I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3453

To provide for the more effective enforcement of child support orders.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 14, 1996

Mrs. ROUKEMA (for herself, Mr. POMEROY, and Mr. BLUTE) introduced the

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means,

and in addition to the Committees on Banking and Financial Services,

the Judiciary, National Security, Transportation and Infrastructure,

International Relations, Economic and Educational Opportunities, and

Government Reform and Oversight, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To provide for the more effective enforcement of child

support orders.

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Child Support Enforce5 ment Reform Amendments of 1996’’.

6 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS.

7 The table of contents of this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title.

Sec. 2. Table of contents.
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Sec. 3. Reference to Social Security Act.

Subtitle A—Eligibility for Services; Distribution of Payments

Sec. 101. State obligation to provide child support enforcement services.

Sec. 102. Distribution of child support collections.

Sec. 103. Privacy safeguards.

Sec. 104. Rights to notification and hearings.

Subtitle B—Locate and Case Tracking

Sec. 111. State case registry.

Sec. 112. Collection and disbursement of support payments.

Sec. 113. State directory of new hires.

Sec. 114. Amendments concerning income withholding.

Sec. 115. Locator information from interstate networks.

Sec. 116. Expansion of the Federal parent locator service.

Sec. 117. Collection and use of social security numbers for use in child support

enforcement.

Subtitle C—Streamlining and Uniformity of Procedures

Sec. 121. Adoption of uniform State laws.

Sec. 122. Improvements to full faith and credit for child support orders.

Sec. 123. Administrative enforcement in interstate cases.

Sec. 124. Use of forms in interstate enforcement.

Sec. 125. State laws providing expedited procedures.

Subtitle D—Paternity Establishment

Sec. 131. State laws concerning paternity establishment.

Sec. 132. Outreach for voluntary paternity establishment.

Sec. 133. Cooperation by applicants for and recipients of temporary family assistance.

Subtitle E—Program Administration and Funding

Sec. 141. Performance-based incentives and penalties.

Sec. 142. Federal and State reviews and audits.

Sec. 143. Required reporting procedures.

Sec. 144. Automated data processing requirements.

Sec. 145. Technical assistance.

Sec. 146. Reports and data collection by the Secretary.

Subtitle F—Establishment and Modification of Support Orders

Sec. 151. Simplified process for review and adjustment of child support orders.

Sec. 152. Furnishing consumer reports for certain purposes relating to child

support.

Sec. 153. Nonliability for financial institutions providing financial records to

State child support enforcement agencies in child support

cases.

Subtitle G—Enforcement of Support Orders

Sec. 161. Internal Revenue Service collection of arrearages.

Sec. 162. Authority to collect support from Federal employees.
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Sec. 163. Enforcement of child support obligations of members of the Armed

Forces.

Sec. 164. Voiding of fraudulent transfers.

Sec. 165. Work requirement for persons owing past-due child support.

Sec. 166. Definition of support order.

Sec. 167. Reporting arrearages to credit bureaus.

Sec. 168. Liens.

Sec. 169. State law authorizing suspension of licenses.

Sec. 170. Denial of passports for nonpayment of child support.

Sec. 171. International child support enforcement.

Sec. 172. Financial institution data matches.

Sec. 173. Enforcement of orders against paternal or maternal grandparents in

cases of minor parents.

Sec. 174. Nondischargeability in bankruptcy of certain debts for the support of

a child.

Subtitle H—Medical Support

Sec. 176. Correction to ERISA definition of medical child support order.

Sec. 177. Enforcement of orders for health care coverage.

Subtitle I—Enhancing Responsibility and Opportunity for Non-Residential

Parents

Sec. 181. Grants to States for access and visitation programs.

Subtitle J—Effect of Enactment

Sec. 191. Effective dates.

1 SEC. 3. REFERENCE TO SOCIAL SECURITY ACT.

2 Except as otherwise specifically provided, wherever in

3 this Act an amendment is expressed in terms of an amend4 ment to or repeal of a section or other provision, the ref5 erence shall be considered to be made to that section or

6 other provision of the Social Security Act.

7 Subtitle A—Eligibility for Services;

8 Distribution of Payments

9 SEC. 101. STATE OBLIGATION TO PROVIDE CHILD SUPPORT

10 ENFORCEMENT SERVICES.

11 (a) STATE PLAN REQUIREMENTS.—Section 454 (42

12 U.S.C. 654) is amended—
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1 (1) by striking paragraph (4) and inserting the

2 following new paragraph:

3 ‘‘(4) provide that the State will—

4 ‘‘(A) provide services relating to the estab5 lishment of paternity or the establishment,

6 modification, or enforcement of child support

7 obligations, as appropriate, under the plan with

8 respect to—

9 ‘‘(i) each child for whom (I) assist10 ance is provided under the State program

11 funded under part A of this title, (II) ben12 efits or services for foster care mainte13 nance and adoption assistance are provided

14 under the State program funded under

15 part E of this title, or (III) medical assist16 ance is provided under the State plan ap17 proved under title XIX, unless the State

18 agency administering the plan determines

19 (in accordance with paragraph (29)) that

20 it is against the best interests of the child

21 to do so; and

22 ‘‘(ii) any other child, if an individual

23 applies for such services with respect to

24 the child; and
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1 ‘‘(B) enforce any support obligation estab2 lished with respect to—

3 ‘‘(i) a child with respect to whom the

4 State provides services under the plan; or

5 ‘‘(ii) the custodial parent of such a

6 child.’’; and

7 (2) in paragraph (6)—

8 (A) by striking ‘‘provide that’’ and insert9 ing ‘‘provide that—’’;

10 (B) by striking subparagraph (A) and in11 serting the following new subparagraph:

12 ‘‘(A) services under the plan shall be made

13 available to residents of other States on the

14 same terms as to residents of the State submit15 ting the plan;’’;

16 (C) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘on

17 individuals not receiving assistance under any

18 State program funded under part A’’ after

19 ‘‘such services shall be imposed’’;

20 (D) in each of subparagraphs (B), (C),

21 (D), and (E)—

22 (i) by indenting the subparagraph in

23 the same manner as, and aligning the left

24 margin of the subparagraph with the left
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1 margin of, the matter inserted by subpara2 graph (B) of this paragraph; and

3 (ii) by striking the final comma and

4 inserting a semicolon; and

5 (E) in subparagraph (E), by indenting

6 each of clauses (i) and (ii) 2 additional ems.

7 (b) CONTINUATION OF SERVICES FOR FAMILIES

8 CEASING TO RECEIVE ASSISTANCE UNDER THE STATE

9 PROGRAM FUNDED UNDER PART A.—Section 454 (42

10 U.S.C. 654) is amended—

11 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph

12 (23);

13 (2) by striking the period at the end of para14 graph (24) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

15 (3) by adding after paragraph (24) the follow16 ing new paragraph:

17 ‘‘(25) provide that if a family with respect to

18 which services are provided under the plan ceases to

19 receive assistance under the State program funded

20 under part A, the State shall provide appropriate no21 tice to the family and continue to provide such serv22 ices, subject to the same conditions and on the same

23 basis as in the case of other individuals to whom

24 services are furnished under the plan, except that an

25 application or other request to continue services
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1 shall not be required of such a family and paragraph

2 (6)(B) shall not apply to the family.’’.

3 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

4 (1) Section 452(b) (42 U.S.C. 652(b)) is

5 amended by striking ‘‘454(6)’’ and inserting

6 ‘‘454(4)’’.

7 (2) Section 452(g)(2)(A) (42 U.S.C.

8 652(g)(2)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘454(6)’’ each

9 place it appears and inserting ‘‘454(4)(A)(ii)’’.

10 (3) Section 466(a)(3)(B) (42 U.S.C.

11 666(a)(3)(B)) is amended by striking ‘‘in the case of

12 overdue support which a State has agreed to collect

13 under section 454(6)’’ and inserting ‘‘in any other

14 case’’.

15 (4) Section 466(e) (42 U.S.C. 666(e)) is

16 amended by striking ‘‘paragraph (4) or (6) of sec17 tion 454’’ and inserting ‘‘section 454(4)’’.

18 SEC. 102. DISTRIBUTION OF CHILD SUPPORT COLLEC19 TIONS.

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 457 (42 U.S.C. 657) is

21 amended to read as follows:

22 ‘‘SEC. 457. DISTRIBUTION OF COLLECTED SUPPORT.

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—An amount collected on behalf

24 of a family as support by a State pursuant to a plan ap25 proved under this part shall be distributed as follows:
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1 ‘‘(1) FAMILIES RECEIVING ASSISTANCE.—In the

2 case of a family receiving assistance from the State,

3 the State shall—

4 ‘‘(A) in the case of an amount so collected

5 that is attributable to a payment that is due for

6 a month, distribute to the family a sum equal

7 to the amount (if any) by which $50 exceeds

8 the total amount distributed to the family

9 under this subparagraph (or under section

10 457(b)(1), as in effect on the day before the

11 date of the enactment of the Child Support En12 forcement Reform Amendments of 1996) with

13 respect to the month;

14 ‘‘(B) pay to the Federal Government an

15 amount equal to—

16 ‘‘(i) the Federal share of the amount

17 so collected; minus

18 ‘‘(ii) the sum (if any) distributed to

19 the family pursuant to subparagraph (A)

20 from the amount so collected; and

21 ‘‘(C) retain, or distribute to the family, the

22 State share of the amount so collected.

23 ‘‘(2) FAMILIES THAT FORMERLY RECEIVED AS24 SISTANCE.—In the case of a family that formerly re25 ceived assistance from the State:
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1 ‘‘(A) CURRENT SUPPORT PAYMENTS.—To

2 the extent that the amount so collected does not

3 exceed the amount required to be paid to the

4 family for the month in which collected, the

5 State shall distribute the amount so collected to

6 the family.

7 ‘‘(B) PAYMENTS OF ARREARAGES.—To the

8 extent that the amount so collected exceeds the

9 amount required to be paid to the family for

10 the month in which collected, the State shall

11 distribute the amount so collected as follows:

12 ‘‘(i) DISTRIBUTION OF ARREARAGES

13 THAT ACCRUED AFTER THE FAMILY

14 CEASED TO RECEIVE ASSISTANCE.—

15 ‘‘(I) PRE-OCTOBER 1997.—The

16 provisions of this section (other than

17 subsection (b)(1)) as in effect and ap18 plied on the day before the date of the

19 enactment of the Child Support En20 forcement Reform Amendments of

21 1996 shall apply with respect to the

22 distribution of support arrearages

23 that—
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1 ‘‘(aa) accrued after the fam2 ily ceased to receive assistance,

3 and

4 ‘‘(bb) are collected before

5 October 1, 1997.

6 ‘‘(II) POST-SEPTEMBER 1997.—

7 With respect the amount so collected

8 on or after October 1, 1997, or before

9 such date, at the option of the

10 State—

11 ‘‘(aa) IN GENERAL.—The

12 State shall first distribute the

13 amount so collected (other than

14 any amount described in clause

15 (iv)) to the family to the extent

16 necessary to satisfy any support

17 arrearages with respect to the

18 family that accrued after the

19 family ceased to receive assist20 ance from the State.

21 ‘‘(bb) REIMBURSEMENT OF

22 GOVERNMENTS FOR ASSISTANCE

23 PROVIDED TO THE FAMILY.—

24 After the application of division

25 (aa) and clause (ii)(II)(aa) with
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1 respect to the amount so col2 lected, the State shall retain the

3 State share of the amount so col4 lected, and pay to the Federal

5 Government the Federal share

6 (as defined in subsection

7 (b)(2)(A)) of the amount so col8 lected, but only to the extent nec9 essary to reimburse amounts paid

10 to the family as assistance by the

11 State.

12 ‘‘(cc) DISTRIBUTION OF THE

13 REMAINDER TO THE FAMILY.—

14 To the extent that neither divi15 sion (aa) nor division (bb) applies

16 to the amount so collected, the

17 State shall distribute the amount

18 to the family.

19 ‘‘(ii) DISTRIBUTION OF ARREARAGES

20 THAT ACCRUED BEFORE THE FAMILY RE21 CEIVED ASSISTANCE.—

22 ‘‘(I) PRE-OCTOBER 2000.—The

23 provisions of this section (other than

24 subsection (b)(1)) as in effect and ap25 plied on the day before the date of the
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1 enactment of the Child Support En2 forcement Reform Amendments of

3 1996 shall apply with respect to the

4 distribution of support arrearages

5 that—

6 ‘‘(aa) accrued before the

7 family received assistance, and

8 ‘‘(bb) are collected before

9 October 1, 2000.

10 ‘‘(II) POST-SEPTEMBER 2000.—

11 Unless, based on the report required

12 by paragraph (4), the Congress deter13 mines otherwise, with respect to the

14 amount so collected on or after Octo15 ber 1, 2000, or before such date, at

16 the option of the State—

17 ‘‘(aa) IN GENERAL.—The

18 State shall first distribute the

19 amount so collected (other than

20 any amount described in clause

21 (iv)) to the family to the extent

22 necessary to satisfy any support

23 arrearages with respect to the

24 family that accrued before the
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1 family received assistance from

2 the State.

3 ‘‘(bb) REIMBURSEMENT OF

4 GOVERNMENTS FOR ASSISTANCE

5 PROVIDED TO THE FAMILY.—

6 After the application of clause

7 (i)(II)(aa) and division (aa) with

8 respect to the amount so col9 lected, the State shall retain the

10 State share of the amount so col11 lected, and pay to the Federal

12 Government the Federal share

13 (as defined in subsection (b)(2))

14 of the amount so collected, but

15 only to the extent necessary to

16 reimburse of the amounts paid to

17 the family as assistance by the

18 State.

19 ‘‘(cc) DISTRIBUTION OF THE

20 REMAINDER TO THE FAMILY.—

21 To the extent that neither divi22 sion (aa) nor division (bb) applies

23 to the amount so collected, the

24 State shall distribute the amount

25 to the family.
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1 ‘‘(iii) DISTRIBUTION OF ARREARAGES

2 THAT ACCRUED WHILE THE FAMILY RE3 CEIVED ASSISTANCE.—In the case of a

4 family described in this subparagraph, the

5 provisions of paragraph (1) shall apply

6 with respect to the distribution of support

7 arrearages that accrued while the family

8 received assistance.

9 ‘‘(iv) AMOUNTS COLLECTED PURSU10 ANT TO SECTION 464.—Notwithstanding

11 any other provision of this section, any

12 amount of support collected pursuant to

13 section 464 shall be retained by the State

14 to the extent necessary to reimburse

15 amounts paid to the family as assistance

16 by the State. The State shall pay to the

17 Federal Government the Federal share of

18 the amounts so retained. To the extent the

19 amount collected pursuant to section 464

20 exceeds the amount so retained, the State

21 shall distribute the excess to the family.

22 ‘‘(v) ORDERING RULES FOR DISTRIBU23 TIONS.—For purposes of this subpara24 graph, the State shall treat any support
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1 arrearages collected as accruing in the fol2 lowing order:

3 ‘‘(I) to the period after the fam4 ily ceased to receive assistance;

5 ‘‘(II) to the period before the

6 family received assistance; and

7 ‘‘(III) to the period while the

8 family was receiving assistance.

9 ‘‘(3) FAMILIES THAT NEVER RECEIVED ASSIST10 ANCE.—In the case of any other family, the State

11 shall distribute the amount so collected to the fam12 ily.

13 ‘‘(4) STUDY AND REPORT.—Not later than Oc14 tober 1, 1998, the Secretary shall report to the Con15 gress the Secretary’s findings with respect to—

16 ‘‘(A) whether the distribution of post-as17 sistance arrearages to families has been effec18 tive in moving people off of welfare and keeping

19 them off of welfare;

20 ‘‘(B) whether early implementation of a

21 pre-assistance arrearage program by some

22 states has been effective in moving people off of

23 welfare and keeping them off of welfare;

24 ‘‘(C) what the overall impact has been of

25 the amendments made by the Child Support
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1 Enforcement Reform Amendments of 1996 with

2 respect to child support enforcement in moving

3 people off of welfare and keeping them off of

4 welfare; and

5 ‘‘(D) based on the information and data

6 the Secretary has obtained, what changes, if

7 any, should be made in the policies related to

8 the distribution of child support arrearages.

9 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—As used in subsection (a):

10 ‘‘(1) ASSISTANCE.—The term ‘assistance from

11 the State’ means—

12 ‘‘(A) assistance under the State program

13 funded under part A; or

14 ‘‘(B) benefits under the State plan ap15 proved under part E.

16 ‘‘(2) FEDERAL SHARE.—The term ‘Federal

17 share’ means that portion of the amount collected

18 resulting from the application of the Federal medical

19 percentage in effect for the fiscal year in which the

20 amount is collected.

21 ‘‘(3) FEDERAL MEDICAL ASSISTANCE PERCENT22 AGE.—The term ‘Federal medical assistance per23 centage’ means—

24 ‘‘(A) the Federal medical assistance per25 centage (as defined in section 1118), in the case
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1 of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, and

2 American Samoa; or

3 ‘‘(B) the Federal medical assistance per4 centage (as defined in section 1905(b)) in the

5 case of any other State.

6 ‘‘(4) STATE SHARE.—The term ‘State share’

7 means 100 percent minus the Federal share.

8 ‘‘(c) HOLD HARMLESS PROVISION.—If the amounts

9 collected which could be retained by the State in the fiscal

10 year (to the extent necessary to reimburse the State for

11 amounts paid to families as assistance by the State) are

12 less than the State share of the amounts collected in fiscal

13 year 1995 (determined in accordance with section 457 as

14 in effect on the day before the date of the enactment of

15 the Child Support Enforcement Reform Amendments of

16 1996), the State share for the fiscal year shall be an

17 amount equal to the State share in fiscal year 1995.’’.

18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

19 (1) Section 464(a)(1) (42 U.S.C. 664(a)(1)) is

20 amended by striking ‘‘section 457(b)(4) or (d)(3)’’

21 and inserting ‘‘section 457’’.

22 (2) Section 454 (42 U.S.C. 654) is amended—

23 (A) in paragraph (11)—

24 (i) by striking ‘‘(11)’’ and inserting

25 ‘‘(11)(A)’’; and
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1 (ii) by inserting after the semicolon

2 ‘‘and’’; and

3 (B) by redesignating paragraph (12) as

4 subparagraph (B) of paragraph (11).

5 (c) EFFECTIVE DATES.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para7 graph (2), the amendments made by this section

8 shall be effective on October 1, 1996, or earlier at

9 the State’s option.

10 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The amend11 ments made by subsection (b)(2) shall become effec12 tive on the date of the enactment of this Act.

