AB 2395 California Assembly · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Child support: compromise of arrears program.

Summary

Existing law establishes a statewide compromise of arrears program pursuant to which the Department of Child Support Services may accept offers in compromise of child support arrears and interest accrued thereon owed to the state for reimbursement of aid paid pursuant to the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids Act. Existing law provides that if an obligor owes current child support, the offer in compromise shall require the obligor to be in compliance with the current support order for a set period of time before any arrears and interest accrued thereon may be compromised. Existing law grants the administrator of a local child support agency the authority to compromise an amount of child support arrears of up to $5,000. Existing law makes a determination that it would not be in the best interest of the state to accept or rescind an offer in compromise in satisfaction of child support arrears final and not subject to specified complaint resolution processes or subject to judicial review. This bill would instead provide that the offer in compromise may require the obligor to be in compliance with the current support order for a set period of time before any arrears and interest accrued thereon may be compromised. This bill would increase the existing authority to compromise an amount of child support arrears to $10,000. The bill would delete the above-described provision related to final determinations. The bill would, beginning July 1, 2027, require the department, in consultation with stakeholders, to promulgate regulations to implement uniform forms, standards, procedures, and notice and reporting requirements to ensure the uniform operation of the compromise of arrears program, as specified. Among other things, the bill would prohibit the uniform application from requiring the applicant to make an offer of repayment and would require the application to notify the applicant of their right to use a complaint resolution and state hearing process, as specified. The bill would require each local child support agency to include information about the compromise of arrears program on its internet website, as specified, and require the department to include in its regulations timeframes for program notices and procedures that ensure that the total time in between when an applicant submits an application and receives a final determination is no more than 180 days. The bill would require uniform eligibility and repayment standards and would require the establishment of reporting requirements to allow the department to evaluate the uniformity and effective of the program. By increasing the duties of local child support agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Bill status passed both 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2026

Committee Review

Aug 2026

Assembly Passage

May 2026

Senate Passage

Aug 2026

Governor

Introduced Feb 20, 2026 Last action Aug 25, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

08/27/26 - Enrolled → AB2395 · 1 edit

MINOR

No substantive policy changes were made between these two versions. The diff reflects a transition from the formal enrolled bill document (with official formatting, page numbers, and signature blocks) to a web page rendering of the same bill (with website navigation elements, search tools, and metadata). The legislative text, including all three sections amending and adding to the Family Code, is identical in both versions.

TECHNICAL

The document was reformatted from an official enrolled bill layout (with page numbers, chapter heading, and signature blocks) to a web page presentation (with navigation menus, quick search, bill tracking features, and a digest key showing Vote: Majority, Appropriation: No, Fiscal Committee: Yes, Local Program: Yes). No changes to the actual statutory language.

06/11/26 - Amended Senate → 08/27/26 - Enrolled · 6 edits · Aug 27, 2026

MODERATE

The enrolled version of AB 2395 makes several substantive changes from the Senate-amended version, primarily by removing specific processing timelines and eligibility factors from the statutory text and deferring them to future regulations. The bill still increases local agency compromise authority to $10,000 and requires uniform program operation, but gives the Department of Child Support Services more flexibility in setting detailed rules by January 1, 2028.

Scope change

The bill's scope is unchanged in terms of who it applies to (child support obligors with arrears owed to the state under CalWORKs), but the level of statutory detail was reduced. Specific timelines and eligibility factors that were previously hard-coded into the statute are now deferred to regulations, giving the department more discretion in how the program operates in practice.

REQUIREMENT

Removed specific processing timelines from the statute: the 30-day deadline for notifying applicants of incomplete applications, the 90-day deadline for acting on complete applications, and the no-waiting-period rule before reapplying. Only the 180-day total timeframe (from application to final determination) remains in the law, with details deferred to regulations.

The uniform repayment agreement is now explicitly described as 'mandatory' rather than simply 'uniform' for local agencies to use, making it clear that all agencies must use the same agreement form.

ELIGIBILITY

Removed eight specific factors that local child support agencies could consider when negotiating a repayment amount lower than what uniform standards would require. The removed factors were: anticipated income/payments/assets, anticipated collections without compromise, necessary expenditures not in eligibility standards, age of the arrearage, individual hardship, employment history and barriers, whether the order was based on imputed income, and incarceration history. The enrolled version simply requires the department to establish standards 'including factors to be considering when deviating from those standards.'

