At Sen. Chuck Grassley’s U.S. Senate Committee on Finance hearing in Des Moines on Feb. 20, nothing was said to help the families who turn to DHS for aid when economically abandoned by a parent.

The discussion was very controlled. Non-support of children was not on the agenda and Deb Bingaman from DHS had “little knowledge” of this issue.

Nearly $1 billion is owed to 183,066 children in Iowa. The purpose of the welfare reform bill was to shift the responsibilities of raising children from the state to the parents — both of them.

The accompanying literature stated that: “Parental responsibility and decision-making-parents are responsible for their family, physically, financially and emotionally.”

Sen. Grassley believes that child support is a state matter and the governor is totally responsible for its delivery, even though 66 percent of the funding of collections and enforcement come from the federal government (remember the alcohol bill for .08).

Apparently there is no dignity in this nation in raising children unless one takes fertility drugs and have them by the dozens.

This welfare reform bill is not about helping families. It is about providing cheap labor for businesses. Personal responsibility does not extend to the non-paying parent. Raising these children is between mom and the taxpayers supporting a huge bureaucracy and giving crumbs to the children.

Maja Rater

Parent of an ISU student

Casey