13 SEC. 103. PRIVACY SAFEGUARDS.

14 (a) STATE PLAN REQUIREMENT.—Section 454 (42

15 U.S.C. 654), as amended by section 101(b) of this Act,

16 is amended—

17 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph

18 (24);

19 (2) by striking the period at the end of para20 graph (25) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

21 (3) by adding after paragraph (25) the follow22 ing new paragraph:

23 ‘‘(26) will have in effect safeguards, applicable

24 to all confidential information handled by the State
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1 agency, that are designed to protect the privacy

2 rights of the parties, including—

3 ‘‘(A) safeguards against unauthorized use

4 or disclosure of information relating to proceed5 ings or actions to establish paternity, or to es6 tablish or enforce support;

7 ‘‘(B) prohibitions against the release of in8 formation on the whereabouts of 1 party to an9 other party against whom a protective order

10 with respect to the former party has been en11 tered; and

12 ‘‘(C) prohibitions against the release of in13 formation on the whereabouts of 1 party to an14 other party if the State has reason to believe

15 that the release of the information may result

16 in physical or emotional harm to the former

17 party.’’.

18 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by

19 subsection (a) shall become effective on October 1, 1997.

20 SEC. 104. RIGHTS TO NOTIFICATION AND HEARINGS.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 454 (42 U.S.C. 654), as

22 amended by section 102(b)(2) of this Act, is amended by

23 inserting after paragraph (11) the following new para24 graph:
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1 ‘‘(12) provide for the establishment of proce2 dures to require the State to provide individuals who

3 are applying for or receiving services under the State

4 plan, or who are parties to cases in which services

5 are being provided under the State plan—

6 ‘‘(A) with notice of all proceedings in

7 which support obligations might be established

8 or modified; and

9 ‘‘(B) with a copy of any order establishing

10 or modifying a child support obligation, or (in

11 the case of a petition for modification) a notice

12 of determination that there should be no change

13 in the amount of the child support award, with14 in 14 days after issuance of such order or de15 termination;’’.

16 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by

17 subsection (a) shall become effective on October 1, 1997.

18 Subtitle B—Locate and Case

19 Tracking

20 SEC. 111. STATE CASE REGISTRY.

21 Section 454A, as added by section 144(a)(2) of this

22 Act, is amended by adding at the end the following new

23 subsections:

24 ‘‘(e) STATE CASE REGISTRY.—
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1 ‘‘(1) CONTENTS.—The automated system re2 quired by this section shall include a registry (which

3 shall be known as the ‘State case registry’) that con4 tains records with respect to—

5 ‘‘(A) each case in which services are being

6 provided by the State agency under the State

7 plan approved under this part; and

8 ‘‘(B) each support order established or

9 modified in the State on or after October 1,

10 1998.

11 ‘‘(2) LINKING OF LOCAL REGISTRIES.—The

12 State case registry may be established by linking

13 local case registries of support orders through an

14 automated information network, subject to this sec15 tion.

16 ‘‘(3) USE OF STANDARDIZED DATA ELE17 MENTS.—Such records shall use standardized data

18 elements for both parents (such as names, social se19 curity numbers and other uniform identification

20 numbers, dates of birth, and case identification

21 numbers), and contain such other information (such

22 as on-case status) as the Secretary may require.

23 ‘‘(4) PAYMENT RECORDS.—Each case record in

24 the State case registry with respect to which services

25 are being provided under the State plan approved
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1 under this part and with respect to which a support

2 order has been established shall include a record

3 of—

4 ‘‘(A) the amount of monthly (or other peri5 odic) support owed under the order, and other

6 amounts (including arrearages, interest or late

7 payment penalties, and fees) due or overdue

8 under the order;

9 ‘‘(B) any amount described in subpara10 graph (A) that has been collected;

11 ‘‘(C) the distribution of such collected

12 amounts;

13 ‘‘(D) the birth date of any child for whom

14 the order requires the provision of support; and

15 ‘‘(E) the amount of any lien imposed with

16 respect to the order pursuant to section

17 466(a)(4).

18 ‘‘(5) UPDATING AND MONITORING.—The State

19 agency operating the automated system required by

20 this section shall promptly establish and maintain,

21 and regularly monitor, case records in the State case

22 registry with respect to which services are being pro23 vided under the State plan approved under this part,

24 on the basis of—
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1 ‘‘(A) information on administrative actions

2 and administrative and judicial proceedings and

3 orders relating to paternity and support;

4 ‘‘(B) information obtained from compari5 son with Federal, State, or local sources of in6 formation;

7 ‘‘(C) information on support collections

8 and distributions; and

9 ‘‘(D) any other relevant information.

10 ‘‘(f) INFORMATION COMPARISONS AND OTHER DIS11 CLOSURES OF INFORMATION.—The State shall use the

12 automated system required by this section to extract infor13 mation from (at such times, and in such standardized for14 mat or formats, as may be required by the Secretary), to

15 share and compare information with, and to receive infor16 mation from, other data bases and information compari17 son services, in order to obtain (or provide) information

18 necessary to enable the State agency (or the Secretary or

19 other State or Federal agencies) to carry out this part,

20 subject to section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code of

21 1986. Such information comparison activities shall include

22 the following:

23 ‘‘(1) FEDERAL CASE REGISTRY OF CHILD SUP24 PORT ORDERS.—Furnishing to the Federal Case

25 Registry of Child Support Orders established under
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1 section 453(h) (and update as necessary, with infor2 mation including notice of expiration of orders) the

3 minimum amount of information on child support

4 cases recorded in the State case registry that is nec5 essary to operate the registry (as specified by the

6 Secretary in regulations).

7 ‘‘(2) FEDERAL PARENT LOCATOR SERVICE.—

8 Exchanging information with the Federal Parent

9 Locator Service for the purposes specified in section

10 453.

11 ‘‘(3) TEMPORARY FAMILY ASSISTANCE AND

12 MEDICAID AGENCIES.—Exchanging information with

13 State agencies (of the State and of other States) ad14 ministering programs funded under part A, pro15 grams operated under State plans under title XIX,

16 and other programs designated by the Secretary, as

17 necessary to perform State agency responsibilities

18 under this part and under such programs.

19 ‘‘(4) INTRASTATE AND INTERSTATE INFORMA20 TION COMPARISONS.—Exchanging information with

21 other agencies of the State, agencies of other States,

22 and interstate information networks, as necessary

23 and appropriate to carry out (or assist other States

24 to carry out) the purposes of this part.’’.
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1 SEC. 112. COLLECTION AND DISBURSEMENT OF SUPPORT

2 PAYMENTS.

3 (a) STATE PLAN REQUIREMENT.—Section 454 (42

4 U.S.C. 654), as amended by sections 101(b) and 103(a)

5 of this Act, is amended—

6 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph

7 (25);

8 (2) by striking the period at the end of para9 graph (26) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

10 (3) by adding after paragraph (26) the follow11 ing new paragraph:

12 ‘‘(27) provide that, on and after October 1,

13 1998, the State agency will—

14 ‘‘(A) operate a State disbursement unit in

15 accordance with section 454B; and

16 ‘‘(B) have sufficient State staff (consisting

17 of State employees) and (at State option) con18 tractors reporting directly to the State agency

19 to—

20 ‘‘(i) monitor and enforce support col21 lections through the unit in cases being en22 forced by the State pursuant to section

23 454(4) (including carrying out the auto24 mated data processing responsibilities de25 scribed in section 454A(g)); and
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1 ‘‘(ii) take the actions described in sec2 tion 466(c)(1) in appropriate cases.’’.

3 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF STATE DISBURSEMENT

4 UNIT.—Part D of title IV (42 U.S.C. 651–669), as

5 amended by section 144(a)(2) of this Act, is amended by

6 inserting after section 454A the following new section:

7 ‘‘SEC. 454B. COLLECTION AND DISBURSEMENT OF SUP8 PORT PAYMENTS.

9 ‘‘(a) STATE DISBURSEMENT UNIT.—

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In order for a State to

11 meet the requirements of this section, the State

12 agency must establish and operate a unit (which

13 shall be known as the ‘State disbursement unit’) for

14 the collection and disbursement of payments under

15 support orders—

16 ‘‘(A) in all cases being enforced by the

17 State pursuant to section 454(4); and

18 ‘‘(B) in all cases not being enforced by the

19 State under this part in which the support

20 order is initially issued in the State on or after

21 January 1, 1994 and in which the wages of the

22 absent parent are subject to withholding pursu23 ant to section 466(a)(8)(B).

24 ‘‘(2) OPERATION.—The State disbursement

25 unit shall be operated—
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1 ‘‘(A) directly by the State agency (or 2 or

2 more State agencies under a regional coopera3 tive agreement), or (to the extent appropriate)

4 by a contractor responsible directly to the State

5 agency; and

6 ‘‘(B) except in cases described in para7 graph (1)(B), in coordination with the auto8 mated system established by the State pursuant

9 to section 454A.

10 ‘‘(3) LINKING OF LOCAL DISBURSEMENT

11 UNITS.—The State disbursement unit may be estab12 lished by linking local disbursement units through

13 an automated information network, subject to this

14 section, if the Secretary agrees that the system will

15 not cost more nor take more time to establish or op16 erate than a centralized system. In addition, employ17 ers shall be given 1 location to which income with18 holding is sent.

19 ‘‘(b) REQUIRED PROCEDURES.—The State disburse20 ment unit shall use automated procedures, electronic proc21 esses, and computer-driven technology to the maximum

22 extent feasible, efficient, and economical, for the collection

23 and disbursement of support payments, including proce24 dures—
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1 ‘‘(1) for receipt of payments from parents, em2 ployers, and other States, and for disbursements to

3 custodial parents and other obligees, the State

4 agency, and the agencies of other States;

5 ‘‘(2) for accurate identification of payments;

6 ‘‘(3) to ensure prompt disbursement of the cus7 todial parent’s share of any payment; and

8 ‘‘(4) to furnish to any parent, upon request,

9 timely information on the current status of support

10 payments under an order requiring payments to be

11 made by or to the parent.

12 ‘‘(c) TIMING OF DISBURSEMENTS.—

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para14 graph (2), the State disbursement unit shall distrib15 ute all amounts payable under section 457(a) within

16 2 business days after receipt from the employer or

17 other source of periodic income, if sufficient infor18 mation identifying the payee is provided.

19 ‘‘(2) PERMISSIVE RETENTION OF ARREAR20 AGES.—The State disbursement unit may delay the

21 distribution of collections toward arrearages until

22 the resolution of any timely appeal with respect to

23 such arrearages.
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1 ‘‘(d) BUSINESS DAY DEFINED.—As used in this sec2 tion, the term ‘business day’ means a day on which State

3 offices are open for regular business.’’.

4 (c) USE OF AUTOMATED SYSTEM.—Section 454A, as

5 added by section 144(a)(2) and as amended by section 111

6 of this Act, is amended by adding at the end the following

7 new subsection:

8 ‘‘(g) COLLECTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF SUPPORT

9 PAYMENTS.—

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The State shall use the

11 automated system required by this section, to the

12 maximum extent feasible, to assist and facilitate the

13 collection and disbursement of support payments

14 through the State disbursement unit operated under

15 section 454B, through the performance of functions,

16 including, at a minimum—

17 ‘‘(A) transmission of orders and notices to

18 employers (and other debtors) for the withhold19 ing of wages and other income—

20 ‘‘(i) within 2 business days after re21 ceipt from a court, another State, an em22 ployer, the Federal Parent Locator Service,

23 or another source recognized by the State

24 of notice of, and the income source subject

25 to, such withholding; and
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1 ‘‘(ii) using uniform formats prescribed

2 by the Secretary;

3 ‘‘(B) ongoing monitoring to promptly iden4 tify failures to make timely payment of support;

5 and

6 ‘‘(C) automatic use of enforcement proce7 dures (including procedures authorized pursu8 ant to section 466(c)) if payments are not

9 timely made.

10 ‘‘(2) BUSINESS DAY DEFINED.—As used in

11 paragraph (1), the term ‘business day’ means a day

12 on which State offices are open for regular busi13 ness.’’.

14 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

15 this section shall become effective on October 1, 1998.

16 SEC. 113. STATE DIRECTORY OF NEW HIRES.

17 (a) STATE PLAN REQUIREMENT.—Section 454 (42

18 U.S.C. 654), as amended by sections 101(b), 103(a), and

19 112(a) of this Act, is amended—

20 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph

21 (26);

22 (2) by striking the period at the end of para23 graph (27) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

24 (3) by adding after paragraph (27) the follow25 ing new paragraph:
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1 ‘‘(28) provide that, on and after October 1,

2 1997, the State will operate a State Directory of

3 New Hires in accordance with section 453A.’’.

4 (b) STATE DIRECTORY OF NEW HIRES.—Part D of

5 title IV (42 U.S.C. 651–669) is amended by inserting

6 after section 453 the following new section:

7 ‘‘SEC. 453A. STATE DIRECTORY OF NEW HIRES.

8 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—

10 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENT FOR STATES THAT

11 HAVE NO DIRECTORY.—Except as provided in

12 subparagraph (B), not later than October 1,

13 1997, each State shall establish an automated

14 directory (to be known as the ‘State Directory

15 of New Hires’) which shall contain information

16 supplied in accordance with subsection (b) by

17 employers on each newly hired employee.

18 ‘‘(B) STATES WITH NEW HIRE REPORTING

19 IN EXISTENCE.—A State which has a new hire

20 reporting law in existence on the date of the en21 actment of this section may continue to operate

22 under the State law, but the State must meet

23 the requirements of this section (other than

24 subsection (f)) not later than October 1, 1997.

25 ‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section:
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1 ‘‘(A) EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘employee’—

2 ‘‘(i) means an individual who is an

3 employee within the meaning of chapter 24

4 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; and

5 ‘‘(ii) does not include an employee of

6 a Federal or State agency performing in7 telligence or counterintelligence functions,

8 if the head of such agency has determined

9 that reporting pursuant to paragraph (1)

10 with respect to the employee could endan11 ger the safety of the employee or com12 promise an ongoing investigation or intel13 ligence mission.

14 ‘‘(B) EMPLOYER.—

15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘em16 ployer’ has the meaning given such term in

17 section 3401(d) of the Internal Revenue

18 Code of 1996 and includes any govern19 mental entity and any labor organization.

20 ‘‘(ii) LABOR ORGANIZATION.—The

21 term ‘labor organization’ shall have the

22 meaning given such term in section 2(5) of

23 the National Labor Relations Act, and in24 cludes any entity (also known as a ‘hiring

25 hall’) which is used by the organization
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1 and an employer to carry out requirements

2 described in section 8(f)(3) of such Act of

3 an agreement between the organization

4 and the employer.

5 ‘‘(b) EMPLOYER INFORMATION.—

6 ‘‘(1) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in

8 subparagraphs (B) and (C), each employer shall

9 furnish to the Directory of New Hires of the

10 State in which a newly hired employee works, a

11 report that contains the name, address, and so12 cial security number of the employee, and the

13 name and address of, and identifying number

14 assigned under section 6109 of the Internal

15 Revenue Code of 1986 to, the employer.

16 ‘‘(B) MULTISTATE EMPLOYERS.—An em17 ployer that has employees who are employed in

18 2 or more States and that transmits reports

19 magnetically or electronically may comply with

20 subparagraph (A) by designating 1 State in

21 which such employer has employees to which

22 the employer will transmit the report described

23 in subparagraph (A), and transmitting such re24 port to such State. Any employer that transmits

25 reports pursuant to this subparagraph shall no-
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1 tify the Secretary in writing as to which State

2 such employer designates for the purpose of

3 sending reports.

4 ‘‘(C) FEDERAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOY5 ERS.—Any department, agency, or instrumen6 tality of the United States shall comply with

7 subparagraph (A) by transmitting the report

8 described in subparagraph (A) to the National

9 Directory of New Hires established pursuant to

10 section 453.

11 ‘‘(2) TIMING OF REPORT.—Each State may

12 provide the time within which the report required by

13 paragraph (1) shall be made with respect to an em14 ployee, but such report shall be made—

15 ‘‘(A) not later than 20 days after the date

16 the employer hires the employee; or

17 ‘‘(B) in the case of an employer transmit18 ting reports magnetically or electronically, by 2

19 monthly transmissions (if necessary) not less

20 than 12 days nor more than 16 days apart.

21 ‘‘(c) REPORTING FORMAT AND METHOD.—Each re22 port required by subsection (b) shall be made on a

23 W–4 form or, at the option of the employer, an equivalent

24 form, and may be transmitted by 1st class mail, magneti25 cally, or electronically.
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1 ‘‘(d) CIVIL MONEY PENALTIES ON NONCOMPLYING

2 EMPLOYERS.—The State shall have the option to set a

3 State civil money penalty which shall be less than—

4 ‘‘(1) $25; or

5 ‘‘(2) $500 if, under State law, the failure is the

6 result of a conspiracy between the employer and the

7 employee to not supply the required report or to

8 supply a false or incomplete report.

9 ‘‘(e) ENTRY OF EMPLOYER INFORMATION.—Infor10 mation shall be entered into the data base maintained by

11 the State Directory of New Hires within 5 business days

12 of receipt from an employer pursuant to subsection (b).

13 ‘‘(f) INFORMATION COMPARISONS.—

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than May 1,

15 1998, an agency designated by the State shall, di16 rectly or by contract, conduct automated compari17 sons of the social security numbers reported by em18 ployers pursuant to subsection (b) and the social se19 curity numbers appearing in the records of the State

20 case registry for cases being enforced under the

21 State plan.

22 ‘‘(2) NOTICE OF MATCH.—When an information

23 comparison conducted under paragraph (1) reveals a

24 match with respect to the social security number of

25 an individual required to provide support under a
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1 support order, the State Directory of New Hires

2 shall provide the agency administering the State

3 plan approved under this part of the appropriate

4 State with the name, address, and social security

5 number of the employee to whom the social security

6 number is assigned, and the name of, and identify7 ing number assigned under section 6109 of the In8 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 to, the employer.

9 ‘‘(g) TRANSMISSION OF INFORMATION.—

10 ‘‘(1) TRANSMISSION OF WAGE WITHHOLDING

11 NOTICES TO EMPLOYERS.—Within 2 business days

12 after the date information regarding a newly hired

13 employee is entered into the State Directory of New

14 Hires, the State agency enforcing the employee’s

15 child support obligation shall transmit a notice to

16 the employer of the employee directing the employer

17 to withhold from the wages of the employee an

18 amount equal to the monthly (or other periodic)

19 child support obligation (including any past due sup20 port obligation) of the employee, unless the employ21 ee’s wages are not subject to withholding pursuant

22 to section 466(b)(3).

23 ‘‘(2) TRANSMISSIONS TO THE NATIONAL DIREC24 TORY OF NEW HIRES.—
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1 ‘‘(A) NEW HIRE INFORMATION.—Within 3

2 business days after the date information re3 garding a newly hired employee is entered into

4 the State Directory of New Hires, the State Di5 rectory of New Hires shall furnish the informa6 tion to the National Directory of New Hires.

