Republican presidential candidate Larry Elder has openly criticized the recommendation to eliminate Black fathers’ child support debt in California, a proposal by the state’s reparations task force.
Elder expressed concerns about the potential consequences for the Black family structure and the well-being of single mothers and their children.
In an interview with Fox News, Elder referred to the proposal as irresponsible, suggesting that it could harm the families it aims to support.
“It’s irresponsible,” Elder told Fox News this week. “It will probably hurt the very people that people on the left purport to care about.”
The final report of the California Reparations Task Force, spanning almost 1,100 pages, included the suggestion of eliminating interest on overdue child support payments and accrued interest on existing child support debt specifically for Black residents of the state. The report also proposed forgiving some low-income debt holders.
The report contends that the 10 percent interest charged by the state on child support arrears hinders Black men’s ability to access education, job training, employment opportunities, and housing due to the legal consequences associated with delinquency. The state’s interest rate is three and a half times higher than the national average, according to the report.
Penalties for unpaid child support include wage garnishment, property liens, negative impacts on credit scores and driver’s license suspension. Owing more than $2,500 in back child support could result in a felony charge for Californians.
The task force recommends amending California law to allow flexibility and forgiveness for child support debt based on a parent’s financial circumstances and ability to pay. It did not provide a remedy for single parents who might not receive the full child support payments owed to them.
Elder believes the proposal is absurd.
“There’s a reason why you have child support, and that is because you are, in my opinion, morally responsible, financially responsible for the children that you bring into the world,” Elder said. “If you forgive them from paying their child support in full, you’re probably going to create an even greater instance in which men irresponsibly breed knowing that they won’t be financially responsible for the children that they bring into the world.”
According to the report, African-Americans make up less than 7 percent of California’s population but account for about 18 percent of the parents who have accumulated child support debt in the state.
However, Elder railed about the task force alleging that it did not include diverse political views and was designed to just “extract money from other people.” It also paints Black people as “eternal victims in America,” who instead, he claims, lack accountability for their current state.
“I just see a bunch of people asking for money, a bunch of people making demands of people that had nothing to do with whatever plight they’re complaining about,” Elder said. “It’s asinine.”
The task force’s report represented two years of research into the decades of discrimination Black Californians and their ancestors have faced within the state. It provided a series of recommendations for compensating Black residents for the enduring impacts of slavery. The California state legislature will now evaluate the report and decide which aspects, including potential monetary compensation, to approve or reject.
