More than 150,000 Mississippi children could avoid having their child support gambled away if lawmakers agree on proposals moving through the Legislature.

Lawmakers in both chambers of the Mississippi Legislature have advanced bills to intercept gambling and sports betting winnings from parents delinquent on child support. Some lawmakers have pushed for years to pass similar bills.

Federal data shows Mississippi has the worst child support collection rate in the nation and one of the highest rates of child poverty. The state collected just 53% of the support payments judges ordered parents to make in 2024, compared to 65% nationally.

There are 153,964 children in Mississippi whose custodial parents are owed child support, totaling $1.7 billion, according to data obtained by Sen. David Blount, the Democratic Chairman of the Senate Gaming Committee. He got those numbers, which run through Jan. 31, from the Mississippi Department of Human Services.

HB 520, authored by Rep. Jay McKnight, a Republican from Diamondhead, specifically targets cash gambling winnings and slot machine annuities. If a person has outstanding child support payments, casinos would be required to deduct the child support owed from the person’s winnings. SB 2369, authored by Rep. Walter Michael, a Republican from Ridgeland, contains many of the same provisions. 

The bills would require the state Gaming Commission to collaborate with MDHS, the state’s welfare agency that oversees the child support program, to maintain a database of individuals with outstanding child support.

Blount said the only difference between the House and Senate bills is that the House proposal allows people to challenge the withholding of their winnings in court. The Senate bill would allow people who have their winnings withheld to challenge their status on the database maintained by MDHS.

“I prefer the Senate bill, I hope they pass the Senate bill, but we want to get this done for the more than $1.5 billion of child support that is owed to the children of the state of Mississippi,” Blount said.

The proposals would mostly impact slot machine winnings of more than $2,000, Blount said, because gaming licensees are required to report those winnings to the Internal Revenue Service.

Similar laws already exist in several other states, including Louisiana. In the first nine years, the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services intercepted an average of nearly $1 million a year from casinos, according to the National Child Support Engagement Association.