7 ‘‘(B) WAGE AND UNEMPLOYMENT COM8 PENSATION INFORMATION.—The State Direc9 tory of New Hires shall, on a quarterly basis,

10 furnish to the National Directory of New Hires

11 extracts of the reports required under section

12 303(a)(6) to be made to the Secretary of Labor

13 concerning the wages and unemployment com14 pensation paid to individuals, by such dates, in

15 such format, and containing such information

16 as the Secretary of Health and Human Services

17 shall specify in regulations.

18 ‘‘(3) BUSINESS DAY DEFINED.—As used in this

19 subsection, the term ‘business day’ means a day on

20 which State offices are open for regular business.

21 ‘‘(h) OTHER USES OF NEW HIRE INFORMATION.—

22 ‘‘(1) LOCATION OF CHILD SUPPORT OBLI23 GORS.—The agency administering the State plan ap24 proved under this part shall use information received

25 pursuant to subsection (f)(2) to locate individuals
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1 for purposes of establishing paternity and establish2 ing, modifying, and enforcing child support obliga3 tions.

4 ‘‘(2) VERIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY FOR CER5 TAIN PROGRAMS.—A State agency responsible for

6 administering a program specified in section 1137(b)

7 shall have access to information reported by employ8 ers pursuant to subsection (b) of this section for

9 purposes of verifying eligibility for the program.

10 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATION OF EMPLOYMENT SECU11 RITY AND WORKERS’ COMPENSATION.—State agen12 cies operating employment security and workers’

13 compensation programs shall have access to informa14 tion reported by employers pursuant to subsection

15 (b) for the purposes of administering such pro16 grams.’’.

17 (c) QUARTERLY WAGE REPORTING.—Section

18 1137(a)(3) (42 U.S.C. 1320b–7(a)(3)) is amended—

19 (1) by inserting ‘‘(including State and local gov20 ernmental entities and labor organizations (as de21 fined in section 453A(a)(2)(B)(iii))’’ after ‘‘employ22 ers’’; and

23 (2) by inserting ‘‘, and except that no report

24 shall be filed with respect to an employee of a State

25 or local agency performing intelligence or counter-
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1 intelligence functions, if the head of such agency has

2 determined that filing such a report could endanger

3 the safety of the employee or compromise an ongo4 ing investigation or intelligence mission’’ after

5 ‘‘paragraph (2)’’.

6 SEC. 114. AMENDMENTS CONCERNING INCOME WITHHOLD7 ING.

8 (a) MANDATORY INCOME WITHHOLDING.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 466(a)(1) (42

10 U.S.C. 666(a)(1)) is amended to read as follows:

11 ‘‘(1)(A) Procedures described in subsection (b)

12 for the withholding from income of amounts payable

13 as support in cases subject to enforcement under the

14 State plan.

15 ‘‘(B) Procedures under which the wages of a

16 person with a support obligation imposed by a sup17 port order issued (or modified) in the State before

18 October 1, 1996, if not otherwise subject to with19 holding under subsection (b), shall become subject to

20 withholding as provided in subsection (b) if arrear21 ages occur, without the need for a judicial or admin22 istrative hearing.’’.

23 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

24 (A) Section 466(b) (42 U.S.C. 666(b)) is

25 amended in the matter preceding paragraph
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1 (1), by striking ‘‘subsection (a)(1)’’ and insert2 ing ‘‘subsection (a)(1)(A)’’.

3 (B) Section 466(b)(4) (42 U.S.C.

4 666(b)(4)) is amended to read as follows:

5 ‘‘(4)(A) Such withholding must be carried out

6 in full compliance with all procedural due process re7 quirements of the State, and the State must send

8 notice to each noncustodial parent to whom para9 graph (1) applies—

10 ‘‘(i) that the withholding has commenced;

11 and

12 ‘‘(ii) of the procedures to follow if the non13 custodial parent desires to contest such with14 holding on the grounds that the withholding or

15 the amount withheld is improper due to a mis16 take of fact.

17 ‘‘(B) The notice under subparagraph (A) of this

18 paragraph shall include the information provided to

19 the employer under paragraph (6)(A).’’.

20 (C) Section 466(b)(5) (42 U.S.C.

21 666(b)(5)) is amended by striking all that fol22 lows ‘‘administered by’’ and inserting ‘‘the

23 State through the State disbursement unit es24 tablished pursuant to section 454B, in accord25 ance with the requirements of section 454B.’’.
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1 (D) Section 466(b)(6)(A) (42 U.S.C.

2 666(b)(6)(A)) is amended—

3 (i) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘to the

4 appropriate agency’’ and all that follows

5 and inserting ‘‘to the State disbursement

6 unit within 2 business days after the date

7 the amount would (but for this subsection)

8 have been paid or credited to the employee,

9 for distribution in accordance with this

10 part. The employer shall comply with the

11 procedural rules relating to income with12 holding of the State in which the employee

13 works, regardless of the State where the

14 notice originates.’’.

15 (ii) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘be in

16 a standard format prescribed by the Sec17 retary, and’’ after ‘‘shall’’; and

18 (iii) by adding at the end the follow19 ing new clause:

20 ‘‘(iii) As used in this subparagraph, the term

21 ‘business day’ means a day on which State offices

22 are open for regular business.’’.

23 (E) Section 466(b)(6)(D) (42 U.S.C.

24 666(b)(6)(D)) is amended by striking ‘‘any em-
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1 ployer’’ and all that follows and inserting ‘‘any

2 employer who—

3 ‘‘(i) discharges from employment, refuses

4 to employ, or takes disciplinary action against

5 any noncustodial parent subject to wage with6 holding required by this subsection because of

7 the existence of such withholding and the obli8 gations or additional obligations which it im9 poses upon the employer; or

10 ‘‘(ii) fails to withhold support from wages,

11 or to pay such amounts to the State disburse12 ment unit in accordance with this subsection.’’.

13 (F) Section 466(b) (42 U.S.C. 666(b)) is

14 amended by adding at the end the following

15 new paragraph:

16 ‘‘(11) Procedures under which the agency ad17 ministering the State plan approved under this part

18 may execute a withholding order without advance

19 notice to the obligor, including issuing the withhold20 ing order through electronic means.’’.

21 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 466(c) (42

22 U.S.C. 666(c)) is repealed.
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1 SEC. 115. LOCATOR INFORMATION FROM INTERSTATE NET2 WORKS.

3 Section 466(a) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)) is amended by

4 adding at the end the following new paragraph:

5 ‘‘(12) LOCATOR INFORMATION FROM INTER6 STATE NETWORKS.—Procedures to ensure that all

7 Federal and State agencies conducting activities

8 under this part have access to any system used by

9 the State to locate an individual for purposes relat10 ing to motor vehicles or law enforcement.’’.

11 SEC. 116. EXPANSION OF THE FEDERAL PARENT LOCATOR

12 SERVICE.

13 (a) EXPANDED AUTHORITY TO LOCATE INDIVID14 UALS AND ASSETS.—Section 453 (42 U.S.C. 653) is

15 amended—

16 (1) in subsection (a), by striking all that follows

17 ‘‘subsection (c))’’ and inserting ‘‘, for the purpose of

18 establishing parentage, establishing, setting the

19 amount of, modifying, or enforcing child support ob20 ligations, or enforcing child custody or visitation or21 ders—

22 ‘‘(1) information on, or facilitating the discov23 ery of, the location of any individual—

24 ‘‘(A) who is under an obligation to pay

25 child support or provide child custody or visita26 tion rights;
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1 ‘‘(B) against whom such an obligation is

2 sought;

3 ‘‘(C) to whom such an obligation is owed,

4 including the individual’s social security number (or

5 numbers), most recent address, and the name, ad6 dress, and employer identification number of the in7 dividual’s employer;

8 ‘‘(2) information on the individual’s wages (or

9 other income) from, and benefits of, employment (in10 cluding rights to or enrollment in group health care

11 coverage); and

12 ‘‘(3) information on the type, status, location,

13 and amount of any assets of, or debts owed by or

14 to, any such individual.’’; and

15 (2) in subsection (b)—

16 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1),

17 by striking ‘‘social security’’ and all that follows

18 through ‘‘absent parent’’ and inserting ‘‘infor19 mation described in subsection (a)’’; and

20 (B) in the flush paragraph at the end, by

21 adding the following: ‘‘No information shall be

22 disclosed to any person if the State has notified

23 the Secretary that the State has reasonable evi24 dence of domestic violence or child abuse and

25 the disclosure of such information could be
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1 harmful to the custodial parent or the child of

2 such parent. Information received or transmit3 ted pursuant to this section shall be subject to

4 the safeguard provisions contained in section

5 454(26).’’.

6 (b) AUTHORIZED PERSON FOR INFORMATION RE7 GARDING VISITATION RIGHTS.—Section 453(c) (42

8 U.S.C. 653(c)) is amended—

9 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘support’’ and

10 inserting ‘‘support or to seek to enforce orders pro11 viding child custody or visitation rights’’; and

12 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘, or any

13 agent of such court; and’’ and inserting ‘‘or to issue

14 an order against a resident parent for child custody

15 or visitation rights, or any agent of such court;’’.

16 (c) REIMBURSEMENT FOR INFORMATION FROM FED17 ERAL AGENCIES.—Section 453(e)(2) (42 U.S.C.

18 653(e)(2)) is amended in the 4th sentence by inserting

19 ‘‘in an amount which the Secretary determines to be rea20 sonable payment for the information exchange (which

21 amount shall not include payment for the costs of obtain22 ing, compiling, or maintaining the information)’’ before

23 the period.
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1 (d) REIMBURSEMENT FOR REPORTS BY STATE

2 AGENCIES.—Section 453 (42 U.S.C. 653) is amended by

3 adding at the end the following new subsection:

4 ‘‘(g) REIMBURSEMENT FOR REPORTS BY STATE

5 AGENCIES.—The Secretary may reimburse Federal and

6 State agencies for the costs incurred by such entities in

7 furnishing information requested by the Secretary under

8 this section in an amount which the Secretary determines

9 to be reasonable payment for the information exchange

10 (which amount shall not include payment for the costs of

11 obtaining, compiling, or maintaining the information).’’.

12 (e) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

13 (1) Sections 452(a)(9), 453(a), 453(b), 463(a),

14 463(e), and 463(f) (42 U.S.C. 652(a)(9), 653(a),

15 653(b), 663(a), 663(e), and 663(f)) are each amend16 ed by inserting ‘‘Federal’’ before ‘‘Parent’’ each

17 place such term appears.

18 (2) Section 453 (42 U.S.C. 653) is amended in

19 the heading by adding ‘‘FEDERAL’’ before ‘‘PAR20 ENT’’.

21 (f) NEW COMPONENTS.—Section 453 (42 U.S.C.

22 653), as amended by subsection (d) of this section, is

23 amended by adding at the end the following new sub24 sections:
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1 ‘‘(h) FEDERAL CASE REGISTRY OF CHILD SUPPORT

2 ORDERS.—

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than October 1,

4 1998, in order to assist States in administering pro5 grams under State plans approved under this part

6 and programs funded under part A, and for the

7 other purposes specified in this section, the Sec8 retary shall establish and maintain in the Federal

9 Parent Locator Service an automated registry

10 (which shall be known as the ‘Federal Case Registry

11 of Child Support Orders’), which shall contain ab12 stracts of support orders and other information de13 scribed in paragraph (2) with respect to each case

14 in each State case registry maintained pursuant to

15 section 454A(e), as furnished (and regularly up16 dated), pursuant to section 454A(f), by State agen17 cies administering programs under this part.

18 ‘‘(2) CASE INFORMATION.—The information re19 ferred to in paragraph (1) with respect to a case

20 shall be such information as the Secretary may

21 specify in regulations (including the names, social

22 security numbers or other uniform identification

23 numbers, and State case identification numbers) to

24 identify the individuals who owe or are owed support

25 (or with respect to or on behalf of whom support ob-
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1 ligations are sought to be established), and the State

2 or States which have the case.

3 ‘‘(i) NATIONAL DIRECTORY OF NEW HIRES.—

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In order to assist States in

5 administering programs under State plans approved

6 under this part and programs funded under part A,

7 and for the other purposes specified in this section,

8 the Secretary shall, not later than October 1, 1996,

9 establish and maintain in the Federal Parent Loca10 tor Service an automated directory to be known as

11 the National Directory of New Hires, which shall

12 contain the information supplied pursuant to section

13 453A(g)(2).

14 ‘‘(2) ENTRY OF DATA.—Information shall be

15 entered into the data base maintained by the Na16 tional Directory of New Hires within 2 business

17 days of receipt pursuant to section 453A(g)(2).

18 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATION OF FEDERAL TAX

19 LAWS.—The Secretary of the Treasury shall have

20 access to the information in the National Directory

21 of New Hires for purposes of administering section

22 32 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or the ad23 vance payment of the earned income tax credit

24 under section 3507 of such Code, and verifying a

25 claim with respect to employment in a tax return.
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1 ‘‘(4) LIST OF MULTISTATE EMPLOYERS.—The

2 Secretary shall maintain within the National Direc3 tory of New Hires a list of multistate employers that

4 report information regarding newly hired employees

5 pursuant to section 453A(b)(1)(B), and the State

6 which each such employer has designated to receive

7 such information.

8 ‘‘(j) INFORMATION COMPARISONS AND OTHER DIS9 CLOSURES.—

10 ‘‘(1) VERIFICATION BY SOCIAL SECURITY AD11 MINISTRATION.—

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall

13 transmit information on individuals and em14 ployers maintained under this section to the So15 cial Security Administration to the extent nec16 essary for verification in accordance with sub17 paragraph (B).

18 ‘‘(B) VERIFICATION BY SSA.—The Social

19 Security Administration shall verify the accu20 racy of, correct, or supply to the extent pos21 sible, and report to the Secretary, the following

22 information supplied by the Secretary pursuant

23 to subparagraph (A):

24 ‘‘(i) The name, social security num25 ber, and birth date of each such individual.
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1 ‘‘(ii) The employer identification num2 ber of each such employer.

3 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION COMPARISONS.—For the

4 purpose of locating individuals in a paternity estab5 lishment case or a case involving the establishment,

6 modification, or enforcement of a support order, the

7 Secretary shall—

8 ‘‘(A) compare information in the National

9 Directory of New Hires against information in

10 the support case abstracts in the Federal Case

11 Registry of Child Support Orders not less often

12 than every 2 business days; and

13 ‘‘(B) within 2 such days after such a com14 parison reveals a match with respect to an indi15 vidual, report the information to the State

16 agency responsible for the case.

17 ‘‘(3) INFORMATION COMPARISONS AND DISCLO18 SURES OF INFORMATION IN ALL REGISTRIES FOR

19 TITLE IV PROGRAM PURPOSES.—To the extent and

20 with the frequency that the Secretary determines to

21 be effective in assisting States to carry out their re22 sponsibilities under programs operated under this

23 part and programs funded under part A, the Sec24 retary shall—
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1 ‘‘(A) compare the information in each com2 ponent of the Federal Parent Locator Service

3 maintained under this section against the infor4 mation in each other such component (other

5 than the comparison required by paragraph

6 (2)), and report instances in which such a com7 parison reveals a match with respect to an indi8 vidual to State agencies operating such pro9 grams; and

10 ‘‘(B) disclose information in such registries

11 to such State agencies.

12 ‘‘(4) PROVISION OF NEW HIRE INFORMATION

13 TO THE SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION.—The

14 National Directory of New Hires shall provide the

15 Commissioner of Social Security with all information

16 in the National Directory, which shall be used to de17 termine the accuracy of payments under the supple18 mental security income program under title XVI and

19 in connection with benefits under title II.

20 ‘‘(5) RESEARCH.—The Secretary may provide

21 access to information reported by employers pursu22 ant to section 453A(b) for research purposes found

23 by the Secretary to be likely to contribute to achiev24 ing the purposes of part A or this part, but without

25 personal identifiers.
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1 ‘‘(k) FEES.—

2 ‘‘(1) FOR SSA VERIFICATION.—The Secretary

3 shall reimburse the Commissioner of Social Security,

4 at a rate negotiated between the Secretary and the

5 Commissioner, for the costs incurred by the Com6 missioner in performing the verification services de7 scribed in subsection (j).

8 ‘‘(2) FOR INFORMATION FROM STATE DIREC9 TORIES OF NEW HIRES.—The Secretary shall reim10 burse costs incurred by State directories of new

11 hires in furnishing information as required by sub12 section (j)(3), at rates which the Secretary deter13 mines to be reasonable (which rates shall not include

14 payment for the costs of obtaining, compiling, or

15 maintaining such information).

16 ‘‘(3) FOR INFORMATION FURNISHED TO STATE

17 AND FEDERAL AGENCIES.—A State or Federal agen18 cy that receives information from the Secretary pur19 suant to this section shall reimburse the Secretary

20 for costs incurred by the Secretary in furnishing the

21 information, at rates which the Secretary determines

22 to be reasonable (which rates shall include payment

23 for the costs of obtaining, verifying, maintaining,

24 and comparing the information).
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1 ‘‘(l) RESTRICTION ON DISCLOSURE AND USE.—In2 formation in the Federal Parent Locator Service, and in3 formation resulting from comparisons using such informa4 tion, shall not be used or disclosed except as expressly pro5 vided in this section, subject to section 6103 of the Inter6 nal Revenue Code of 1986.

7 ‘‘(m) INFORMATION INTEGRITY AND SECURITY.—

8 The Secretary shall establish and implement safeguards

9 with respect to the entities established under this section

10 designed to—

11 ‘‘(1) ensure the accuracy and completeness of

12 information in the Federal Parent Locator Service;

13 and

14 ‘‘(2) restrict access to confidential information

15 in the Federal Parent Locator Service to authorized

16 persons, and restrict use of such information to au17 thorized purposes.

18 ‘‘(n) FEDERAL GOVERNMENT REPORTING.—Each

19 department, agency, and instrumentality of the United

20 States shall on a quarterly basis report to the Federal

21 Parent Locator Service the name and social security num22 ber of each employee and the wages paid to the employee

23 during the previous quarter, except that such a report

24 shall not be filed with respect to an employee of a depart25 ment, agency, or instrumentality performing intelligence
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1 or counterintelligence functions, if the head of such de2 partment, agency, or instrumentality has determined that

3 filing such a report could endanger the safety of the em4 ployee or compromise an ongoing investigation or intel5 ligence mission.’’.

6 (g) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

7 (1) TO PART D OF TITLE IV OF THE SOCIAL SE8 CURITY ACT.—

9 (A) Section 454(8)(B) (42 U.S.C.

10 654(8)(B)) is amended to read as follows:

11 ‘‘(B) the Federal Parent Locator Service

12 established under section 453;’’.

