COLUMBUS — The Senate approved the state plan Wednesday to pay back $38 million in improperly withheld child support payments but set no deadline for full reimbursement.

        Child support advocates say they will push again for a time limit when the House considers the bill. The state estimates it will take 18 months for the state to repay the money.

        The Senate unanimously passed the bill on Wednesday and the House scheduled a committee hearing on it for today, just more than a week since Sen. Bill Harris, a Republican from Ashland, introduced it.

        House Speaker Larry Householder, a Republican from Glenford, said he expects the bill will be voted out of the House by the end of the month.

        The measure would put into effect Mr. Taft's executive order requiring counties to audit up to 160,000 child support cases, determine whether money is owed and reimburse families the amounts plus interest. The legislation requires the state to pay 6.5 percent in interest on reimbursements of at least $10. Interest is expected to cost the state another $6 million.

        The state admitted in February that it did not reprogram its child support computer system in accordance with the 1996 federal welfare reform law.

        As a result, the state improperly withheld millions in overdue child support payments and income tax refunds over three years from former welfare recipients.

        Sen. Mark Mallory, a Democrat from Cincinnati, argued that if a deadline were not met, officials should be forced to give lawmakers a reason, bringing a measure of accountability.

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