VA child support bill will hurt moms, dads, kids
SB805 aims to jack up child support, making co-parenting even harder for everyone — especially the poor
Hello!
We have an urgent matter at hand: hear SB805 which proposes radically increasing child support payments, passed 32:7 is headed to House committee.
Table of Contents
About VA SB805
SB805’s patron is Scott Surovell, Senate majority leader and divorce attorney in Fairfax County, which is one of the most affluent counties in the state, and with one of the lowest rates of divorce.
The bill passed committee with only Senator Lamont Bagby desenting, and all nay votes on the Senate floor are members of the Black Caucus.
I urge you to take immediate action and write committee members in opposition of the bill.
Write a letter to senators opposing SB805
I drafted this letter that you can copy-paste into a single or individual emails. Of course, feel free to rewrite as your own!
House Judiciary Committee members and email [copy-paste]
Michelle Lopes Maldonado DelMMaldonado@house.virginia.gov, Richard Sullivan DelRSullivan@house.virginia.gov, Atoosa Reaser DelAReaser@house.virginia.gov, Katrina Callsen DelKCallsen@house.virginia.gov, Karen Keys-Gamarra DelKKeys-Gamarra@house.virginia.gov, Jonathan Arnold DelJArnold@house.virginia.gov, Will Davis DelWDavis@house.virginia.gov, Chris Obenshain DelCObenshain@house.virginia.gov, Patrick Hope DelPHope@house.virginia.gov
Sample letter in opposition to SB805
Dear Senator,
I am [Your name, address, district]. I am writing in opposition of SB805 which proposes to increase child support calculators.
Issues with the bill:
1. SB805 is illegal. 45 CFR § 302.56(c)(1) requires state child-support guidelines to take into account the “ability to pay” and “the basic subsistence needs of the noncustodial parent.” Neighboring Maryland and North Carolina do not require support payments if the payor earns less than $1,300. Not so in Virginia. Today, a VA family with a parent earning $1,300 would see child support obligations jump from $360 to $398 under HB805.
2. SB805 makes no sense. The stated reason for increasing the guideline amounts is inflation, but HB805 erroneously contains a "double dip" increase.
For example, today, a payor with two children whose earnings grow 25% from $2,000 to $2,500 in income due to inflation (or any other reason) automatically sees his payment rise from $527 to $626.
SB805’s double-dip penalty would increase this payment to $710 — a 35% increase!
3. SB805 hurts kids. Child support in general has been found to increase conflict between co-parents and impede father-child relationships. Strong father involvement has been found by hundreds of excellent studies (and common sense) to improve nearly all metrics of lifelong outcomes: mental and physical health, academic and professional achievement, relationship health and more. Higher child support = more parent conflict = worse child outcomes.
4. SB805 is just inaccurate Child support calculators do not come close to accurately factoring in actual income low-income payees/mothers receive.
Here is a hypothetical family in which both parents share parenting time equally, spend similarly on food and housing, and make similar, low incomes.
However, family court only allows for a single custodial parent, which automatically entitles that parent (the mom in this scenario) to the following cash benefits — ultimately resulting in the mom's income being nearly twice the dad's:
5. SB805 Hurts women as much as it hurts men. As the gender pay gap closes for all demographics — especially for younger workers (of parenting age) and low-income people — today wives in heterosexual marriages earn equal or more than their husbands in 45% of marriages. These egregious support increases will hit women’s bank accounts nearly as much as men’s.
However, others increasingly recognize that sharing the responsibilities of child care are more valuable to herself and her children than dollars from their kids’s dad — especially since those dollars come with drama and conflict. More dollars = more drama. Women aren’t stupid.
6. SB805 is out-of-touch. Child support today is broken and has been for decades.
In Virginia and throughout the country, arrears are at a record-high and the percentage of parents applying for child support is down 36 percent over the past two decades. The most recent Census survey found:
39% of mothers who qualified for child support but did not apply did so because "the father already pays"
34% said the dad "couldn't afford to pay more"
Moms in 2025 — most of whom are low-income, unlike Surovell’s clients — opt for a fair, child-centered agreements outside of family court. This is in keeping with the growing trend of equal and shared co-parenting and more father involvement — all positive momentum this bill will torpedo.
SB805 moves Virginia in the wrong direction.
Thank you for doing the right thing by the 215,000 Virginia households in which parents live separately.
I urge you to oppose SB805.
Respectfully submitted,
[your name]
SB805 in the media
VA Fatherhood Foundation’s Chris Beach on Jeff Katz, WRVA 1140 andn 96.1 FM
SB805 Tries to Squeeze Blood from a Turnip,
SB805 Judiciary Committee hearing FAQ
Will updat when the House committee meetings are set
SB805 is scheduled to be heard by the judiciary committee
8 a.m. Monday, Jan. 13, 2025
General Assembly Building
201 N 9th St.
Richmond, VA 23219Senate Room A
Room 305
Get in touch
Send a note and I will respond.
Please share with your social and IRL networks about this very important issue!
Special thanks to Christian Passch of National Parents Organization, Family Reunion and the Virginia Fatherhood Foundation for past and future collaborative efforts!