13 (B) Section 454(13) (42 U.S.C.654(13)) is

14 amended by inserting ‘‘and provide that infor15 mation requests by parents who are residents of

16 other States be treated with the same priority

17 as requests by parents who are residents of the

18 State submitting the plan’’ before the semi19 colon.

20 (2) TO FEDERAL UNEMPLOYMENT TAX ACT.—

21 Section 3304(a)(16) of the Internal Revenue Code of

22 1986 is amended—

23 (A) by striking ‘‘Secretary of Health, Edu24 cation, and Welfare’’ each place such term ap-
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1 pears and inserting ‘‘Secretary of Health and

2 Human Services’’;

3 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking

4 ‘‘such information’’ and all that follows and in5 serting ‘‘information furnished under subpara6 graph (A) or (B) is used only for the purposes

7 authorized under such subparagraph;’’;

8 (C) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub9 paragraph (A);

10 (D) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as

11 subparagraph (C); and

12 (E) by inserting after subparagraph (A)

13 the following new subparagraph:

14 ‘‘(B) wage and unemployment compensa15 tion information contained in the records of

16 such agency shall be furnished to the Secretary

17 of Health and Human Services (in accordance

18 with regulations promulgated by such Sec19 retary) as necessary for the purposes of the Na20 tional Directory of New Hires established under

21 section 453(i) of the Social Security Act, and’’.

22 (3) TO STATE GRANT PROGRAM UNDER TITLE

23 III OF THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACT.—Subsection (h)

24 of section 303 (42 U.S.C. 503) is amended to read

25 as follows:
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1 ‘‘(h)(1) The State agency charged with the adminis2 tration of the State law shall, on a reimbursable basis—

3 ‘‘(A) disclose quarterly, to the Secretary of

4 Health and Human Services wage and claim infor5 mation, as required pursuant to section 453(i)(1),

6 contained in the records of such agency;

7 ‘‘(B) ensure that information provided pursuant

8 to subparagraph (A) meets such standards relating

9 to correctness and verification as the Secretary of

10 Health and Human Services, with the concurrence

11 of the Secretary of Labor, may find necessary; and

12 ‘‘(C) establish such safeguards as the Secretary

13 of Labor determines are necessary to insure that in14 formation disclosed under subparagraph (A) is used

15 only for purposes of section 453(i)(1) in carrying out

16 the child support enforcement program under title

17 IV.

18 ‘‘(2) Whenever the Secretary of Labor, after reason19 able notice and opportunity for hearing to the State agen20 cy charged with the administration of the State law, finds

21 that there is a failure to comply substantially with the re22 quirements of paragraph (1), the Secretary of Labor shall

23 notify such State agency that further payments will not

24 be made to the State until the Secretary of Labor is satis25 fied that there is no longer any such failure. Until the
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1 Secretary of Labor is so satisfied, the Secretary shall

2 make no future certification to the Secretary of the Treas3 ury with respect to the State.

4 ‘‘(3) For purposes of this subsection—

5 ‘‘(A) the term ‘wage information’ means infor6 mation regarding wages paid to an individual, the

7 social security account number of such individual,

8 and the name, address, State, and the Federal em9 ployer identification number of the employer paying

10 such wages to such individual; and

11 ‘‘(B) the term ‘claim information’ means infor12 mation regarding whether an individual is receiving,

13 has received, or has made application for, unemploy14 ment compensation, the amount of any such com15 pensation being received (or to be received by such

16 individual), and the individual’s current (or most re17 cent) home address.’’.

18 (4) DISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN INFORMATION TO

19 AGENTS OF CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT AGEN20 CIES.—

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (6) of sec22 tion 6103(l) of the Internal Revenue Code of

23 1986 (relating to disclosure of return informa24 tion to Federal, State, and local child support

25 enforcement agencies) is amended by redesig-
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•HR 3453 IH

1 nating subparagraph (B) as subparagraph (C)

2 and by inserting after subparagraph (A) the fol3 lowing new subparagraph:

4 ‘‘(B) DISCLOSURE TO CERTAIN AGENTS.—

5 The following information disclosed to any child

6 support enforcement agency under subpara7 graph (A) with respect to any individual with

8 respect to whom child support obligations are

9 sought to be established or enforced may be dis10 closed by such agency to any agent of such

11 agency which is under contract with such agen12 cy to carry out the purposes described in sub13 paragraph (C):

14 ‘‘(i) The address and social security

15 account number (or numbers) of such indi16 vidual.

17 ‘‘(ii) The amount of any reduction

18 under section 6402(c) (relating to offset of

19 past-due support against overpayments) in

20 any overpayment otherwise payable to such

21 individual.’’

22 (B) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

23 (i) Paragraph (3) of section 6103(a)

24 of such Code is amended by striking
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1 ‘‘(l)(12)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (6) or

2 (12) of subsection (l)’’.

3 (ii) Subparagraph (C) of section

4 6103(l)(6) of such Code, as redesignated

5 by subsection (a), is amended to read as

6 follows:

7 ‘‘(C) RESTRICTION ON DISCLOSURE.—In8 formation may be disclosed under this para9 graph only for purposes of, and to the extent

10 necessary in, establishing and collecting child

11 support obligations from, and locating, individ12 uals owing such obligations.’’

13 (iii) The material following subpara14 graph (F) of section 6103(p)(4) of such

15 Code is amended by striking ‘‘subsection

16 (l)(12)(B)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph

17 (6)(A) or (12)(B) of subsection (l)’’.

18 SEC. 117. COLLECTION AND USE OF SOCIAL SECURITY

19 NUMBERS FOR USE IN CHILD SUPPORT EN20 FORCEMENT.

21 (a) STATE LAW REQUIREMENT.—Section 466(a) (42

22 U.S.C. 666(a)), as amended by section 115 of this Act,

23 is amended by adding at the end the following new para24 graph:
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1 ‘‘(13) RECORDING OF SOCIAL SECURITY NUM2 BERS IN CERTAIN FAMILY MATTERS.—Procedures

3 requiring that the social security number of—

4 ‘‘(A) any applicant for a professional li5 cense, commercial driver’s license, occupational

6 license, or marriage license be recorded on the

7 application;

8 ‘‘(B) any individual who is subject to a di9 vorce decree, support order, or paternity deter10 mination or acknowledgment be placed in the

11 records relating to the matter; and

12 ‘‘(C) any individual who has died be placed

13 in the records relating to the death and be re14 corded on the death certificate.

15 For purposes of subparagraph (A), if a State allows

16 the use of a number other than the social security

17 number, the State shall so advise any applicants.’’.

18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section

19 205(c)(2)(C) (42 U.S.C. 405(c)(2)(C)), as amended by

20 section 321(a)(9) of the Social Security Independence and

21 Program Improvements Act of 1994, is amended—

22 (1) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘may require’’ and

23 inserting ‘‘shall require’’;

24 (2) in clause (ii), by inserting after the 1st sen25 tence the following: ‘‘In the administration of any
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1 law involving the issuance of a marriage certificate

2 or license, each State shall require each party named

3 in the certificate or license to furnish to the State

4 (or political subdivision thereof), or any State agen5 cy having administrative responsibility for the law

6 involved, the social security number of the party.’’;

7 (3) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘or marriage cer8 tificate’’ after ‘‘Such numbers shall not be recorded

9 on the birth certificate’’.

10 (4) in clause (vi), by striking ‘‘may’’ and insert11 ing ‘‘shall’’; and

12 (5) by adding at the end the following new

13 clauses:

14 ‘‘(x) An agency of a State (or a politi15 cal subdivision thereof) charged with the

16 administration of any law concerning the

17 issuance or renewal of a license, certificate,

18 permit, or other authorization to engage in

19 a profession, an occupation, or a commer20 cial activity shall require all applicants for

21 issuance or renewal of the license, certifi22 cate, permit, or other authorization to pro23 vide the applicant’s social security number

24 to the agency for the purpose of admin25 istering such laws, and for the purpose of
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1 responding to requests for information

2 from an agency operating pursuant to part

3 D of title IV.

4 ‘‘(xi) All divorce decrees, support or5 ders, and paternity determinations issued,

6 and all paternity acknowledgments made,

7 in each State shall include the social secu8 rity number of each party to the decree,

9 order, determination, or acknowledgement

10 in the records relating to the matter, for

11 the purpose of responding to requests for

12 information from an agency operating pur13 suant to part D of title IV.’’.

14 Subtitle C—Streamlining and

15 Uniformity of Procedures

16 SEC. 121. ADOPTION OF UNIFORM STATE LAWS.

17 Section 466 (42 U.S.C. 666) is amended by adding

18 at the end the following new subsection:

19 ‘‘(f) UNIFORM INTERSTATE FAMILY SUPPORT

20 ACT.—

21 ‘‘(1) ENACTMENT AND USE.—In order to sat22 isfy section 454(20)(A), on and after January 1,

23 1998, each State must have in effect the Uniform

24 Interstate Family Support Act, as approved by the

25 American Bar Association on February 9, 1993, to-
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1 gether with any amendments officially adopted be2 fore January 1, 1998 by the National Conference of

3 Commissioners on Uniform State Laws.

4 ‘‘(2) EMPLOYERS TO FOLLOW PROCEDURAL

5 RULES OF STATE WHERE EMPLOYEE WORKS.—The

6 State law enacted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall

7 provide that an employer that receives an income

8 withholding order or notice pursuant to section 501

9 of the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act follow

10 the procedural rules that apply with respect to such

11 order or notice under the laws of the State in which

12 the obligor works.

13 SEC. 122. IMPROVEMENTS TO FULL FAITH AND CREDIT

14 FOR CHILD SUPPORT ORDERS.

15 Section 1738B of title 28, United States Code, is

16 amended—

17 (1) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘subsection

18 (e)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections (e), (f), and (i)’’;

19 (2) in subsection (b), by inserting after the 2nd

20 undesignated paragraph the following:

21 ‘‘ ‘child’s home State’ means the State in which

22 a child lived with a parent or a person acting as par23 ent for at least 6 consecutive months immediately

24 preceding the time of filing of a petition or com25 parable pleading for support and, if a child is less
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1 than 6 months old, the State in which the child lived

2 from birth with any of them. A period of temporary

3 absence of any of them is counted as part of the 6-

4 month period.’’;

5 (3) in subsection (c), by inserting ‘‘by a court

6 of a State’’ before ‘‘is made’’;

7 (4) in subsection (c)(1), by inserting ‘‘and sub8 sections (e), (f), and (g)’’ after ‘‘located’’;

9 (5) in subsection (d)—

10 (A) by inserting ‘‘individual’’ before ‘‘con11 testant’’; and

12 (B) by striking ‘‘subsection (e)’’ and in13 serting ‘‘subsections (e) and (f)’’;

14 (6) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘make a modi15 fication of a child support order with respect to a

16 child that is made’’ and inserting ‘‘modify a child

17 support order issued’’;

18 (7) in subsection (e)(1), by inserting ‘‘pursuant

19 to subsection (i)’’ before the semicolon;

20 (8) in subsection (e)(2)—

21 (A) by inserting ‘‘individual’’ before ‘‘con22 testant’’ each place such term appears; and

23 (B) by striking ‘‘to that court’s making the

24 modification and assuming’’ and inserting ‘‘with

25 the State of continuing, exclusive jurisdiction
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1 for a court of another State to modify the order

2 and assume’’;

3 (9) by redesignating subsections (f) and (g) as

4 subsections (g) and (h), respectively;

5 (10) by inserting after subsection (e) the follow6 ing new subsection:

7 ‘‘(f) RECOGNITION OF CHILD SUPPORT ORDERS.—

8 If 1 or more child support orders have been issued in this

9 or another State with regard to an obligor and a child,

10 a court shall apply the following rules in determining

11 which order to recognize for purposes of continuing, exclu12 sive jurisdiction and enforcement:

13 ‘‘(1) If only 1 court has issued a child support

14 order, the order of that court must be recognized.

15 ‘‘(2) If 2 or more courts have issued child sup16 port orders for the same obligor and child, and only

17 1 of the courts would have continuing, exclusive ju18 risdiction under this section, the order of that court

19 must be recognized.

20 ‘‘(3) If 2 or more courts have issued child sup21 port orders for the same obligor and child, and more

22 than 1 of the courts would have continuing, exclusive

23 jurisdiction under this section, an order issued by a

24 court in the current home State of the child must

25 be recognized, but if an order has not been issued
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1 in the current home State of the child, the order

2 most recently issued must be recognized.

3 ‘‘(4) If 2 or more courts have issued child sup4 port orders for the same obligor and child, and none

5 of the courts would have continuing, exclusive juris6 diction under this section, a court may issue a child

7 support order, which must be recognized.

8 ‘‘(5) The court that has issued an order recog9 nized under this subsection is the court having con10 tinuing, exclusive jurisdiction.’’;

11 (11) in subsection (g) (as so redesignated)—

12 (A) by striking ‘‘PRIOR’’ and inserting

13 ‘‘MODIFIED’’; and

14 (B) by striking ‘‘subsection (e)’’ and in15 serting ‘‘subsections (e) and (f)’’;

16 (12) in subsection (h) (as so redesignated)—

17 (A) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘includ18 ing the duration of current payments and other

19 obligations of support’’ before the comma; and

20 (B) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘arrears

21 under’’ after ‘‘enforce’’; and

22 (13) by adding at the end the following new

23 subsection:

24 ‘‘(i) REGISTRATION FOR MODIFICATION.—If there is

25 no individual contestant or child residing in the issuing
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1 State, the party or support enforcement agency seeking

2 to modify, or to modify and enforce, a child support order

3 issued in another State shall register that order in a State

4 with jurisdiction over the nonmovant for the purpose of

5 modification.’’.

6 SEC. 123. ADMINISTRATIVE ENFORCEMENT IN INTERSTATE

7 CASES.

8 Section 466(a) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)), as amended by

9 sections 115 and 117(a) of this Act, is amended by adding

10 at the end the following new paragraph:

11 ‘‘(14) ADMINISTRATIVE ENFORCEMENT IN

12 INTERSTATE CASES.—Procedures under which—

13 ‘‘(A)(i) the State shall respond within 5

14 business days to a request made by another

15 State to enforce a support order; and

16 ‘‘(ii) the term ‘business day’ means a day

17 on which State offices are open for regular

18 business;

19 ‘‘(B) the State may, by electronic or other

20 means, transmit to another State a request for

21 assistance in a case involving the enforcement

22 of a support order, which request—

23 ‘‘(i) shall include such information as

24 will enable the State to which the request

25 is transmitted to compare the information
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1 about the case to the information in the

2 data bases of the State; and

3 ‘‘(ii) shall constitute a certification by

4 the requesting State—

5 ‘‘(I) of the amount of support

6 under the order the payment of which

7 is in arrears; and

8 ‘‘(II) that the requesting State

9 has complied with all procedural due

10 process requirements applicable to the

11 case;

12 ‘‘(C) if the State provides assistance to an13 other State pursuant to this paragraph with re14 spect to a case, neither State shall consider the

15 case to be transferred to the caseload of such

16 other State; and

17 ‘‘(D) the State shall maintain records of—

18 ‘‘(i) the number of such requests for

19 assistance received by the State;

20 ‘‘(ii) the number of cases for which

21 the State collected support in response to

22 such a request; and

23 ‘‘(iii) the amount of such collected

24 support.’’.
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1 SEC. 124. USE OF FORMS IN INTERSTATE ENFORCEMENT.

2 (a) PROMULGATION.—Section 452(a) (42 U.S.C.

3 652(a)) is amended—

4 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph

5 (9);

6 (2) by striking the period at the end of para7 graph (10) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

8 (3) by adding at the end the following new

9 paragraph:

10 ‘‘(11) not later than June 30, 1996, after con11 sulting with the State directors of programs under

12 this part, promulgate forms to be used by States in

13 interstate cases for—

14 ‘‘(A) collection of child support through in15 come withholding;

16 ‘‘(B) imposition of liens; and

17 ‘‘(C) administrative subpoenas.’’.

18 (b) USE BY STATES.—Section 454(9) (42 U.S.C.

19 654(9)) is amended—

20 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara21 graph (C);

22 (2) by inserting ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara23 graph (D); and

24 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub25 paragraph:
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1 ‘‘(E) no later than October 1, 1996, in

2 using the forms promulgated pursuant to sec3 tion 452(a)(11) for income withholding, imposi4 tion of liens, and issuance of administrative

5 subpoenas in interstate child support cases;’’.

6 SEC. 125. STATE LAWS PROVIDING EXPEDITED PROCE7 DURES.

8 (a) STATE LAW REQUIREMENTS.—Section 466 (42

9 U.S.C. 666), as amended by section 114 of this Act, is

10 amended—

11 (1) in subsection (a)(2), by striking the 1st sen12 tence and inserting the following: ‘‘Expedited admin13 istrative and judicial procedures (including the pro14 cedures specified in subsection (c)) for establishing

15 paternity and for establishing, modifying, and en16 forcing support obligations.’’; and

17 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the follow18 ing new subsection:

19 ‘‘(c) EXPEDITED PROCEDURES.—The procedures

20 specified in this subsection are the following:

21 ‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATIVE ACTION BY STATE AGEN22 CY.—Procedures which give the State agency the au23 thority to take the following actions relating to es24 tablishment or enforcement of support orders, with25 out the necessity of obtaining an order from any
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1 other judicial or administrative tribunal, and to rec2 ognize and enforce the authority of State agencies of

3 other States) to take the following actions:

4 ‘‘(A) GENETIC TESTING.—To order genetic

5 testing for the purpose of paternity establish6 ment as provided in section 466(a)(5).

7 ‘‘(B) FINANCIAL OR OTHER INFORMA8 TION.—To subpoena any financial or other in9 formation needed to establish, modify, or en10 force a support order, and to impose penalties

11 for failure to respond to such a subpoena.

12 ‘‘(C) RESPONSE TO STATE AGENCY RE13 QUEST.—To require all entities in the State (in14 cluding for-profit, nonprofit, and governmental

15 employers) to provide promptly, in response to

16 a request by the State agency of that or any

17 other State administering a program under this

18 part, information on the employment, com19 pensation, and benefits of any individual em20 ployed by such entity as an employee or con21 tractor, and to sanction failure to respond to

22 any such request.

23 ‘‘(D) ACCESS TO CERTAIN RECORDS.—To

24 obtain access, subject to safeguards on privacy

25 and information security, to the following
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1 records (including automated access, in the case

2 of records maintained in automated data

3 bases):

4 ‘‘(i) Records of other State and local

5 government agencies, including—

6 ‘‘(I) vital statistics (including

7 records of marriage, birth, and di8 vorce);

9 ‘‘(II) State and local tax and rev10 enue records (including information

11 on residence address, employer, in12 come and assets);

13 ‘‘(III) records concerning real

14 and titled personal property;

15 ‘‘(IV) records of occupational and

16 professional licenses, and records con17 cerning the ownership and control of

18 corporations, partnerships, and other

19 business entities;

20 ‘‘(V) employment security

21 records;

22 ‘‘(VI) records of agencies admin23 istering public assistance programs;

24 ‘‘(VII) records of the motor vehi25 cle department; and
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1 ‘‘(VIII) corrections records.

