Idaho hits national news again, this time for resisting child support enforcement law

Idaho’s in the national news again, with this lead on a story in the New York Times today: “It took five years for negotiators to work out the details of a multinational treaty on child support that would make it easier to track delinquent parents around the world. It took only a couple of minutes for a committee of the Idaho Legislature to endanger America’s participation.”

The story notes the House Judiciary Committee’s 9-8 vote against the child support enforcement bill on the final day of this year’s legislative session, pointing out that all 50 states must accede to an international treaty, the 2007 Hague Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support, for American ratification to proceed.

“A major factor seems to be Idaho’s ornery streak, the part of the state’s identity that does not like the federal government — or, worse still, foreign governments — telling it what to do,” the Times writes. You can read their full story here .