SESSION OF 2024
SECOND CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REPORT BRIEF
HOUSE SUBSTITUTE FOR SUBSTITUTE FOR SENATE BILL NO. 232
As Agreed to April 5, 2024
Brief*
House Sub. for Sub. for SB 232 would amend law regarding child support guidelines
established by the Kansas Supreme Court to require the guidelines to include unborn children.
The bill would require the Supreme Court to adopt rules that consider the direct medical
and pregnancy-related expenses for the mother of an unborn child and the unborn child. The bill
would specify the maximum amount of ordered child support of an unborn child is not to exceed
the direct medical and pregnancy-related expenses of the mother of the unborn child, excluding
any costs related to an elective abortion.
Child Support Amount Determination
The bill would require determination of the child support to be calculated from the date of
conception of the unborn child, and accruing interest would be determined by the current
statutory rate.
Definitions
The bill would define the following terms:
●“Elective abortion,” to mean an abortion for any reason other than to prevent the
death of the mother upon whom the abortion is performed, except that an abortion
may not be deemed one to prevent the death of the mother based on a claim or
diagnosis that such mother will engage in conduct that would result in such mother’s
death; and
●“Unborn child,” to mean a living individual organism of the species Homo sapiens, in
utero, at any stage of gestation from fertilization to birth.
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*Conference committee report briefs are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express
legislative intent. No summary is prepared when the report is an agreement to disagree. Conference committee
report briefs may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.kslegislature.org/klrd
1 - 232 Conference Committee Action
The second Conference Committee agreed to remove the contents of House Sub. for Sub.
for SB 232, as passed by the House, and insert the provisions of HB 2653, as passed by the
House.
Background
The second Conference Committee agreed to remove the contents of House Sub. for Sub.
for 232, as passed by the House, regarding orders granting custody for adoption when parental
rights have been terminated, and insert the provisions of HB 2653, as passed by the House,
regarding child support orders for unborn children.
HB 2653 (Child Support Orders for Unborn Children)
HB 2653 was introduced by the House Committee on Federal and State Affairs at the
request of Representative Howell on behalf of Kansas Family Voice.
House Committee on Federal and State Affairs
In the House Committee hearing on the bill, proponent testimony was provided by
representatives of Kansans for Life, Kansas Family Voice, and Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life
America. The proponents explained expenses for children do not start at the birth, but at
conception. The proponents indicated the enactment of the bill would help ensure child support
court proceedings consider pregnancy-related expenses.
Written-only proponent testimony was provided by a representative of the Kansas Catholic
Conference.
Opponent testimony was provided by a representative of Planned Parenthood Great
Plains Votes. The opponent stated the bill does not provide further assistance to pregnant
Kansans or set out any structure for child support payments for a pregnancy that ends in
miscarriage, adoption, stillbirth, or abortion. The opponent concluded by stating the
implementation of the bill would strain the state budget and resources, and provided a list of
policy solutions that would provide support to pregnant people and families in Kansas.
Written-only opponent testimony was provided by nine private citizens and representatives
of the American Civil Liberties Union, Mainstream Coalition, Grace United Methodist Church,
Loud Light Civic Action, and Trust Women.
Fiscal Information
According to the fiscal note prepared by the Division of the Budget on HB 2653, the
Department for Children and Families (DCF) indicated enactment of the bill would result in
additional State General Fund expenditures totaling $487,561 beginning in FY 2025 and
continuing in future years.
2 - 232 Additionally, DCF contracts for child support services and the average annual cost per
case to administer is $283.00. This calculation is based on expenditures totaling $35.6 million
as reported to the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement and divided by 125,890, which
was the number of open cases at the end of 2023. New case management costs are estimated
to cost $245,361. In addition, DCF would likely need to contract for in utero genetic testing
services for some of the cases, which cost on average $1,400 per instance. If 20.0 percent of
the 867 new cases needed this testing service, it would cost $242,200.
The Office of Judicial Administration states enactment of the bill would not result in any
significant fiscal effect on expenditures and would not have an effect on revenues to the Judicial
Branch or the State General Fund.
Any fiscal effect associated with enactment of HB 2653 is not reflected in The FY 2025
Governor’s Budget Report.
Children; families; child support; unborn children; date of conception; pregnancy; pregnancy-related expenses; birth-related
expenses
ccrb_sb232_02_0000.odt
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