2 ‘‘(ii) Certain records held by private

3 entities, including—

4 ‘‘(I) customer records of public

5 utilities and cable television compa6 nies; and

7 ‘‘(II) information (including in8 formation on assets and liabilities) on

9 individuals who owe or are owed sup10 port (or against or with respect to

11 whom a support obligation is sought)

12 held by financial institutions (subject

13 to limitations on liability of such enti14 ties arising from affording such ac15 cess), as provided pursuant to agree16 ments described in subsection (a)(18).

17 ‘‘(E) CHANGE IN PAYEE.—In cases in

18 which support is subject to an assignment in

19 order to comply with a requirement imposed

20 pursuant to part A or section 1912, or to a re21 quirement to pay through the State disburse22 ment unit established pursuant to section

23 454B, upon providing notice to obligor and obli24 gee, to direct the obligor or other payor to
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1 change the payee to the appropriate government

2 entity.

3 ‘‘(F) INCOME WITHHOLDING.—To order

4 income withholding in accordance with sub5 sections (a)(1) and (b) of section 466.

6 ‘‘(G) SECURING ASSETS.—In cases in

7 which there is a support arrearage, to secure

8 assets to satisfy the arrearage by—

9 ‘‘(i) intercepting or seizing periodic or

10 lump-sum payments from—

11 ‘‘(I) a State or local agency, in12 cluding unemployment compensation,

13 workers’ compensation, and other ben14 efits; and

15 ‘‘(II) judgments, settlements, and

16 lotteries;

17 ‘‘(ii) attaching and seizing assets of

18 the obligor held in financial institutions;

19 ‘‘(iii) attaching public and private re20 tirement funds; and

21 ‘‘(iv) imposing liens in accordance

22 with subsection (a)(4) and, in appropriate

23 cases, to force sale of property and dis24 tribution of proceeds.
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1 ‘‘(H) INCREASE MONTHLY PAYMENTS.—

2 For the purpose of securing overdue support, to

3 increase the amount of monthly support pay4 ments to include amounts for arrearages, sub5 ject to such conditions or limitations as the

6 State may provide.

7 Such procedures shall be subject to due process safe8 guards, including (as appropriate) requirements for

9 notice, opportunity to contest the action, and oppor10 tunity for an appeal on the record to an independent

11 administrative or judicial tribunal.

12 ‘‘(2) SUBSTANTIVE AND PROCEDURAL RULES.—

13 The expedited procedures required under subsection

14 (a)(2) shall include the following rules and author15 ity, applicable with respect to all proceedings to es16 tablish paternity or to establish, modify, or enforce

17 support orders:

18 ‘‘(A) LOCATOR INFORMATION; PRESUMP19 TIONS CONCERNING NOTICE.—Procedures

20 under which—

21 ‘‘(i) each party to any paternity or

22 child support proceeding is required (sub23 ject to privacy safeguards) to file with the

24 tribunal and the State case registry upon

25 entry of an order, and to update as appro-
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1 priate, information on location and identity

2 of the party, including social security num3 ber, residential and mailing addresses, tele4 phone number, driver’s license number,

5 and name, address, and name and tele6 phone number of employer; and

7 ‘‘(ii) in any subsequent child support

8 enforcement action between the parties,

9 upon sufficient showing that diligent effort

10 has been made to ascertain the location of

11 such a party, the tribunal may deem State

12 due process requirements for notice and

13 service of process to be met with respect to

14 the party, upon delivery of written notice

15 to the most recent residential or employer

16 address filed with the tribunal pursuant to

17 clause (i).

18 ‘‘(B) STATEWIDE JURISDICTION.—Proce19 dures under which—

20 ‘‘(i) the State agency and any admin21 istrative or judicial tribunal with authority

22 to hear child support and paternity cases

23 exerts statewide jurisdiction over the par24 ties; and
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1 ‘‘(ii) in a State in which orders are is2 sued by courts or administrative tribunals,

3 a case may be transferred between local ju4 risdictions in the State without need for

5 any additional filing by the petitioner, or

6 service of process upon the respondent, to

7 retain jurisdiction over the parties.

8 ‘‘(3) COORDINATION WITH ERISA.—Notwith9 standing subsection (d) of section 514 of the Em10 ployee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (re11 lating to effect on other laws), nothing in this sub12 section shall be construed to alter, amend, modify,

13 invalidate, impair, or supersede subsections (a), (b),

14 and (c) of such section 514 as it applies with respect

15 to any procedure referred to in paragraph (1) and

16 any expedited procedure referred to in paragraph

17 (2), except to the extent that such procedure would

18 be consistent with the requirements of section

19 206(d)(3) of such Act (relating to qualified domestic

20 relations orders) or the requirements of section

21 609(a) of such Act (relating to qualified medical

22 child support orders) if the reference in such section

23 206(d)(3) to a domestic relations order and the ref24 erence in such section 609(a) to a medical child sup25 port order were a reference to a support order re-
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1 ferred to in paragraphs (1) and (2) relating to the

2 same matters, respectively.’’.

3 (b) AUTOMATION OF STATE AGENCY FUNCTIONS.—

4 Section 454A, as added by section 144(a)(2) and as

5 amended by sections 111 and 112(c) of this Act, is

6 amended by adding at the end the following new sub7 section:

8 ‘‘(h) EXPEDITED ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES.—

9 The automated system required by this section shall be

10 used, to the maximum extent feasible, to implement the

11 expedited administrative procedures required by section

12 466(c).’’.

13 Subtitle D—Paternity

14 Establishment

15 SEC. 131. STATE LAWS CONCERNING PATERNITY ESTAB16 LISHMENT.

17 (a) STATE LAWS REQUIRED.—Section 466(a)(5) (42

18 U.S.C. 666(a)(5)) is amended to read as follows:

19 ‘‘(5) PROCEDURES CONCERNING PATERNITY ES20 TABLISHMENT.—

21 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT PROCESS AVAIL22 ABLE FROM BIRTH UNTIL AGE 18.—

23 ‘‘(i) Procedures which permit the es24 tablishment of the paternity of a child at
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1 any time before the child attains 18 years

2 of age.

3 ‘‘(ii) As of August 16, 1984, clause (i)

4 shall also apply to a child for whom pater5 nity has not been established or for whom

6 a paternity action was brought but dis7 missed because a statute of limitations of

8 less than 18 years was then in effect in the

9 State.

10 ‘‘(B) PROCEDURES CONCERNING GENETIC

11 TESTING.—

12 ‘‘(i) GENETIC TESTING REQUIRED IN

13 CERTAIN CONTESTED CASES.—Procedures

14 under which the State is required, in a

15 contested paternity case (unless otherwise

16 barred by State law) to require the child

17 and all other parties (other than individ18 uals found under section 454(29) to have

19 good cause for refusing to cooperate) to

20 submit to genetic tests upon the request of

21 any such party, if the request is supported

22 by a sworn statement by the party—

23 ‘‘(I) alleging paternity, and set24 ting forth facts establishing a reason-
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1 able possibility of the requisite sexual

2 contact between the parties; or

3 ‘‘(II) denying paternity, and set4 ting forth facts establishing a reason5 able possibility of the nonexistence of

6 sexual contact between the parties.

7 ‘‘(ii) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—Proce8 dures which require the State agency, in

9 any case in which the agency orders ge10 netic testing—

11 ‘‘(I) to pay costs of such tests,

12 subject to recoupment (if the State so

13 elects) from the alleged father if pa14 ternity is established; and

15 ‘‘(II) to obtain additional testing

16 in any case if an original test result is

17 contested, upon request and advance

18 payment by the contestant.

19 ‘‘(C) VOLUNTARY PATERNITY ACKNOWL20 EDGMENT.—

21 ‘‘(i) SIMPLE CIVIL PROCESS.—Proce22 dures for a simple civil process for volun23 tarily acknowledging paternity under which

24 the State must provide that, before a

25 mother and a putative father can sign an
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1 acknowledgment of paternity, the mother

2 and the putative father must be given no3 tice, orally and in writing, of the alter4 natives to, the legal consequences of, and

5 the rights (including, if 1 parent is a

6 minor, any rights afforded due to minority

7 status) and responsibilities that arise from,

8 signing the acknowledgment.

9 ‘‘(ii) HOSPITAL-BASED PROGRAM.—

10 Such procedures must include a hospital11 based program for the voluntary acknowl12 edgment of paternity focusing on the pe13 riod immediately before or after the birth

14 of a child, subject to such good cause ex15 ceptions, taking into account the best in16 terests of the child, as the State may es17 tablish.

18 ‘‘(iii) PATERNITY ESTABLISHMENT

19 SERVICES.—

20 ‘‘(I) STATE-OFFERED SERV21 ICES.—Such procedures must require

22 the State agency responsible for main23 taining birth records to offer vol24 untary paternity establishment serv25 ices.
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1 ‘‘(II) REGULATIONS.—

2 ‘‘(aa) SERVICES OFFERED

3 BY HOSPITALS AND BIRTH

4 RECORD AGENCIES.—The Sec5 retary shall prescribe regulations

6 governing voluntary paternity es7 tablishment services offered by

8 hospitals and birth record agen9 cies.

10 ‘‘(bb) SERVICES OFFERED

11 BY OTHER ENTITIES.—The Sec12 retary shall prescribe regulations

13 specifying the types of other enti14 ties that may offer voluntary pa15 ternity establishment services,

16 and governing the provision of

17 such services, which shall include

18 a requirement that such an entity

19 must use the same notice provi20 sions used by, use the same ma21 terials used by, provide the per22 sonnel providing such services

23 with the same training provided

24 by, and evaluate the provision of

25 such services in the same manner
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1 as the provision of such services

2 is evaluated by, voluntary pater3 nity establishment programs of

4 hospitals and birth record agen5 cies.

6 ‘‘(iv) USE OF PATERNITY ACKNOWL7 EDGMENT AFFIDAVIT.—Such procedures

8 must require the State to develop and use

9 an affidavit for the voluntary acknowledg10 ment of paternity which includes the mini11 mum requirements of the affidavit devel12 oped by the Secretary under section

13 452(a)(7) for the voluntary acknowledg14 ment of paternity, and to give full faith

15 and credit to such an affidavit signed in

16 any other State according to its proce17 dures.

18 ‘‘(D) STATUS OF SIGNED PATERNITY AC19 KNOWLEDGMENT.—

20 ‘‘(i) INCLUSION IN BIRTH RECORDS.—

21 Procedures under which the name of the

22 father shall be included on the record of

23 birth of the child of unmarried parents

24 only if—
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1 ‘‘(I) the father and mother have

2 signed a voluntary acknowledgment of

3 paternity; or

4 ‘‘(II) a court or an administrative

5 agency of competent jurisdiction has

6 issued an adjudication of paternity.

7 Nothing in this clause shall preclude a

8 State agency from obtaining an admission

9 of paternity from the father for submission

10 in a judicial or administrative proceeding,

11 or prohibit the issuance of an order in a

12 judicial or administrative proceeding which

13 bases a legal finding of paternity on an ad14 mission of paternity by the father and any

15 other additional showing required by State

16 law.

17 ‘‘(ii) LEGAL FINDING OF PATER18 NITY.—Procedures under which a signed

19 voluntary acknowledgment of paternity is

20 considered a legal finding of paternity,

21 subject to the right of any signatory to re22 scind the acknowledgment within the ear23 lier of—

24 ‘‘(I) 60 days; or
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1 ‘‘(II) the date of an administra2 tive or judicial proceeding relating to

3 the child (including a proceeding to

4 establish a support order) in which

5 the signatory is a party.

6 ‘‘(iii) CONTEST.—Procedures under

7 which, after the 60-day period referred to

8 in clause (ii), a signed voluntary acknowl9 edgment of paternity may be challenged in

10 court only on the basis of fraud, duress, or

11 material mistake of fact, with the burden

12 of proof upon the challenger, and under

13 which the legal responsibilities (including

14 child support obligations) of any signatory

15 arising from the acknowledgment may not

16 be suspended during the challenge, except

17 for good cause shown.

18 ‘‘(E) BAR ON ACKNOWLEDGMENT RATIFI19 CATION PROCEEDINGS.—Procedures under

20 which judicial or administrative proceedings are

21 not required or permitted to ratify an unchal22 lenged acknowledgment of paternity.

23 ‘‘(F) ADMISSIBILITY OF GENETIC TESTING

24 RESULTS.—Procedures—
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1 ‘‘(i) requiring the admission into evi2 dence, for purposes of establishing pater3 nity, of the results of any genetic test that

4 is—

5 ‘‘(I) of a type generally acknowl6 edged as reliable by accreditation bod7 ies designated by the Secretary; and

8 ‘‘(II) performed by a laboratory

9 approved by such an accreditation

10 body;

11 ‘‘(ii) requiring an objection to genetic

12 testing results to be made in writing not

13 later than a specified number of days be14 fore any hearing at which the results may

15 be introduced into evidence (or, at State

16 option, not later than a specified number

17 of days after receipt of the results); and

18 ‘‘(iii) making the test results admissi19 ble as evidence of paternity without the

20 need for foundation testimony or other

21 proof of authenticity or accuracy, unless

22 objection is made.

23 ‘‘(G) PRESUMPTION OF PATERNITY IN

24 CERTAIN CASES.—Procedures which create a re25 buttable or, at the option of the State, conclu-
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1 sive presumption of paternity upon genetic test2 ing results indicating a threshold probability

3 that the alleged father is the father of the child.

4 ‘‘(H) DEFAULT ORDERS.—Procedures re5 quiring a default order to be entered in a pater6 nity case upon a showing of service of process

7 on the defendant and any additional showing

8 required by State law.

9 ‘‘(I) NO RIGHT TO JURY TRIAL.—Proce10 dures providing that the parties to an action to

11 establish paternity are not entitled to a trial by

12 jury.

13 ‘‘(J) TEMPORARY SUPPORT ORDER BASED

14 ON PROBABLE PATERNITY IN CONTESTED

15 CASES.—Procedures which require that a tem16 porary order be issued, upon motion by a party,

17 requiring the provision of child support pending

18 an administrative or judicial determination of

19 parentage, if there is clear and convincing evi20 dence of paternity (on the basis of genetic tests

21 or other evidence).

22 ‘‘(K) PROOF OF CERTAIN SUPPORT AND

23 PATERNITY ESTABLISHMENT COSTS.—Proce24 dures under which bills for pregnancy, child25 birth, and genetic testing are admissible as evi-
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1 dence without requiring third-party foundation

2 testimony, and shall constitute prima facie evi3 dence of amounts incurred for such services or

4 for testing on behalf of the child.

5 ‘‘(L) STANDING OF PUTATIVE FATHERS.—

6 Procedures ensuring that the putative father

7 has a reasonable opportunity to initiate a pater8 nity action.

9 ‘‘(M) FILING OF ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND

10 ADJUDICATIONS IN STATE REGISTRY OF BIRTH

11 RECORDS.—Procedures under which voluntary

12 acknowledgments and adjudications of paternity

13 by judicial or administrative processes are filed

14 with the State registry of birth records for com15 parison with information in the State case reg16 istry.’’.

17 (b) NATIONAL PATERNITY ACKNOWLEDGMENT AFFI18 DAVIT.—Section 452(a)(7) (42 U.S.C. 652(a)(7)) is

19 amended by inserting ‘‘, and develop an affidavit to be

20 used for the voluntary acknowledgment of paternity which

21 shall include the social security number of each parent

22 and, after consultation with the States, other common ele23 ments as determined by such designee’’ before the semi24 colon.
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1 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 468 (42

2 U.S.C. 668) is amended by striking ‘‘a simple civil process

3 for voluntarily acknowledging paternity and’’.

4 SEC. 132. OUTREACH FOR VOLUNTARY PATERNITY ESTAB5 LISHMENT.

6 Section 454(23) (42 U.S.C. 654(23)) is amended by

7 inserting ‘‘and will publicize the availability and encourage

8 the use of procedures for voluntary establishment of pater9 nity and child support by means the State deems appro10 priate’’ before the semicolon.

11 SEC. 133. COOPERATION BY APPLICANTS FOR AND RECIPI12 ENTS OF TEMPORARY FAMILY ASSISTANCE.

13 Section 454 (42 U.S.C. 654), as amended by sections

14 101(b), 103(a), 112(a), and 113(a) of this Act, is amend15 ed—

16 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph

17 (27);

18 (2) by striking the period at the end of para19 graph (28) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

20 (3) by inserting after paragraph (28) the fol21 lowing new paragraph:

22 ‘‘(29) provide that the State agency responsible

23 for administering the State plan—

24 ‘‘(A) shall make the determination (and re25 determination at appropriate intervals) as to
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1 whether an individual who has applied for or is

2 receiving assistance under the State program

3 funded under part A or the State program

4 under title XIX is cooperating in good faith

5 with the State in establishing the paternity of,

6 or in establishing, modifying, or enforcing a

7 support order for, any child of the individual by

8 providing the State agency with the name of,

9 and such other information as the State agency

10 may require with respect to, the noncustodial

11 parent of the child, subject to such good cause

12 exceptions, taking into account the best inter13 ests of the child, as the State may establish

14 through the State agency, or at the option of

15 the State, through the State agencies admin16 istering the State programs funded under part

17 A and title XIX;

18 ‘‘(B) shall require the individual to supply

19 additional necessary information and appear at

20 interviews, hearings, and legal proceedings;

21 ‘‘(C) shall require the individual and the

22 child to submit to genetic tests pursuant to ju23 dicial or administrative order;

24 ‘‘(D) may request that the individual sign

25 a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity, after
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1 notice of the rights and consequences of such

2 an acknowledgment, but may not require the in3 dividual to sign an acknowledgment or other4 wise relinquish the right to genetic tests as a

5 condition of cooperation and eligibility for as6 sistance under the State program funded under

7 part A or the State program under title XIX;

8 and

9 ‘‘(E) shall promptly notify the individual

10 and the State agency administering the State

11 program funded under part A and the State

12 agency administering the State program under

13 title XIX of each such determination, and if

14 noncooperation is determined, the basis there15 for.’’.

16 Subtitle E—Program

17 Administration and Funding

18 SEC. 141. PERFORMANCE-BASED INCENTIVES AND PEN19 ALTIES.

20 (a) DEVELOPMENT OF NEW SYSTEM.—The Sec21 retary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with

22 State directors of programs under part D of title IV of

23 the Social Security Act, shall develop a new incentive sys24 tem to replace, in a revenue neutral manner, the system

25 under section 458 of such Act. The new system shall pro-
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1 vide additional payments to any State based on such

2 State’s performance under such a program. Not later than

3 June 1, 1996, the Secretary shall report on the new sys4 tem to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House

5 of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the

6 Senate.

7 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO PRESENT SYS8 TEM.—Section 458 (42 U.S.C. 658) is amended—

9 (1) in subsections (b) and (c)—

10 (A) by striking ‘‘AFDC collections’’ each

11 place it appears and inserting ‘‘title IV–A col12 lections’’, and

13 (B) by striking ‘‘non-AFDC collections’’

14 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘non-title

15 IV–A collections’’; and

16 (2) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘combined

17 AFDC/non-AFDC administrative costs’’ both places

18 it appears and inserting ‘‘combined title IV–A/non19 title IV–A administrative costs’’.

