When the state House of Representatives reconvenes after Easter, Reps. Ruth Rudy, D-Centre, and John Wozniak, D-Cambria, will introduce a package of five bills designed to crack down on parents who do not pay their child support.
"This package sends a very clear message -- Pennsylvania will do everything it can to ensure that deadbeat parents pay up," Rudy said.
Rudy said a problem that exists now in Pennsylvania's child support laws is they let many self-employed parents skip their payments.
"It's hard to get them . . . our taxpayers are paying for their children," she said.
Rudy's first piece of proposed legislation targets "deadbeat" parents -- those who have missed at least three months of payments -- by threatening to revoke their professional or trade licenses.
"When you don't pay child support, you keep your child from having basic necessities --food, clothing, shelter," Rudy said. "Those payments are vital to that child's welfare."
Wozniak will introduce two bills, one of which aims to embarrass deadbeat parents by allowing their names to be published or broadcast.
Wozniak was not available for comment, but in a news release he said, "If we need to humiliate you to get you to pay child support, so be it."
Some University students agreed with the proposals.
"It sounds like a good idea to me," said Matt Plitnik (senior-mechanical engineering). "Children shouldn't be punished if their parents can't stay together."
Christine Triggiani (senior-art education) agreed that deadbeat parents' names should be publicized.
"It's a fantastic idea -- get 'em for all they got," she said.
The package also drew strong support from one area Republican.
State Rep. Lynn Herman, R-Centre, said he has co-sponsored similar bills in the past and added that the issue needs to be addressed.
"Our state laws should not condone either parent from neglecting their parental responsibilities," Herman said.
Angelia Follet, an employee of the Democratic Caucus, said the bills have support from another area as well -- the vital support of the governor's office.
"If you go through all the channels . . . and get it vetoed -- that's months and months of work," she said.
Rudy's second bill would encourage long-arm or inter-county jurisdiction, which would allow case proceedings to occur even if the deadbeat parent lives in another county. The final bill would allow the Department of Public Welfare to intervene in child support cases without court permission.
