Support Program; and Marley Corbine, mother. Back row (left to right): Tom Joseph, Vice President and Managing Partner, Paragon Government Relations; Lisa Skenandore, Systems and Methods, Inc.; and Tish Keahna Kruzan, Lac Courte Oreilles Child Support Program. Can you describe the speaker selection process that you experienced? A group of folks from NTCSA, NCCSD, and <strong>NCSEA</strong> were included in a string of emails with committee staff following a virtual meeting on November 14. One of the committee staff replied to me a few days later asking if I would be available on November 29 in Washington DC. Since the hearing was still tentative, I was asked not to tell anyone about the possibility of the hearing. After that, I had a few emails with committee staff and a call from committee staff the day before the hearing. At some point, I was advised I was the majority’s witness, which felt strange since I really hadn’t perceived this as a partisan issue.
I exchanged a series of emails with staff, then had a meeting to provide them with my perspective on the issue and explain how it would impact the families of Illinois. After that, I was told of the possibility of the hearing. So, I started to work through the approval process. As I mentioned, I was a last-minute substitute for another person from my office. I was asked to be the witness for the minority Members. I have worked with the committee staff for 25 years and got a phone call just before Thanksgiving. How did you prepare? I went back through many emails, meeting minutes, etc., that we have had on this topic over the last year or so. I first reached out to directors who have been on the front lines of this issue to get information and direction as to what would resonate. Then, I worked with our state staff to obtain relative data in an attempt to be able to provide compelling data and reviewed relevant laws, regulations, and guidance. I drafted my prepared remarks, compiled a few other possible talking points, and finally met with my leadership to ensure their goals were met as well. I worked with the NTCSA’s Legislative Committee (Tish Keahna, Lisa Skenandore) to rework the previously prepared testimony to fit my testifying instead. I knew Jim, Bryan, and Sue would do a great job laying out the specifics of the FTI issue. I had a different role in mind for myself–to help translate child support to the tax world. It was a joint committee hearing, with many members and their staff having limited familiarity with the child support program and the important income support it provides to families. I thought the committee members might want more context and knew I had only five minutes to give oral testimony. But I had a method–once I had written my testimony, I chopped it down to three triple-spaced pages. I tried to distill my written testimony to make three points: (1) child support is a major income source for families with limited income; (2) the child support program is
Page 2 and 3: Table of Contents January 2024 Pres
Page 4 and 5: Also at the last Board meeting, we
Page 6 and 7: and seeking guidance as needed on s
Page 8 and 9: Congress Shines a Light on Federal
Page 12 and 13: inter-jurisdictional; and (3) the p
Page 14 and 15: speaking on behalf of the whole chi
Page 16 and 17: and State Child Support agencies ca
Page 18 and 19: Tom Joseph has represented public s
Page 20 and 21: Behavioral Economics and Attracting
Page 22 and 23: While these are powerful tools that
Page 24 and 25: customers are not forgotten. Potent
Page 26 and 27: primarily to traditional W-2 employ
Page 28 and 29: compliance with the clarified new h
Page 30 and 31: enabling them to be utilized as bot
Page 32 and 33: Thursday, NCSEA President Erin Fris
Page 34 and 35: Breaking the Mold: Exploring Non-Ca
Page 36 and 37: simple cash payments. They can cont
Page 38: Conclusion Non-cash child support c

January 2024 NCSEA CSQ

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