20 (c) CALCULATION OF IV–D PATERNITY ESTABLISH21 MENT PERCENTAGE.—

22 (1) Section 452(g)(1)(A) (42 U.S.C.

23 652(g)(1)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘75’’ and in24 serting ‘‘90’’.
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1 (2) Section 452(g)(1) (42 U.S.C. 652(g)(1)) is

2 amended by redesignating subparagraphs (B)

3 through (E) as subparagraphs (C) through (F), re4 spectively, and by inserting after subparagraph (A)

5 the following new subparagraph:

6 ‘‘(B) for a State with a paternity establish7 ment percentage of not less than 75 percent but

8 less than 90 percent for such fiscal year, the

9 paternity establishment percentage of the State

10 for the immediately preceding fiscal year plus 2

11 percentage points;’’.

12 (3) Section 452(g)(2)(A) (42 U.S.C.

13 652(g)(2)(A)) is amended in the matter preceding

14 clause (i)—

15 (A) by striking ‘‘paternity establishment

16 percentage’’ and inserting ‘‘IV–D paternity es17 tablishment percentage’’; and

18 (B) by striking ‘‘(or all States, as the case

19 may be)’’.

20 (4) Section 452(g)(2) (42 U.S.C. 652(g)(2)) is

21 amended by adding at the end the following new

22 sentence: ‘‘In meeting the 90 percent paternity es23 tablishment requirement, a State may calculate ei24 ther the paternity establishment rate of cases in the

25 program funded under this part or the paternity es-
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1 tablishment rate of all out-of-wedlock births in the

2 State.’’.

3 (5) Section 452(g)(3) (42 U.S.C. 652(g)(3)) is

4 amended—

5 (A) by striking subparagraph (A) and re6 designating subparagraphs (B) and (C) as sub7 paragraphs (A) and (B), respectively;

8 (B) in subparagraph (A) (as so redesig9 nated), by striking ‘‘the percentage of children

10 born out-of-wedlock in a State’’ and inserting

11 ‘‘the percentage of children in a State who are

12 born out of wedlock or for whom support has

13 not been established’’; and

14 (C) in subparagraph (B) (as so redesig15 nated) by inserting ‘‘and securing support’’ be16 fore the period.

17 (d) EFFECTIVE DATES.—

18 (1) INCENTIVE ADJUSTMENTS.—

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—The system developed under

20 subsection (a) and the amendments made by sub21 section (b) shall become effective on October 1,

22 1997, except to the extent provided in subparagraph

23 (B).

24 (B) APPLICATION OF SECTION 458.—Section

25 458 of the Social Security Act, as in effect on the
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1 day before the date of the enactment of this section,

2 shall be effective for purposes of incentive payments

3 to States for fiscal years before fiscal year 1999.

4 (2) PENALTY REDUCTIONS.—The amendments

5 made by subsection (c) shall become effective with

6 respect to calendar quarters beginning on or after

7 the date of the enactment of this Act.

8 SEC. 142. FEDERAL AND STATE REVIEWS AND AUDITS.

9 (a) STATE AGENCY ACTIVITIES.—Section 454 (42

10 U.S.C. 654) is amended—

11 (1) in paragraph (14), by striking ‘‘(14)’’ and

12 inserting ‘‘(14)(A)’’;

13 (2) by redesignating paragraph (15) as sub14 paragraph (B) of paragraph (14); and

15 (3) by inserting after paragraph (14) the fol16 lowing new paragraph:

17 ‘‘(15) provide for—

18 ‘‘(A) a process for annual reviews of and

19 reports to the Secretary on the State program

20 operated under the State plan approved under

21 this part, including such information as may be

22 necessary to measure State compliance with

23 Federal requirements for expedited procedures,

24 using such standards and procedures as are re25 quired by the Secretary, under which the State
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1 agency will determine the extent to which the

2 program is operated in compliance with this

3 part; and

4 ‘‘(B) a process of extracting from the auto5 mated data processing system required by para6 graph (16) and transmitting to the Secretary

7 data and calculations concerning the levels of

8 accomplishment (and rates of improvement)

9 with respect to applicable performance indica10 tors (including IV–D paternity establishment

11 percentages to the extent necessary for pur12 poses of sections 452(g) and 458.’’.

13 (b) FEDERAL ACTIVITIES.—Section 452(a)(4) (42

14 U.S.C. 652(a)(4)) is amended to read as follows:

15 ‘‘(4)(A) review data and calculations transmit16 ted by State agencies pursuant to section

17 454(15)(B) on State program accomplishments with

18 respect to performance indicators for purposes of

19 subsection (g) of this section and section 458;

20 ‘‘(B) review annual reports submitted pursuant

21 to section 454(15)(A) and, as appropriate, provide

22 to the State comments, recommendations for addi23 tional or alternative corrective actions, and technical

24 assistance; and
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1 ‘‘(C) conduct audits, in accordance with the

2 Government auditing standards of the Comptroller

3 General of the United States—

4 ‘‘(i) at least once every 3 years (or more

5 frequently, in the case of a State which fails to

6 meet the requirements of this part concerning

7 performance standards and reliability of pro8 gram data) to assess the completeness, reliabil9 ity, and security of the data, and the accuracy

10 of the reporting systems, used in calculating

11 performance indicators under subsection (g) of

12 this section and section 458;

13 ‘‘(ii) of the adequacy of financial manage14 ment of the State program operated under the

15 State plan approved under this part, including

16 assessments of—

17 ‘‘(I) whether Federal and other funds

18 made available to carry out the State pro19 gram are being appropriately expended,

20 and are properly and fully accounted for;

21 and

22 ‘‘(II) whether collections and disburse23 ments of support payments are carried out

24 correctly and are fully accounted for; and
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1 ‘‘(iii) for such other purposes as the Sec2 retary may find necessary;’’.

3 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

4 this section shall be effective with respect to calendar

5 quarters beginning 12 months or more after the date of

6 the enactment of this Act.

7 SEC. 143. REQUIRED REPORTING PROCEDURES.

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Section 452(a)(5) (42 U.S.C.

9 652(a)(5)) is amended by inserting ‘‘, and establish proce10 dures to be followed by States for collecting and reporting

11 information required to be provided under this part, and

12 establish uniform definitions (including those necessary to

13 enable the measurement of State compliance with the re14 quirements of this part relating to expedited processes) to

15 be applied in following such procedures’’ before the semi16 colon.

17 (b) STATE PLAN REQUIREMENT.—Section 454 (42

18 U.S.C. 654), as amended by sections 101(b), 103(a),

19 112(a), 113(a), and 133 of this Act, is amended—

20 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph

21 (28);

22 (2) by striking the period at the end of para23 graph (29) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

24 (3) by adding after paragraph (29) the follow25 ing new paragraph:
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1 ‘‘(30) provide that the State shall use the defi2 nitions established under section 452(a)(5) in col3 lecting and reporting information as required under

4 this part.’’.

5 SEC. 144. AUTOMATED DATA PROCESSING REQUIREMENTS.

6 (a) REVISED REQUIREMENTS.—

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 454(16) (42 U.S.C.

8 654(16)) is amended—

9 (A) by striking ‘‘, at the option of the

10 State,’’;

11 (B) by inserting ‘‘and operation by the

12 State agency’’ after ‘‘for the establishment’’;

13 (C) by inserting ‘‘meeting the requirements

14 of section 454A’’ after ‘‘information retrieval

15 system’’;

16 (D) by striking ‘‘in the State and localities

17 thereof, so as (A)’’ and inserting ‘‘so as’’;

18 (E) by striking ‘‘(i)’’; and

19 (F) by striking ‘‘(including’’ and all that

20 follows and inserting a semicolon.

21 (2) AUTOMATED DATA PROCESSING.—Part D of

22 title IV (42 U.S.C. 651–669) is amended by insert23 ing after section 454 the following new section:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 454A. AUTOMATED DATA PROCESSING.

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In order for a State to meet the

3 requirements of this section, the State agency administer4 ing the State program under this part shall have in oper5 ation a single statewide automated data processing and

6 information retrieval system which has the capability to

7 perform the tasks specified in this section with the fre8 quency and in the manner required by or under this part.

9 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM MANAGEMENT.—The automated sys10 tem required by this section shall perform such functions

11 as the Secretary may specify relating to management of

12 the State program under this part, including—

13 ‘‘(1) controlling and accounting for use of Fed14 eral, State, and local funds in carrying out the pro15 gram; and

16 ‘‘(2) maintaining the data necessary to meet

17 Federal reporting requirements under this part on a

18 timely basis.

19 ‘‘(c) CALCULATION OF PERFORMANCE INDICA20 TORS.—In order to enable the Secretary to determine the

21 incentive payments and penalty adjustments required by

22 sections 452(g) and 458, the State agency shall—

23 ‘‘(1) use the automated system—

24 ‘‘(A) to maintain the requisite data on

25 State performance with respect to paternity es-
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1 tablishment and child support enforcement in

2 the State; and

3 ‘‘(B) to calculate the IV–D paternity es4 tablishment percentage for the State for each

5 fiscal year; and

6 ‘‘(2) have in place systems controls to ensure

7 the completeness and reliability of, and ready access

8 to, the data described in paragraph (1)(A), and the

9 accuracy of the calculations described in paragraph

10 (1)(B).

11 ‘‘(d) INFORMATION INTEGRITY AND SECURITY.—The

12 State agency shall have in effect safeguards on the integ13 rity, accuracy, and completeness of, access to, and use of

14 data in the automated system required by this section,

15 which shall include the following (in addition to such other

16 safeguards as the Secretary may specify in regulations):

17 ‘‘(1) POLICIES RESTRICTING ACCESS.—Written

18 policies concerning access to data by State agency

19 personnel, and sharing of data with other persons,

20 which—

21 ‘‘(A) permit access to and use of data only

22 to the extent necessary to carry out the State

23 program under this part; and
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1 ‘‘(B) specify the data which may be used

2 for particular program purposes, and the per3 sonnel permitted access to such data.

4 ‘‘(2) SYSTEMS CONTROLS.—Systems controls

5 (such as passwords or blocking of fields) to ensure

6 strict adherence to the policies described in para7 graph (1).

8 ‘‘(3) MONITORING OF ACCESS.—Routine mon9 itoring of access to and use of the automated sys10 tem, through methods such as audit trails and feed11 back mechanisms, to guard against and promptly

12 identify unauthorized access or use.

13 ‘‘(4) TRAINING AND INFORMATION.—Proce14 dures to ensure that all personnel (including State

15 and local agency staff and contractors) who may

16 have access to or be required to use confidential pro17 gram data are informed of applicable requirements

18 and penalties (including those in section 6103 of the

19 Internal Revenue Code of 1986), and are adequately

20 trained in security procedures.

21 ‘‘(5) PENALTIES.—Administrative penalties (up

22 to and including dismissal from employment) for un23 authorized access to, or disclosure or use of, con24 fidential data.’’.
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1 (3) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Health

2 and Human Services shall prescribe final regulations

3 for implementation of section 454A of the Social Se4 curity Act not later than 2 years after the date of

5 the enactment of this Act.

6 (4) IMPLEMENTATION TIMETABLE.—Section

7 454(24) (42 U.S.C. 654(24)), as amended by section

8 103(a)(1) of this Act, is amended to read as follows:

9 ‘‘(24) provide that the State will have in effect

10 an automated data processing and information re11 trieval system—

12 ‘‘(A) by October 1, 1997, which meets all

13 requirements of this part which were enacted on

14 or before the date of enactment of the Family

15 Support Act of 1988, and

16 ‘‘(B) by October 1, 1999, which meets all

17 requirements of this part enacted on or before

18 the date of the enactment of the Child Support

19 Enforcement Reform Amendments of 1996, ex20 cept that such deadline shall be extended by 1

21 day for each day (if any) by which the Sec22 retary fails to meet the deadline imposed by

23 section 144(a)(3) of the Child Support Enforce24 ment Reform Amendments of 1996;’’.
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1 (b) SPECIAL FEDERAL MATCHING RATE FOR DE2 VELOPMENT COSTS OF AUTOMATED SYSTEMS.—

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 455(a) (42 U.S.C.

4 655(a)) is amended—

5 (A) in paragraph (1)(B)—

6 (i) by striking ‘‘90 percent’’ and in7 serting ‘‘the percent specified in paragraph

8 (3)’’;

9 (ii) by striking ‘‘so much of’’; and

10 (iii) by striking ‘‘which the Secretary’’

11 and all that follows and inserting ‘‘, and’’;

12 and

13 (B) by adding at the end the following new

14 paragraph:

15 ‘‘(3)(A) The Secretary shall pay to each State, for

16 each quarter in fiscal years 1996 and 1997, 90 percent

17 of so much of the State expenditures described in para18 graph (1)(B) as the Secretary finds are for a system meet19 ing the requirements specified in section 454(16) (as in

20 effect on September 30, 1995) but limited to the amount

21 approved for States in the advance planning documents

22 of such States submitted on or before May 1, 1995.

23 ‘‘(B)(i) The Secretary shall pay to each State, for

24 each quarter in fiscal years 1996 through 2001, the per25 centage specified in clause (ii) of so much of the State
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1 expenditures described in paragraph (1)(B) as the Sec2 retary finds are for a system meeting the requirements

3 of sections 454(16) and 454A.

4 ‘‘(ii) The percentage specified in this clause is 80 per5 cent.’’.

6 (2) TEMPORARY LIMITATION ON PAYMENTS

7 UNDER SPECIAL FEDERAL MATCHING RATE.—

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of

9 Health and Human Services may not pay more

10 than $400,000,000 in the aggregate under sec11 tion 455(a)(3)(B) of the Social Security Act for

12 fiscal years 1996 through 2001.

13 (B) ALLOCATION OF LIMITATION AMONG

14 STATES.—The total amount payable to a State

15 under section 455(a)(3)(B) of such Act for fis16 cal years 1996 through 2001 shall not exceed

17 the limitation determined for the State by the

18 Secretary of Health and Human Services in

19 regulations.

20 (C) ALLOCATION FORMULA.—The regula21 tions referred to in subparagraph (B) shall pre22 scribe a formula for allocating the amount spec23 ified in subparagraph (A) among States with

24 plans approved under part D of title IV of the
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1 Social Security Act, which shall take into ac2 count—

3 (i) the relative size of State caseloads

4 under such part; and

5 (ii) the level of automation needed to

6 meet the automated data processing re7 quirements of such part.

8 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 123(c) of

9 the Family Support Act of 1988 (102 Stat. 2352; Public

10 Law 100–485) is repealed.

11 SEC. 145. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.

12 (a) FOR TRAINING OF FEDERAL AND STATE STAFF,

13 RESEARCH AND DEMONSTRATION PROGRAMS, AND SPE14 CIAL PROJECTS OF REGIONAL OR NATIONAL SIGNIFI15 CANCE.—Section 452 (42 U.S.C. 652) is amended by add16 ing at the end the following new subsection:

17 ‘‘(j) Out of any money in the Treasury of the United

18 States not otherwise appropriated, there is hereby appro19 priated to the Secretary for each fiscal year an amount

20 equal to 1 percent of the total amount paid to the Federal

21 Government pursuant to section 457(a) during the imme22 diately preceding fiscal year (as determined on the basis

23 of the most recent reliable data available to the Secretary

24 as of the end of the 3rd calendar quarter following the
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1 end of such preceding fiscal year), to cover costs incurred

2 by the Secretary for—

3 ‘‘(1) information dissemination and technical

4 assistance to States, training of State and Federal

5 staff, staffing studies, and related activities needed

6 to improve programs under this part (including tech7 nical assistance concerning State automated systems

8 required by this part); and

9 ‘‘(2) research, demonstration, and special

10 projects of regional or national significance relating

11 to the operation of State programs under this part.

12 The amount appropriated under this subsection shall re13 main available until expended.’’.

14 (b) OPERATION OF FEDERAL PARENT LOCATOR

15 SERVICE.—Section 453 (42 U.S.C. 653), as amended by

16 section 116 of this Act, is amended by adding at the end

17 the following new subsection:

18 ‘‘(o) RECOVERY OF COSTS.—Out of any money in the

19 Treasury of the United States not otherwise appropriated,

20 there is hereby appropriated to the Secretary for each fis21 cal year an amount equal to 2 percent of the total amount

22 paid to the Federal Government pursuant to section

23 457(a) during the immediately preceding fiscal year (as

24 determined on the basis of the most recent reliable data

25 available to the Secretary as of the end of the 3rd calendar
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1 quarter following the end of such preceding fiscal year),

2 to cover costs incurred by the Secretary for operation of

3 the Federal Parent Locator Service under this section, to

4 the extent such costs are not recovered through user

5 fees.’’.

6 SEC. 146. REPORTS AND DATA COLLECTION BY THE SEC7 RETARY.

8 (a) ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.—

9 (1) Section 452(a)(10)(A) (42 U.S.C.

10 652(a)(10)(A)) is amended—

11 (A) by striking ‘‘this part;’’ and inserting

12 ‘‘this part, including—’’; and

13 (B) by adding at the end the following new

14 clauses:

15 ‘‘(i) the total amount of child support

16 payments collected as a result of services

17 furnished during the fiscal year to individ18 uals receiving services under this part;

19 ‘‘(ii) the cost to the States and to the

20 Federal Government of so furnishing the

21 services; and

22 ‘‘(iii) the number of cases involving

23 families—

24 ‘‘(I) who became ineligible for as25 sistance under State programs funded
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1 under part A during a month in the

2 fiscal year; and

3 ‘‘(II) with respect to whom a

4 child support payment was received in

5 the month;’’.

6 (2) Section 452(a)(10)(C) (42 U.S.C.

7 652(a)(10)(C)) is amended—

8 (A) in the matter preceding clause (i)—

9 (i) by striking ‘‘with the data required

10 under each clause being separately stated

11 for cases’’ and inserting ‘‘separately stated

12 for (1) cases’’;

13 (ii) by striking ‘‘cases where the child

14 was formerly receiving’’ and inserting ‘‘or

15 formerly received’’;

16 (iii) by inserting ‘‘or 1912’’ after

17 ‘‘471(a)(17)’’; and

18 (iv) by inserting ‘‘(2)’’ before ‘‘all

19 other’’;

20 (B) in each of clauses (i) and (ii), by strik21 ing ‘‘, and the total amount of such obliga22 tions’’;

23 (C) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘described

24 in’’ and all that follows and inserting ‘‘in which

25 support was collected during the fiscal year;’’;
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1 (D) by striking clause (iv); and

2 (E) by redesignating clause (v) as clause

3 (vii), and inserting after clause (iii) the follow4 ing new clauses:

5 ‘‘(iv) the total amount of support col6 lected during such fiscal year and distrib7 uted as current support;

8 ‘‘(v) the total amount of support col9 lected during such fiscal year and distrib10 uted as arrearages;

11 ‘‘(vi) the total amount of support due

12 and unpaid for all fiscal years; and’’.

