3-BILL PACKAGE LAYS DOWN LAW FOR DEADBEAT PARENTS.

Byline: Stephen Green Scripps-McClatchy Western Service

Three bills intended to overhaul California's faltering collection system for child support were signed into law Friday by Gov. Gray Davis.

``This is a sweeping change that will bring a lot more benefits to children and make sure parents meet their responsibilities,'' Davis said during a signing ceremony at his Los Angeles office.

``These bills will allow us to get far more child support to the children who are entitled to it,'' he said. ``These programs (have been) locally administered. Now the responsibility will largely fall in Sacramento.

``There will be one Department of Child Support Services and an overall state responsibility.''

An estimated 3 million to 4 million California children are owed support, including many who are now grown. The total bill has been roughly calculated in the range of $8 billion to nearly $13 billion.

``Our child support program affects more California children than any other state program with the exception of the public schools - and it has failed them,'' said Assemblywoman Sheila Kuehl, who authored the main bill in the package.

The Santa Monica Democrat cautioned, however, that people who are owed child support should not expect immediate relief. The legislation takes effect in January, and reforms are to be phased in over 18 months. A new computer tracking system also isn't expected to be operating until sometime after that.

Kuehl's bill, AB 196, would take collection responsibility away from county district attorneys and shift it to the new state Department of Child Support Services and a new agency in each county which would manage local cases.

A second measure, SB 542 by Sen. John Burton, D-San Francisco, would make the state Franchise Tax Board the chief collection agency for delinquent payments. The board began a pilot project to collect child support in 1992. It has been expanded each year, and collections totaled $105 million in the last fiscal year.

The third bill, AB 150 by Assemblywoman Dion Aroner, D-Oakland, allocates $6.6 million to begin development of a new computer tracking system in the Department of Child Support Services. But procurement, development, implementation and maintenance of the system would be the tax board's job.

The state has spent millions of dollars over a decade to develop tracking systems, without success.

The bills were approved by the Democratic majorities in the Legislature this summer on near party-line votes. Republicans tried unsuccessfully to delay the bills so that alternatives to creating new state and local bureaucracies could be explored.

Other critics included the district attorneys and state Controller Kathleen Connell, chairwoman of the tax board. Connell supports expanding the board's collections role but had wanted to steer clear of developing the computer system.

But Davis, a former controller, said he has confidence the board can handle the task.

Opponents also contend the new program has unknown costs, sets unrealistic deadlines for expanding enforcement operations and will rely on a computer system that may not be in operation for years.

Kathryn Dresslar of the Children's Advocacy Institute said she believes potential problems can be resolved.