HB 3347 revises Oregon’s child and family support payment rules, with most changes taking effect January 1, 2027. The bill directs the Department of Justice to disburse to certain obligees all support collected and assigned to the state under ORS 412.024, rather than the current partial pass-through amount. It also allows an obligee receiving support enforcement services to work with a collection agency for help collecting child support, while setting limits on fees, enforcement actions, and required disclosures in those agreements.
The bill also expands the information that parties to a support order may receive directly from the administrator, including payment history, arrearages, and disbursement details, and it preserves confidentiality protections where disclosure would pose a risk to health, safety, or liberty. In addition, it clarifies notice requirements in support proceedings, crediting rules for payments made outside the state disbursement unit, and rulemaking authority for the Department of Justice to administer support payments consistently with federal law.
Impact
HB 3347 amends ORS 25.020 and ORS 412.007 and creates new administrative requirements for the Department of Justice and the Department of Human Services. The bill changes how assigned child support is distributed to families receiving public assistance, and it requires DHS to disregard all child and spousal support paid to the family when determining eligibility and benefit amounts under certain aid programs, replacing the prior partial disregard. The measure also affects support enforcement procedures, payment crediting, confidentiality, and the use of collection agencies in child support cases, with operative changes delayed until January 1, 2027.
Sentiment
The available voting history suggests strong support for the bill at the committee level, with a 8-0 do pass recommendation with amendments and referral to Ways and Means. No committee transcript excerpts were provided, so there is no recorded floor or hearing debate in the supplied materials. Overall, the bill appears to have been received positively, at least in committee, likely because it is framed as a family support and administrative simplification measure.
Contention
The main policy tension in HB 3347 is between increasing the amount of support that reaches families and preserving the state’s ability to recover assigned support and administer public assistance programs. Another possible point of concern is the expanded role of private collection agencies in child support enforcement, including fee limits and restrictions on independent enforcement actions, which may draw scrutiny from both obligees seeking more help and administrators concerned about oversight. The bill also raises implementation issues for DOJ and DHS because it changes payment distribution and benefit-calculation rules and delays operation until 2027, suggesting time is needed to adjust systems and rules.