13 (3) Section 452(a)(10)(G) (42 U.S.C.

14 652(a)(10)(G)) is amended by striking ‘‘on the use

15 of Federal courts and’’.

16 (4) Section 452(a)(10) (42 U.S.C. 652(a)(10))

17 is amended—

18 (A) in subparagraph (H), by striking

19 ‘‘and’’;

20 (B) in subparagraph (I), by striking the

21 period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

22 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (I) the

23 following new subparagraph:
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1 ‘‘(J) compliance, by State, with the stand2 ards established pursuant to subsections (h)

3 and (i).’’.

4 (5) Section 452(a)(10) (42 U.S.C. 652(a)(10))

5 is amended by striking all that follows subparagraph

6 (J), as added by paragraph (4).

7 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

8 subsection (a) shall be effective with respect to fiscal year

9 1996 and succeeding fiscal years.

10 Subtitle F—Establishment and

11 Modification of Support Orders

12 SEC. 151. SIMPLIFIED PROCESS FOR REVIEW AND ADJUST13 MENT OF CHILD SUPPORT ORDERS.

14 Section 466(a)(10) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)(10)) is amend15 ed to read as follows:

16 ‘‘(10) REVIEW AND ADJUSTMENT OF SUPPORT

17 ORDERS UPON REQUEST.—Procedures under which

18 the State shall review and adjust each support order

19 being enforced under this part upon the request of

20 either parent or the State if there is an assignment.

21 Such procedures shall provide the following:

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—

23 ‘‘(i) 3-YEAR CYCLE.—Except as pro24 vided in subparagraphs (B) and (C), the

25 State shall review and, as appropriate, ad-
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1 just the support order every 3 years, tak2 ing into account the best interests of the

3 child involved.

4 ‘‘(ii) METHODS OF ADJUSTMENT.—

5 The State may elect to review and, if ap6 propriate, adjust an order pursuant to

7 clause (i) by—

8 ‘‘(I) reviewing and, if appro9 priate, adjusting the order in accord10 ance with the guidelines established

11 pursuant to section 467(a) if the

12 amount of the child support award

13 under the order differs from the

14 amount that would be awarded in ac15 cordance with the guidelines; or

16 ‘‘(II) applying a cost-of-living ad17 justment to the order in accordance

18 with a formula developed by the State

19 and permit either party to contest the

20 adjustment, within 30 days after the

21 date of the notice of the adjustment,

22 by making a request for review and, if

23 appropriate, adjustment of the order

24 in accordance with the child support
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1 guidelines established pursuant to sec2 tion 467(a).

3 ‘‘(iii) NO PROOF OF CHANGE IN CIR4 CUMSTANCES NECESSARY.—Any adjust5 ment under this subparagraph (A) shall be

6 made without a requirement for proof or

7 showing of a change in circumstances.

8 ‘‘(B) AUTOMATED METHOD.—The State

9 may use automated methods (including auto10 mated comparisons with wage or State income

11 tax data) to identify orders eligible for review,

12 conduct the review, identify orders eligible for

13 adjustment, and apply the appropriate adjust14 ment to the orders eligible for adjustment

15 under the threshold established by the State.

16 ‘‘(C) REQUEST UPON SUBSTANTIAL

17 CHANGE IN CIRCUMSTANCES.—The State shall,

18 at the request of either parent subject to such

19 an order or of any State child support enforce20 ment agency, review and, if appropriate, adjust

21 the order in accordance with the guidelines es22 tablished pursuant to section 467(a) based

23 upon a substantial change in the circumstances

24 of either parent.
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1 ‘‘(D) NOTICE OF RIGHT TO REVIEW.—The

2 State shall provide notice not less than once

3 every 3 years to the parents subject to such an

4 order informing them of their right to request

5 the State to review and, if appropriate, adjust

6 the order pursuant to this paragraph. The no7 tice may be included in the order.’’.

8 SEC. 152. FURNISHING CONSUMER REPORTS FOR CERTAIN

9 PURPOSES RELATING TO CHILD SUPPORT.

10 Section 604 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15

11 U.S.C. 1681b) is amended by adding at the end the follow12 ing new paragraphs:

13 ‘‘(4) In response to a request by the head of a

14 State or local child support enforcement agency (or

15 a State or local government official authorized by

16 the head of such an agency), if the person making

17 the request certifies to the consumer reporting agen18 cy that—

19 ‘‘(A) the consumer report is needed for the

20 purpose of establishing an individual’s capacity

21 to make child support payments or determining

22 the appropriate level of such payments;

23 ‘‘(B) the paternity of the consumer for the

24 child to which the obligation relates has been

25 established or acknowledged by the consumer in
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1 accordance with State laws under which the ob2 ligation arises (if required by those laws);

3 ‘‘(C) the person has provided at least 10

4 days’ prior notice to the consumer whose report

5 is requested, by certified or registered mail to

6 the last known address of the consumer, that

7 the report will be requested; and

8 ‘‘(D) the consumer report will be kept con9 fidential, will be used solely for a purpose de10 scribed in subparagraph (A), and will not be

11 used in connection with any other civil, admin12 istrative, or criminal proceeding, or for any

13 other purpose.

14 ‘‘(5) To an agency administering a State plan

15 under section 454 of the Social Security Act (42

16 U.S.C. 654) for use to set an initial or modified

17 child support award.’’.

18 SEC. 153. NONLIABILITY FOR FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

19 PROVIDING FINANCIAL RECORDS TO STATE

20 CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES

21 IN CHILD SUPPORT CASES.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi23 sion of Federal or State law, a financial institution shall

24 not be liable under any Federal or State law to any person

25 for disclosing any financial record of an individual to a
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1 State child support enforcement agency attempting to es2 tablish, modify, or enforce a child support obligation of

3 such individual.

4 (b) PROHIBITION OF DISCLOSURE OF FINANCIAL

5 RECORD OBTAINED BY STATE CHILD SUPPORT EN6 FORCEMENT AGENCY.—A State child support enforcement

7 agency which obtains a financial record of an individual

8 from a financial institution pursuant to subsection (a)

9 may disclose such financial record only for the purpose

10 of, and to the extent necessary in, establishing, modifying,

11 or enforcing a child support obligation of such individual.

12 (c) CIVIL DAMAGES FOR UNAUTHORIZED DISCLO13 SURE.—

14 (1) DISCLOSURE BY STATE OFFICER OR EM15 PLOYEE.—If any person knowingly, or by reason of

16 negligence, discloses a financial record of an individ17 ual in violation of subsection (b), such individual

18 may bring a civil action for damages against such

19 person in a district court of the United States.

20 (2) NO LIABILITY FOR GOOD FAITH BUT ERRO21 NEOUS INTERPRETATION.—No liability shall arise

22 under this subsection with respect to any disclosure

23 which results from a good faith, but erroneous, in24 terpretation of subsection (b).
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1 (3) DAMAGES.—In any action brought under

2 paragraph (1), upon a finding of liability on the part

3 of the defendant, the defendant shall be liable to the

4 plaintiff in an amount equal to the sum of—

5 (A) the greater of—

6 (i) $1,000 for each act of unauthor7 ized disclosure of a financial record with

8 respect to which such defendant is found

9 liable; or

10 (ii) the sum of—

11 (I) the actual damages sustained

12 by the plaintiff as a result of such un13 authorized disclosure; plus

14 (II) in the case of a willful disclo15 sure or a disclosure which is the re16 sult of gross negligence, punitive dam17 ages; plus

18 (B) the costs (including attorney’s fees) of

19 the action.

20 (d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—

21 (1) FINANCIAL INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘fi22 nancial institution’’ means—

23 (A) a depository institution, as defined in

24 section 3(c) of the Federal Deposit Insurance

25 Act (12 U.S.C. 1813(c));
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1 (B) an institution-affiliated party, as de2 fined in section 3(u) of such Act (12 U.S.C.

3 1813(v));

4 (C) any Federal credit union or State cred5 it union, as defined in section 101 of the Fed6 eral Credit Union Act (12 U.S.C. 1752), includ7 ing an institution-affiliated party of such a

8 credit union, as defined in section 206(r) of

9 such Act (12 U.S.C. 1786(r)); and

10 (D) any benefit association, insurance com11 pany, safe deposit company, money-market mu12 tual fund, or similar entity authorized to do

13 business in the State.

14 (2) FINANCIAL RECORD.—The term ‘‘financial

15 record’’ has the meaning given such term in section

16 1101 of the Right to Financial Privacy Act of 1978

17 (12 U.S.C. 3401).

18 (3) STATE CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT

19 AGENCY.—The term ‘‘State child support enforce20 ment agency’’ means a State agency which admin21 isters a State program for establishing and enforcing

22 child support obligations.
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1 Subtitle G—Enforcement of

2 Support Orders

3 SEC. 161. INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE COLLECTION OF

4 ARREARAGES.

5 (a) COLLECTION OF FEES.—Section 6305(a) of the

6 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to collection of

7 certain liability) is amended—

8 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph

9 (3);

10 (2) by striking the period at the end of para11 graph (4) and inserting ‘‘, and’’;

12 (3) by adding at the end the following new

13 paragraph:

14 ‘‘(5) no additional fee may be assessed for ad15 justments to an amount previously certified pursu16 ant to such section 452(b) with respect to the same

17 obligor.’’; and

18 (4) by striking ‘‘Secretary of Health, Edu19 cation, and Welfare’’ each place it appears and in20 serting ‘‘Secretary of Health and Human Services’’.

21 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

22 this section shall become effective October 1, 1997.
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1 SEC. 162. AUTHORITY TO COLLECT SUPPORT FROM FED2 ERAL EMPLOYEES.

3 (a) CONSOLIDATION AND STREAMLINING OF AU4 THORITIES.—Section 459 (42 U.S.C. 659) is amended to

5 read as follows:

6 ‘‘SEC. 459. CONSENT BY THE UNITED STATES TO INCOME

7 WITHHOLDING, GARNISHMENT, AND SIMILAR

8 PROCEEDINGS FOR ENFORCEMENT OF CHILD

9 SUPPORT AND ALIMONY OBLIGATIONS.

10 ‘‘(a) CONSENT TO SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT.—Not11 withstanding any other provision of law (including section

12 207 of this Act and section 5301 of title 38, United States

13 Code), effective January 1, 1975, moneys (the entitlement

14 to which is based upon remuneration for employment) due

15 from, or payable by, the United States or the District of

16 Columbia (including any agency, subdivision, or instru17 mentality thereof) to any individual, including members

18 of the Armed Forces of the United States, shall be subject,

19 in like manner and to the same extent as if the United

20 States or the District of Columbia were a private person,

21 to withholding in accordance with State law enacted pur22 suant to subsections (a)(1) and (b) of section 466 and reg23 ulations of the Secretary under such subsections, and to

24 any other legal process brought, by a State agency admin25 istering a program under a State plan approved under this
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1 part or by an individual obligee, to enforce the legal obliga2 tion of the individual to provide child support or alimony.

3 ‘‘(b) CONSENT TO REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO

4 PRIVATE PERSON.—With respect to notice to withhold in5 come pursuant to subsection (a)(1) or (b) of section 466,

6 or any other order or process to enforce support obliga7 tions against an individual (if the order or process con8 tains or is accompanied by sufficient data to permit

9 prompt identification of the individual and the moneys in10 volved), each governmental entity specified in subsection

11 (a) shall be subject to the same requirements as would

12 apply if the entity were a private person, except as other13 wise provided in this section.

14 ‘‘(c) DESIGNATION OF AGENT; RESPONSE TO NOTICE

15 OR PROCESS—

16 ‘‘(1) DESIGNATION OF AGENT.—The head of

17 each agency subject to this section shall—

18 ‘‘(A) designate an agent or agents to re19 ceive orders and accept service of process in

20 matters relating to child support or alimony;

21 and

22 ‘‘(B) annually publish in the Federal Reg23 ister the designation of the agent or agents,

24 identified by title or position, mailing address,

25 and telephone number.
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1 ‘‘(2) RESPONSE TO NOTICE OR PROCESS.—If an

2 agent designated pursuant to paragraph (1) of this

3 subsection receives notice pursuant to State proce4 dures in effect pursuant to subsection (a)(1) or (b)

5 of section 466, or is effectively served with any

6 order, process, or interrogatory, with respect to an

7 individual’s child support or alimony payment obli8 gations, the agent shall—

9 ‘‘(A) as soon as possible (but not later

10 than 15 days) thereafter, send written notice of

11 the notice or service (together with a copy of

12 the notice or service) to the individual at the

13 duty station or last-known home address of the

14 individual;

15 ‘‘(B) within 30 days (or such longer period

16 as may be prescribed by applicable State law)

17 after receipt of a notice pursuant to such State

18 procedures, comply with all applicable provi19 sions of section 466; and

20 ‘‘(C) within 30 days (or such longer period

21 as may be prescribed by applicable State law)

22 after effective service of any other such order,

23 process, or interrogatory, respond to the order,

24 process, or interrogatory.
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1 ‘‘(d) PRIORITY OF CLAIMS.—If a governmental entity

2 specified in subsection (a) receives notice or is served with

3 process, as provided in this section, concerning amounts

4 owed by an individual to more than 1 person—

5 ‘‘(1) support collection under section 466(b)

6 must be given priority over any other process, as

7 provided in section 466(b)(7);

8 ‘‘(2) allocation of moneys due or payable to an

9 individual among claimants under section 466(b)

10 shall be governed by section 466(b) and the regula11 tions prescribed under such section; and

12 ‘‘(3) such moneys as remain after compliance

13 with paragraphs (1) and (2) shall be available to

14 satisfy any other such processes on a first-come,

15 first-served basis, with any such process being satis16 fied out of such moneys as remain after the satisfac17 tion of all such processes which have been previously

18 served.

19 ‘‘(e) NO REQUIREMENT TO VARY PAY CYCLES.—A

20 governmental entity that is affected by legal process

21 served for the enforcement of an individual’s child support

22 or alimony payment obligations shall not be required to

23 vary its normal pay and disbursement cycle in order to

24 comply with the legal process.

25 ‘‘(f) RELIEF FROM LIABILITY.—
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1 ‘‘(1) Neither the United States, nor the govern2 ment of the District of Columbia, nor any disbursing

3 officer shall be liable with respect to any payment

4 made from moneys due or payable from the United

5 States to any individual pursuant to legal process

6 regular on its face, if the payment is made in ac7 cordance with this section and the regulations issued

8 to carry out this section.

9 ‘‘(2) No Federal employee whose duties include

10 taking actions necessary to comply with the require11 ments of subsection (a) with regard to any individ12 ual shall be subject under any law to any discipli13 nary action or civil or criminal liability or penalty

14 for, or on account of, any disclosure of information

15 made by the employee in connection with the carry16 ing out of such actions.

17 ‘‘(g) REGULATIONS.—Authority to promulgate regu18 lations for the implementation of this section shall, insofar

19 as this section applies to moneys due from (or payable

20 by)—

21 ‘‘(1) the United States (other than the legisla22 tive or judicial branches of the Federal Government)

23 or the government of the District of Columbia, be

24 vested in the President (or the designee of the Presi25 dent);
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1 ‘‘(2) the legislative branch of the Federal Gov2 ernment, be vested jointly in the President pro tem3 pore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of

4 Representatives (or their designees), and

5 ‘‘(3) the judicial branch of the Federal Govern6 ment, be vested in the Chief Justice of the United

7 States (or the designee of the Chief Justice).

8 ‘‘(h) MONEYS SUBJECT TO PROCESS.—

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2),

10 moneys paid or payable to an individual which are

11 considered to be based upon remuneration for em12 ployment, for purposes of this section—

13 ‘‘(A) consist of—

14 ‘‘(i) compensation paid or payable for

15 personal services of the individual, whether

16 the compensation is denominated as wages,

17 salary, commission, bonus, pay, allowances,

18 or otherwise (including severance pay, sick

19 pay, and incentive pay);

20 ‘‘(ii) periodic benefits (including a

21 periodic benefit as defined in section

22 228(h)(3)) or other payments—

23 ‘‘(I) under the insurance system

24 established by title II;
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1 ‘‘(II) under any other system or

2 fund established by the United States

3 which provides for the payment of

4 pensions, retirement or retired pay,

5 annuities, dependents’ or survivors’

6 benefits, or similar amounts payable

7 on account of personal services per8 formed by the individual or any other

9 individual;

10 ‘‘(III) as compensation for death

11 under any Federal program;

12 ‘‘(IV) under any Federal pro13 gram established to provide ‘black

14 lung’ benefits; or

15 ‘‘(V) by the Secretary of Veter16 ans Affairs as compensation for a

17 service-connected disability paid by

18 the Secretary to a former member of

19 the Armed Forces who is in receipt of

20 retired or retainer pay if the former

21 member has waived a portion of the

22 retired or retainer pay in order to re23 ceive such compensation; and

24 ‘‘(iii) worker’s compensation benefits

25 paid under Federal or State law but
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1 ‘‘(B) do not include any payment—

2 ‘‘(i) by way of reimbursement or oth3 erwise, to defray expenses incurred by the

4 individual in carrying out duties associated

5 with the employment of the individual; or

6 ‘‘(ii) as allowances for members of the

7 uniformed services payable pursuant to

8 chapter 7 of title 37, United States Code,

9 as prescribed by the Secretaries concerned

10 (defined by section 101(5) of such title) as

11 necessary for the efficient performance of

12 duty.

13 ‘‘(2) CERTAIN AMOUNTS EXCLUDED.—In deter14 mining the amount of any moneys due from, or pay15 able by, the United States to any individual, there

16 shall be excluded amounts which—

17 ‘‘(A) are owed by the individual to the

18 United States;

19 ‘‘(B) are required by law to be, and are,

20 deducted from the remuneration or other pay21 ment involved, including Federal employment

22 taxes, and fines and forfeitures ordered by

23 court-martial;

24 ‘‘(C) are properly withheld for Federal,

25 State, or local income tax purposes, if the with-
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1 holding of the amounts is authorized or re2 quired by law and if amounts withheld are not

3 greater than would be the case if the individual

4 claimed all dependents to which he was entitled

5 (the withholding of additional amounts pursu6 ant to section 3402(i) of the Internal Revenue

7 Code of 1986 may be permitted only when the

8 individual presents evidence of a tax obligation

9 which supports the additional withholding);

10 ‘‘(D) are deducted as health insurance pre11 miums;

12 ‘‘(E) are deducted as normal retirement

13 contributions (not including amounts deducted

14 for supplementary coverage); or

15 ‘‘(F) are deducted as normal life insurance

16 premiums from salary or other remuneration

17 for employment (not including amounts de18 ducted for supplementary coverage).

