Division of the Budget
Landon State Office Building Phone: (785) 296-2436
900 SW Jackson Street, Room 504 adam.c.proffitt@ks.gov
Topeka, KS 66612 Division of the Budget http://budget.kansas.gov
Adam Proffitt, Director Laura Kelly, Governor


March 20, 2023


The Honorable Kellie Warren, Chairperson
Senate Committee on Judiciary
300 SW 10th Avenue, Room 346-S
Topeka, Kansas 66612
Dear Senator Warren:
SUBJECT: Fiscal Note for SB 298 by Senate Committee on Federal and State Affairs
In accordance with KSA 75-3715a, the following fiscal note concerning SB 298 is
respectfully submitted to your committee.
SB 298 would require child support to be provided for unborn children with a detectable
heartbeat. The support would include direct medical and pregnancy-related expenses of a mother
if a child is unborn as a consideration for child support. The bill would also use medical and
pregnancy-related expenses as a threshold for maximum child support for an unborn child. The
bill would also define “unborn child” and “detectable heartbeat” and amend the definition of a
“child” to include “unborn child.”
The Department for Children and Families (DCF) indicates that SB 298 could increase
expenditures because there may be an increased number of child support cases and the duration of
those cases. Additionally, added testing, back-dated orders, and larger arrearage potential may
occur. The bill would create additional administrative burdens on parties if it is later determined
an obligor is not a legal parent and would create additional administrative burdens on DCF to
modify orders created prior to a child being born as well as potentially modifying an order if a
child is later found to be the child of another party.
Current federal regulations do not provide or allow for parentage establishment prior to the
birth of a child. For that reason, there would be a fiscal shift in cost from federal funds
supplementing this portion of the process to State General Funds being needed. This portion of
the program is currently shared and funded at 66.0 percent by the Federal Office of Child Support
Enforcement (OCSE).
The Honorable Kellie Warren, Chairperson
Page 2—SB 298

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported 12,917 children born out of
wedlock in 2022, with an average of 13,373 children born out of wedlock over the previous five
years. An estimated two-thirds of those may apply for support. Currently, parentage is not
determined until after birth and child support services do not start before birth of the child. The
bill could start child support services before birth and result in testing that is currently not provided.
DCF contracts for child support services, they are not directly performed by DCF staff.
The average annual cost per case to administer, based on expenditures reported to OCSE and
divided by the number of open cases at the end of 2022, is $234 per case per year. DCF would
have to contract for in utero genetic testing services. The testing would not be directly performed
by DCF staff or contractors. DCF is not able to determine how many pregnant mothers would
seek service or the added months or costs of a case from this bill. If cases started earlier and
additional testing and services are required, contract costs would increase.
The Office of Judicial Administration indicates that SB 298 would have a fiscal effect on
expenditures of the Judicial Branch because it would require the Supreme Court to change its rules
for establishing child support guidelines and how district courts calculate support obligations.
Nevertheless, until the courts have had an opportunity to operate under the provisions of SB 298,
an accurate estimate of the fiscal effect on expenditures by the Judicial Branch cannot be given.
The Kansas Department of Revenue indicates that SB 298 would not have a fiscal effect on the
agency. Any fiscal effect associated with SB 298 is not reflected in The FY 2024 Governor’s
Budget Report.


Sincerely,

Adam Proffitt
Director of the Budget

cc: Vicki Jacobsen, Judiciary
Kim Holter, Department for Children & Families
Lynn Robinson, Department of Revenue


Statutes affected:
As introduced: 20-165, 23-2205, 23-3001