TIMELINE

Removed the requirement that local child support agencies provide written notice of repayment options within 60 days of receiving a complete application, along with the opportunity for applicants to submit additional information to support a lower repayment amount.

TECHNICAL

Simplified the reporting requirements language by removing 'for local child support agencies to submit on a regular basis' and instead requiring the department to establish reporting requirements regarding implementation of the program to evaluate uniformity and effectiveness.

Fixed minor typos: removed duplicate word 'order' in Section 17560(a), changed 'may may' to 'may' in Section 17560.5(b), and simplified the regulation deadline from 'No later than 180 days after the chapter date of the act that added this section, January 1, 2028' to simply 'No later than January 1, 2028.'

02/20/26 - Introduced → 06/11/26 - Amended Senate · 8 edits · Jun 11, 2026

MODERATE

The Senate amendment to AB 2395 makes several substantive changes to California's child support compromise of arrears program. Most significantly, it doubles the local agency compromise authority from $5,000 to $10,000, removes a provision that made department determinations final and unreviewable (restoring access to complaint resolution and potential judicial review), adds a specific operative date of July 1, 2027 for the uniform program requirements, and restructures timeline requirements from fixed statutory deadlines into a regulatory framework with an overall 180-day cap from application to final determination.

FISCAL

Increased the maximum amount local child support agencies can compromise from $5,000 to $10,000 without additional director approval.

ENFORCEMENT

Deleted the provision (former subdivision (g) of Section 17560) that made department determinations on offers in compromise final and not subject to the complaint resolution process or judicial review. This restores applicants' right to challenge denials through existing administrative and legal channels.

TIMELINE

Added a specific operative date of July 1, 2027 for Section 17560.5 (the uniform program requirements section), replacing the prior relative deadline of 180 days after chapter date with a fixed date of January 1, 2028 for regulation promulgation.

REQUIREMENT

Restructured application processing timelines: the introduced version required specific statutory deadlines (30 days to identify incomplete applications, 90 days to act on complete applications). The Senate amendment moved these into a regulatory framework requiring regulations to set timeframes ensuring total elapsed time from application submission to final determination does not exceed 180 days.

Made the uniform repayment agreement explicitly 'mandatory' rather than simply available for local agencies to use, strengthening statewide consistency.

ELIGIBILITY

Expanded the complaint resolution rights in the uniform application form to include both the 'complaint resolution and state hearing process' (previously only 'complaint resolution process') and extended coverage to 'any action or inaction' on an application (previously only 'any action').

SCOPE

Added 'the impact of Section 17504.2' as a factor the compromise program must consider alongside children's needs and obligor ability to pay, broadening the analytical framework for compromise decisions.

DEFINITION

Added language requiring the department's regulations to include 'factors to be considering when deviating from' the uniform eligibility and repayment standards, providing a regulatory hook for individualized assessments.

Floor votes · Senate Aug 24, 2026 · Assembly May 26, 2026

How they voted

30–10

Passed

Total votes 40

Aug 24, 2026

D Democratic30

30 Yea

100% Yea

R Republican10

10 Nay

100% Nay

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Aug 25, 2026

Lower · Passed

Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 59. Noes 13.).

lower

Aug 24, 2026

Introduced

In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending.

lower

Aug 24, 2026

Upper · Passed

Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 30. Noes 10.).

upper

Aug 13, 2026

Upper · Passed

From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 5. Noes 2.) (August 13).

upper

Aug 3, 2026

Committee

In committee: Referred to APPR. suspense file.

upper

Jun 29, 2026

Upper · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 4. Noes 1.) (June 29). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

upper

Jun 24, 2026

Upper · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on HUMAN S. (Ayes 11. Noes 1.) (June 23). Re-referred to Com. on HUMAN S.

upper

Jun 11, 2026

Introduced

From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on JUD.

upper

Jun 10, 2026

Committee

Referred to Coms. on JUD. and HUMAN S.

upper

May 26, 2026

Lower · Passed

Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 58. Noes 17.)

lower

May 14, 2026

Lower · Passed

From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 11. Noes 2.) (May 14).

lower

May 13, 2026

Committee

In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file.

lower

Apr 23, 2026

Lower · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 5. Noes 0.) (April 23). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

lower

Apr 8, 2026

Lower · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on HUM. S. (Ayes 10. Noes 2.) (April 7). Re-referred to Com. on HUM. S.

lower

Mar 16, 2026

Committee

Referred to Coms. on JUD. and HUM. S.

lower

Feb 21, 2026

Lower · Passed

From printer. May be heard in committee March 23.

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors