AAUW MD SUPPORTS HB0955 TO EXTEND CHILD SUPPORT TO HELP OUR CHILDREN ATTEND COLLEGE /TECHNICAL SCHOOLS.
HB0955 is a bill entitled Family Law-Age of Majority-Jurisdiction of Court. Its purpose is to extend the age of majority in Maryland for child support for post-secondary education and training. In divorce cases, child support typically ends at 18, the age of majority. This often leaves the child without support during the time when the high cost of college education or vocational training begins. The in-state 2016-2017 cost for University of Maryland College Park exceeds $10,000. A high school education no longer is sufficient to prepare young people to support themselves in today’s high-tech, complex work world. In addition, data show that high-school graduates earn only about half that of college graduates annually. Children are innocent parties in a divorce and can become a population at an economic disadvantage. Thus, the court needs to continue its involvement to protect and minimize injury to this class of individuals.
Delegate Terri Hill, Howard County, working with AAUW HoCo, is primary sponsor of the bill . She and her staff have had several meetings and discussions with our Howard County committee and have revised the bill substantially to be more aligned with AAUW priorities. The bill has been reviewed by the Attorney General’s office and is similar to laws in sixteen other states.
The hearing in the House Judiciary Committee is scheduled for March 2, 2017 at 1pm. We strongly urge you to email or call before March 1, 2017 Delegate Hill at Terri.Hill@house.state.md.us as well as the House Judiciary Committee members and your delegates if not on the committee. Chair Vallario and Vice Chair Dumais are particularly important.
The Judiciary Committee member email addresses are:
Written testimony must include the following on the front page: the bill number, the name of the individual or organization submitting the testimony, and their position (Support, Support with Amendments, Oppose, or Informational). A boilerplate support letter is provided below.
Download the boilerplace sample letter to send to a legislator here!