LICENSES ARE USED AS INCENTIVE TO GET CHILD-SUPPORT FUNDS

In 19 states, child-support payments have picked up recently. Is this because there are more state enforcers putting the squeeze on parents who, for one reason or another, don't pay what the courts ordered? No, the incentive to pay up is coming from a more practical threat: If you don't pay, the state will take away your driver's license and any professional licenses you have.

The results have been staggering. The federal Department of Health and Human Services estimates child-support payments would jump by $2.5 billion over the next 10 years is all 50 states had similar programs. (Missouri is among the states that doesn't, while Illinois and Kentucky already participate in the program.)

Moreover, says HHS, federal spending on welfare would drop some $146 million in the first five years, because the additional child support would help some low-income women get off public assistance.

There has been some effort to include the license revocation as part of the House welfare reform bill, but not everyone thinks it is a good idea.

The Children's Rights Council, an advocacy group, says it is the wrong approach. "We need to work harder at assuring that kids have parents, not just money machines," says David L. Levy, president of the council.

And some GOP lawmakers who oppose the pay-or-lose-your-license approach contend that it would be just another case of the federal government imposing its will on states. But the idea is still being kicked around in Congress and could still wind up in the welfare reform package.

Obviously, states don't have to wait for Congress to act. Like the 19 states that already have set up the lose-your-license program, other states could easily do the same. This should be of particular interest to states, like Missouri, that have set up expensive programs through the legal system to track down deadbeat parents and force them to pay up.

"As soon as you threaten to take a license away, the money mysteriously appears from people who claim they didn't have it," said Rep. Marge Roukema of New Jersey, the senior GOP woman in the House. "It's a very effective deterrent, no question about it."

It is an idea worthy of consideration, even if only at the state level. If parents who are told by a judge to pay child support were told at the same time they would lose their licenses if they failed to comply, the payment rate would likely be considerably closer to what the courts had in mind when they imposed the financial responsibility.