Before lawmakers adjourned last night they passed a bill which enters Alaska into a multinational child support agreement.
The United States has agreed to enforce other country’s child-support orders in return for a similar agreement when American citizens travel abroad.
The bill passed the Alaskan Senate yesterday 14-6 after earlier passing the House.
If the state didn’t sign, Governor Walker’s office says Alaska could have lost $19 million in federal funding for child support and $45 million in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.
Congress has asked all 50 states to sign the agreement before it will release child support funding.
Two-thirds of Alaska’s Child Support Services Division is funded by federal money.
