II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1036

To amend parts A and D of title IV of the Social Security Act to give

States the option to pass through directly to a family receiving assistance

under the temporary assistance to needy families program all child support collected by the State and the option to disregard any child support

that the family receives in determining a family’s eligibility for, or

amount of, assistance under that program.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 13, 1999

Mr. KOHL (for himself, Mr. DODD, and Mr. ROCKEFELLER) introduced the

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

A BILL

To amend parts A and D of title IV of the Social Security

Act to give States the option to pass through directly

to a family receiving assistance under the temporary

assistance to needy families program all child support

collected by the State and the option to disregard any

child support that the family receives in determining

a family’s eligibility for, or amount of, assistance under

that program.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Children First Child

3 Support Reform Act of 1999’’.

4 SEC. 2. DISTRIBUTION AND TREATMENT OF CHILD SUP5 PORT COLLECTED BY THE STATE.

6 (a) STATE OPTION TO PASS ALL CHILD SUPPORT

7 COLLECTED DIRECTLY TO THE FAMILY.—

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 457 of the Social

9 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 657) is amended—

10 (A) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘(e) and

11 (f)’’ and inserting ‘‘(e), (f), and (g)’’; and

12 (B) by adding at the end the following:

13 ‘‘(g) STATE OPTION TO PASS THROUGH ALL SUP14 PORT COLLECTED TO THE FAMILY.—

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—At State option, subject to

16 paragraph (2), and subsections (a)(4), (b), (e), (d),

17 and (f), this section shall not apply to any amount

18 collected on behalf of a family as support by the

19 State and any amount so collected shall be distrib20 uted to the family.

21 ‘‘(2) INCOME PROTECTION REQUIREMENT.—A

22 State may not elect the option described in para23 graph (1) unless the State ensures that any amount

24 distributed to a family in accordance with that para25 graph is not included in the income of the family for

26 purposes of determining the eligibility of the family
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1 for, or the amount of, assistance under the State

2 program funded under part A until the family has

3 actually received the amount.

4 ‘‘(3) OPTION TO PASS THROUGH AMOUNTS COL5 LECTED PURSUANT TO A CONTINUED ASSIGN6 MENT.—At State option, any amount collected pur7 suant to an assignment continued under subsection

8 (b) may be distributed to the family in accordance

9 with paragraph (1).

10 ‘‘(4) RELEASE OF OBLIGATION TO PAY FED11 ERAL SHARE.—If a State that elects the option de12 scribed in paragraph (1) also elects to disregard

13 under section 408(a)(12)(B) at least 50 percent (de14 termined, at the option of the State, in the aggre15 gate or on a case-by-case basis) of the total amount

16 annually collected and distributed to all families in

17 accordance with paragraph (1) for purposes of deter18 mining the amount of assistance for such families

19 under the State program funded under part A, the

20 State is released from—

21 ‘‘(A) calculating the Federal share of the

22 amounts so distributed and disregarded; and

23 ‘‘(B) paying such share to the Federal

24 Government.’’.
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1 (2) AUTHORITY TO CLAIM PASSED THROUGH

2 AMOUNT FOR PURPOSES OF TANF MAINTENANCE

3 OF EFFORT REQUIREMENTS.—Section

4 409(a)(7)(B)(i)(I)(aa) of the Social Security Act (42

5 U.S.C. 609(a)(7)(B)(i)(I)(aa)) is amended by insert6 ing ‘‘, and, in the case of a State that elects under

7 section 457(g) to distribute any amount so collected

8 directly to the family, any amount so distributed (re9 gardless of whether the State also disregards that

10 amount under section 408(a)(12) in determining the

11 eligibility of the family for, or the amount of, such

12 assistance)’’ before the period.

13 (b) STATE OPTION TO DISREGARD CHILD SUPPORT

14 COLLECTED FOR PURPOSES OF DETERMINING ELIGI15 BILITY FOR, OR AMOUNT OF, TANF ASSISTANCE.—Sec16 tion 408(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 608(a))

17 is amended by adding at the end the following:

18 ‘‘(12) STATE OPTION TO DISREGARD CHILD

19 SUPPORT IN DETERMINING ELIGIBILITY FOR, OR

20 AMOUNT OF, ASSISTANCE.—

21 ‘‘(A) OPTION TO DISREGARD CHILD SUP22 PORT FOR PURPOSES OF DETERMINING ELIGI23 BILITY.—A State to which a grant is made

24 under section 403 may disregard any part of

25 any amount received by a family as a result of
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1 a child support obligation in determining the

2 family’s income for purposes of determining the

3 family’s eligibility for assistance under the

4 State program funded under this part.

5 ‘‘(B) OPTION TO DISREGARD CHILD SUP6 PORT IN DETERMINING AMOUNT OF ASSIST7 ANCE.—A State to which a grant is made under

8 section 403 may disregard any part of any

9 amount received by a family as a result of a

10 child support obligation in determining the

11 amount of assistance that the State will provide

12 to the family under the State program funded

13 under this part.’’.

14 (c) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT REQUIREMENT.—

15 Section 454 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 654)

16 is amended—

17 (1) in paragraph (32), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the

18 end;

19 (2) in paragraph (33), by striking the period

20 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

21 (3) by adding at the end the following:

22 ‘‘(34) provide that, if the State elects to dis23 tribute support directly to a family in accordance

24 with section 457(g), the State share of expenditures

25 under this part for a fiscal year shall not be less
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1 than an amount equal to the highest amount of such

2 share expended for fiscal year 1995, 1996, 1997, or

3 1998 (determined without regard to any amount ex4 pended that was eligible for payment under section

5 455(a)(3)).’’.

6 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 457(f) of

7 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 657(f)) is amended by

8 striking ‘‘Notwithstanding’’ and inserting ‘‘AMOUNTS

9 COLLECTED ON BEHALF OF CHILDREN IN FOSTER

10 CARE.—Notwithstanding’’.

11 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

12 this section take effect on October 1, 1999.

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