Rep. Petri: Child Support Enforcement Not Important in Winnebago County
OSHKOSH – Last Friday, Representative Tom Petri cast one of two deciding votes in support of the House Budget Reconciliation Bill. This cut federal funding for child support enforcement by $5 billion over the next five years (nearly 40 percent in the fifth year), and $15.8 billion over the next ten years according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. For Winnebago County, already facing significant cuts to human services, it means a loss of up to $1.5 million in federal assistance.
Petri's vote on the Budget Reconciliation Bill paves the way for at least $70 billion in new tax cuts targeted to the wealthiest Americans.
“Rep. Petri has abandoned the effort to collect child support,” said Jef Hall, Chair of the Winnebago County Democrats and Petri’s 2004 opponent. "Winnebago County faces enough challenges with the state levy freeze, and Rep. Petri wants to reduce federal funding so he can provide the wealthiest 1.1% of households in our Congressional District (2000 U.S. Census) who earn more than $200,000 a year, yet another tax break. It is truly Robin Hood in reverse, Rep. Petri is taking from the poor and giving to the rich.”
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) expects these cuts to significantly reduce efforts to collect child support owed by non-custodial parents. They estimate $24 billion in child support legally owed to children will go uncollected over the next ten years as a consequence of Rep. Petri's vote. The consequence of these lost child support payments will be to push significant numbers of children into, or further into, poverty.
“With an election less than a year away, it is time for people to realize what is happening in Washington. Rep. Petri is not representing the interests of his district and is a rubber stamp for the extreme wing of the Republican Party. When there is a tight vote, whether it is CAFTA, Medicare Part D or the cutting food stamps and child support enforcement, the extremists can count on Tom Petri.”
http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=49421
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