Let children recoup their losses

Columbus Dispatch: A proposal that would allow the state of Ohio to seize casino winnings to pay back child support is based on common sense and fairness.

Those who haven’t been paying their required child support shouldn’t be out gambling to begin with, and any money they win should first go to feed and clothe the children they are neglecting.

House Bill 483 has passed the House, and has begun Senate hearings. It would allow winnings large enough to require reporting to the Internal Revenue Service to be withheld up to the entire amount of the winnings — so if someone wins $2,000 on a slot machine and owes more than that in back child support, he could go home empty-handed; his children would be the winners.

A law that would be fairly easy to implement, save taxpayers money and compel people to meet their obligations to their children sounds like a good deal. And if it makes people think twice about gambling away money that rightfully belongs to their children to begin with, that’s a laudable outcome, too.