The Illinois General Assembly is currently considering important legislation that will provide critical income information to thousands of custodial parents who rely on child support. HB-4611 establishes a three-year pilot program whose participants would include Cook and four other volunteer counties. Under the program in those counties, any employer who withholds wages for child support must provide a copy of the employee’s W-2 to the clerk of the court, and then the clerk will make it available to the custodial parent. Once the information has been reviewed, the custodial parent may seek a court-ordered modification of support levels.
The Illinois Manufacturers’ Association opposes this bill on the spurious grounds that sending a copy of the W-2 to the clerk’s office will be burdensome to its members. But employers already provide the case number and the county of origin for all support checks sent to the State Disbursement Unit. Sending a W-2 to the clerk of the court of Cook County is a small requirement when compared with the benefit to be derived by society at large.
This legislation will directly improve one of the most vexing problems in child-support cases: hidden wages. Absent parents who work overtime, get raises, get promotions or work second jobs often are not eager to share that information.