19 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—

20 ‘‘(1) UNITED STATES.—The term ‘United

21 States’ includes any department, agency, or instru22 mentality of the legislative, judicial, or executive

23 branch of the Federal Government, the United

24 States Postal Service, the Postal Rate Commission,

25 any Federal corporation created by an Act of Con-
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1 gress that is wholly owned by the Federal Govern2 ment, and the governments of the territories and

3 possessions of the United States.

4 ‘‘(2) CHILD SUPPORT.—The term ‘child sup5 port’, when used in reference to the legal obligations

6 of an individual to provide such support, means

7 amounts required to be paid under a judgment, de8 cree, or order, whether temporary, final, or subject

9 to modification, issued by a court or an administra10 tive agency of competent jurisdiction, for the sup11 port and maintenance of a child, including a child

12 who has attained the age of majority under the law

13 of the issuing State, or a child and the parent with

14 whom the child is living, which provides for mone15 tary support, health care, arrearages or reimburse16 ment, and which may include other related costs and

17 fees, interest and penalties, income withholding, at18 torney’s fees, and other relief.

19 ‘‘(3) ALIMONY.—

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘alimony’,

21 when used in reference to the legal obligations

22 of an individual to provide the same, means

23 periodic payments of funds for the support and

24 maintenance of the spouse (or former spouse)

25 of the individual, and (subject to and in accord-
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1 ance with State law) includes separate mainte2 nance, alimony pendente lite, maintenance, and

3 spousal support, and includes attorney’s fees,

4 interest, and court costs when and to the extent

5 that the same are expressly made recoverable as

6 such pursuant to a decree, order, or judgment

7 issued in accordance with applicable State law

8 by a court of competent jurisdiction.

9 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTIONS.—Such term does not

10 include—

11 ‘‘(i) any child support; or

12 ‘‘(ii) any payment or transfer of prop13 erty or its value by an individual to the

14 spouse or a former spouse of the individual

15 in compliance with any community prop16 erty settlement, equitable distribution of

17 property, or other division of property be18 tween spouses or former spouses.

19 ‘‘(4) PRIVATE PERSON.—The term ‘private per20 son’ means a person who does not have sovereign or

21 other special immunity or privilege which causes the

22 person not to be subject to legal process.

23 ‘‘(5) LEGAL PROCESS.—The term ‘legal proc24 ess’ means any writ, order, summons, or other simi25 lar process in the nature of garnishment—
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1 ‘‘(A) which is issued by—

2 ‘‘(i) a court or an administrative

3 agency of competent jurisdiction in any

4 State, territory, or possession of the Unit5 ed States;

6 ‘‘(ii) a court or an administrative

7 agency of competent jurisdiction in any

8 foreign country with which the United

9 States has entered into an agreement

10 which requires the United States to honor

11 the process; or

12 ‘‘(iii) an authorized official pursuant

13 to an order of such a court or an adminis14 trative agency of competent jurisdiction or

15 pursuant to State or local law; and

16 ‘‘(B) which is directed to, and the purpose

17 of which is to compel, a governmental entity

18 which holds moneys which are otherwise pay19 able to an individual to make a payment from

20 the moneys to another party in order to satisfy

21 a legal obligation of the individual to provide

22 child support or make alimony payments.’’.

23 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

24 (1) TO PART D OF TITLE IV.—Sections 461 and

25 462 (42 U.S.C. 661 and 662) are repealed.
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1 (2) TO TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE.—Sec2 tion 5520a of title 5, United States Code, is amend3 ed, in subsections (h)(2) and (i), by striking ‘‘sec4 tions 459, 461, and 462 of the Social Security Act

5 (42 U.S.C. 659, 661, and 662)’’ and inserting ‘‘sec6 tion 459 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.

7 659)’’.

8 (c) MILITARY RETIRED AND RETAINER PAY.—

9 (1) DEFINITION OF COURT.—Section

10 1408(a)(1) of title 10, United States Code, is

11 amended—

12 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub13 paragraph (B);

14 (B) by striking the period at the end of

15 subparagraph (C) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

16 (C) by adding after subparagraph (C) the

17 following: new subparagraph

18 ‘‘(D) any administrative or judicial tribu19 nal of a State competent to enter orders for

20 support or maintenance (including a State

21 agency administering a program under a State

22 plan approved under part D of title IV of the

23 Social Security Act), and, for purposes of this

24 subparagraph, the term ‘State’ includes the

25 District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of
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1 Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, and

2 American Samoa.’’.

3 (2) DEFINITION OF COURT ORDER.—Section

4 1408(a)(2) of such title is amended—

5 (A) by inserting ‘‘or a support order, as

6 defined in section 453(p) of the Social Security

7 Act (42 U.S.C. 653(p)),’’ before ‘‘which—’’;

8 (B) in subparagraph (B)(i), by striking

9 ‘‘(as defined in section 462(b) of the Social Se10 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 662(b)))’’ and inserting

11 ‘‘(as defined in section 459(i)(2) of the Social

12 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 662(i)(2)))’’; and

13 (C) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking

14 ‘‘(as defined in section 462(c) of the Social Se15 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 662(c)))’’ and inserting

16 ‘‘(as defined in section 459(i)(3) of the Social

17 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 662(i)(3)))’’.

18 (3) PUBLIC PAYEE.—Section 1408(d) of such

19 title is amended—

20 (A) in the heading, by inserting ‘‘(OR FOR

21 BENEFIT OF)’’ before ‘‘SPOUSE OR’’; and

22 (B) in paragraph (1), in the 1st sentence,

23 by inserting ‘‘(or for the benefit of such spouse

24 or former spouse to a State disbursement unit

25 established pursuant to section 454B of the So-
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1 cial Security Act or other public payee des2 ignated by a State, in accordance with part D

3 of title IV of the Social Security Act, as di4 rected by court order, or as otherwise directed

5 in accordance with such part D)’’ before ‘‘in an

6 amount sufficient’’.

7 (4) RELATIONSHIP TO PART D OF TITLE IV.—

8 Section 1408 of such title is amended by adding at

9 the end the following new subsection:

10 ‘‘(j) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS.—In any case

11 involving an order providing for payment of child support

12 (as defined in section 459(i)(2) of the Social Security Act)

13 by a member who has never been married to the other

14 parent of the child, the provisions of this section shall not

15 apply, and the case shall be subject to the provisions of

16 section 459 of such Act.’’.

17 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

18 this section shall become effective 6 months after the date

19 of the enactment of this Act.

20 SEC. 163. ENFORCEMENT OF CHILD SUPPORT OBLIGA21 TIONS OF MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES.

22 (a) AVAILABILITY OF LOCATOR INFORMATION.—

23 (1) MAINTENANCE OF ADDRESS INFORMA24 TION.—The Secretary of Defense shall establish a

25 centralized personnel locator service that includes
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1 the address of each member of the Armed Forces

2 under the jurisdiction of the Secretary. Upon re3 quest of the Secretary of Transportation, addresses

4 for members of the Coast Guard shall be included in

5 the centralized personnel locator service.

6 (2) TYPE OF ADDRESS.—

7 (A) RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS.—Except as

8 provided in subparagraph (B), the address for

9 a member of the Armed Forces shown in the lo10 cator service shall be the residential address of

11 that member.

12 (B) DUTY ADDRESS.—The address for a

13 member of the Armed Forces shown in the loca14 tor service shall be the duty address of that

15 member in the case of a member—

16 (i) who is permanently assigned over17 seas, to a vessel, or to a routinely

18 deployable unit; or

19 (ii) with respect to whom the Sec20 retary concerned makes a determination

21 that the member’s residential address

22 should not be disclosed due to national se23 curity or safety concerns.

24 (3) UPDATING OF LOCATOR INFORMATION.—

25 Within 30 days after a member listed in the locator
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1 service establishes a new residential address (or a

2 new duty address, in the case of a member covered

3 by paragraph (2)(B)), the Secretary concerned shall

4 update the locator service to indicate the new ad5 dress of the member.

6 (4) AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.—The Sec7 retary of Defense shall make information regarding

8 the address of a member of the Armed Forces listed

9 in the locator service available, on request, to the

10 Federal Parent Locator Service established under

11 section 453 of the Social Security Act.

12 (b) FACILITATING GRANTING OF LEAVE FOR AT13 TENDANCE AT HEARINGS.—

14 (1) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of each

15 military department, and the Secretary of Transpor16 tation with respect to the Coast Guard when it is

17 not operating as a service in the Navy, shall pre18 scribe regulations to facilitate the granting of leave

19 to a member of the Armed Forces under the juris20 diction of that Secretary in a case in which—

21 (A) the leave is needed for the member to

22 attend a hearing described in paragraph (2);

23 (B) the member is not serving in or with

24 a unit deployed in a contingency operation (as
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1 defined in section 101 of title 10, United States

2 Code); and

3 (C) the exigencies of military service (as

4 determined by the Secretary concerned) do not

5 otherwise require that such leave not be grant6 ed.

7 (2) COVERED HEARINGS.—Paragraph (1) ap8 plies to a hearing that is conducted by a court or

9 pursuant to an administrative process established

10 under State law, in connection with a civil action—

11 (A) to determine whether a member of the

12 Armed Forces is a natural parent of a child; or

13 (B) to determine an obligation of a mem14 ber of the Armed Forces to provide child sup15 port.

16 (3) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub17 section—

18 (A) The term ‘‘court’’ has the meaning

19 given that term in section 1408(a) of title 10,

20 United States Code.

21 (B) The term ‘‘child support’’ has the

22 meaning given such term in section 459(i) of

23 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 659(i)).

24 (c) PAYMENT OF MILITARY RETIRED PAY IN COM25 PLIANCE WITH CHILD SUPPORT ORDERS.—
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1 (1) DATE OF CERTIFICATION OF COURT

2 ORDER.—Section 1408 of title 10, United States

3 Code, as amended by section 162(c)(4) of this Act,

4 is amended—

5 (A) by redesignating subsections (i) and (j)

6 as subsections (j) and (k), respectively; and

7 (B) by inserting after subsection (h) the

8 following new subsection:

9 ‘‘(i) CERTIFICATION DATE.—It is not necessary that

10 the date of a certification of the authenticity or complete11 ness of a copy of a court order for child support received

12 by the Secretary concerned for the purposes of this section

13 be recent in relation to the date of receipt by the Sec14 retary.’’.

15 (2) PAYMENTS CONSISTENT WITH ASSIGN16 MENTS OF RIGHTS TO STATES.—Section 1408(d)(1)

17 of such title is amended by inserting after the 1st

18 sentence the following new sentence: ‘‘In the case of

19 a spouse or former spouse who, pursuant to section

20 402(a)(26) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.

21 602(a)(26)), assigns to a State the rights of the

22 spouse or former spouse to receive support, the Sec23 retary concerned may make the child support pay24 ments referred to in the preceding sentence to that
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1 State in amounts consistent with that assignment of

2 rights.’’.

3 (3) ARREARAGES OWED BY MEMBERS OF THE

4 UNIFORMED SERVICES.—Section 1408(d) of such

5 title is amended by adding at the end the following

6 new paragraph:

7 ‘‘(6) In the case of a court order for which effective

8 service is made on the Secretary concerned on or after

9 the date of the enactment of this paragraph and which

10 provides for payments from the disposable retired pay of

11 a member to satisfy the amount of child support set forth

12 in the order, the authority provided in paragraph (1) to

13 make payments from the disposable retired pay of a mem14 ber to satisfy the amount of child support set forth in a

15 court order shall apply to payment of any amount of child

16 support arrearages set forth in that order as well as to

17 amounts of child support that currently become due.’’.

18 (4) PAYROLL DEDUCTIONS.—The Secretary of

19 Defense shall begin payroll deductions within 30

20 days after receiving notice of withholding, or for the

21 1st pay period that begins after such 30-day period.

22 SEC. 164. VOIDING OF FRAUDULENT TRANSFERS.

23 Section 466 (42 U.S.C. 666), as amended by section

24 121 of this Act, is amended by adding at the end the fol25 lowing new subsection:
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1 ‘‘(g) LAWS VOIDING FRAUDULENT TRANSFERS.—In

2 order to satisfy section 454(20)(A), each State must have

3 in effect—

4 ‘‘(1)(A) the Uniform Fraudulent Conveyance

5 Act of 1981;

6 ‘‘(B) the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act of

7 1984; or

8 ‘‘(C) another law, specifying indicia of fraud

9 which create a prima facie case that a debtor trans10 ferred income or property to avoid payment to a

11 child support creditor, which the Secretary finds af12 fords comparable rights to child support creditors;

13 and

14 ‘‘(2) procedures under which, in any case in

15 which the State knows of a transfer by a child sup16 port debtor with respect to which such a prima facie

17 case is established, the State must—

18 ‘‘(A) seek to void such transfer; or

19 ‘‘(B) obtain a settlement in the best inter20 ests of the child support creditor.’’.

21 SEC. 165. WORK REQUIREMENT FOR PERSONS OWING

22 PAST-DUE CHILD SUPPORT.

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 466(a) of the Social Secu24 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 666(a)), as amended by sections 115,
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1 117(a), and 123 of this Act, is amended by adding at the

2 end the following new paragraph:

3 ‘‘(15) PROCEDURES TO ENSURE THAT PERSONS

4 OWING PAST-DUE SUPPORT WORK OR HAVE A PLAN

5 FOR PAYMENT OF SUCH SUPPORT.—

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Procedures under

7 which the State has the authority, in any case

8 in which an individual owes past-due support

9 with respect to a child receiving assistance

10 under a State program funded under part A, to

11 seek a court order that requires the individual

12 to—

13 ‘‘(i) pay such support in accordance

14 with a plan approved by the court, or, at

15 the option of the State, a plan approved by

16 the State agency administering the State

17 program under this part; or

18 ‘‘(ii) if the individual is subject to

19 such a plan and is not incapacitated, par20 ticipate in such work activities (as defined

21 in section 407(d)) as the court, or, at the

22 option of the State, the State agency ad23 ministering the State program under this

24 part, deems appropriate.
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1 ‘‘(B) PAST-DUE SUPPORT DEFINED.—For

2 purposes of subparagraph (A), the term ‘past3 due support’ means the amount of a delin4 quency, determined under a court order, or an

5 order of an administrative process established

6 under State law, for support and maintenance

7 of a child, or of a child and the parent with

8 whom the child is living.’’.

9 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The flush para10 graph at the end of section 466(a) (42 U.S.C.666(a)) is

11 amended by striking ‘‘and (7)’’ and inserting ‘‘(7), and

12 (15)’’.

13 SEC. 166. DEFINITION OF SUPPORT ORDER.

14 Section 453 (42 U.S.C. 653), as amended by sections

15 116 and 145(b) of this Act, is amended by adding at the

16 end the following new subsection:

17 ‘‘(p) SUPPORT ORDER DEFINED.—As used in this

18 part, the term ‘support order’ means a judgment, decree,

19 or order, whether temporary, final, or subject to modifica20 tion, issued by a court or an administrative agency of com21 petent jurisdiction, for the support and maintenance of a

22 child, including a child who has attained the age of major23 ity under the law of the issuing State, or a child and the

24 parent with whom the child is living, which provides for

25 monetary support, health care, arrearages, or reimburse-
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1 ment, and which may include related costs and fees, inter2 est and penalties, income withholding, attorneys’ fees, and

3 other relief.’’.

4 SEC. 167. REPORTING ARREARAGES TO CREDIT BUREAUS.

5 Section 466(a)(7) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)(7)) is amended

6 to read as follows:

7 ‘‘(7) REPORTING ARREARAGES TO CREDIT BU8 REAUS.—

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Procedures (subject to

10 safeguards pursuant to subparagraph (B)) re11 quiring the State to report periodically to

12 consumer reporting agencies (as defined in sec13 tion 603(f) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act

14 (15 U.S.C. 1681a(f)) the name of any non15 custodial parent who is delinquent in the pay16 ment of support, and the amount of overdue

17 support owed by such parent.

18 ‘‘(B) SAFEGUARDS.—Procedures ensuring

19 that, in carrying out subparagraph (A), infor20 mation with respect to a noncustodial parent is

21 reported—

22 ‘‘(i) only after such parent has been

23 afforded all due process required under

24 State law, including notice and a reason-
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1 able opportunity to contest the accuracy of

2 such information; and

3 ‘‘(ii) only to an entity that has fur4 nished evidence satisfactory to the State

5 that the entity is a consumer reporting

6 agency (as so defined).’’.

7 SEC. 168. LIENS.

8 Section 466(a)(4) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)(4)) is amended

9 to read as follows:

10 ‘‘(4) LIENS.—Procedures under which—

11 ‘‘(A) liens arise by operation of law against

12 real and personal property for amounts of over13 due support owed by a noncustodial parent who

14 resides or owns property in the State; and

15 ‘‘(B) the State accords full faith and credit

16 to liens described in subparagraph (A) arising

17 in another State, without registration of the un18 derlying order.’’.

19 SEC. 169. STATE LAW AUTHORIZING SUSPENSION OF LI20 CENSES.

21 Section 466(a) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)), as amended by

22 sections 115, 117(a), 123, and 165 of this Act, is amended

23 by adding at the end the following:

24 ‘‘(16) AUTHORITY TO WITHHOLD OR SUSPEND

25 LICENSES.—Procedures under which the State has
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1 (and uses in appropriate cases) authority to withhold

2 or suspend, or to restrict the use of driver’s licenses,

3 professional and occupational licenses, and rec4 reational licenses of individuals owing overdue sup5 port or failing, after receiving appropriate notice, to

6 comply with subpoenas or warrants relating to pa7 ternity or child support proceedings.’’.

8 SEC. 170. DENIAL OF PASSPORTS FOR NONPAYMENT OF

9 CHILD SUPPORT.

10 (a) HHS CERTIFICATION PROCEDURE.—

11 (1) SECRETARIAL RESPONSIBILITY.—Section

12 452 (42 U.S.C. 652), as amended by section 145 of

13 this Act, is amended by adding at the end the fol14 lowing new subsection:

15 ‘‘(k)(1) If the Secretary receives a certification by a

16 State agency in accordance with the requirements of sec17 tion 454(31) that an individual owes arrearages of child

18 support in an amount exceeding $5,000, the Secretary

19 shall transmit such certification to the Secretary of State

20 for action (with respect to denial, revocation, or limitation

21 of passports) pursuant to section 170(b) of the Child Sup22 port Enforcement Reform Amendments of 1996.

23 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall not be liable to an individual

24 for any action with respect to a certification by a State

25 agency under this section.’’.
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1 (2) STATE CASE AGENCY RESPONSIBILITY.—

2 Section 454 (42 U.S.C. 654), as amended by sec3 tions 101(b), 103(a), 112(b), 113(a), 133, and

4 143(b) of this Act, is amended—

5 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para6 graph (29);

7 (B) by striking the period at the end of

8 paragraph (30) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

9 (C) by adding after paragraph (30) the fol10 lowing new paragraph:

11 ‘‘(31) provide that the State agency will have in

12 effect a procedure for certifying to the Secretary, for

13 purposes of the procedure under section 452(k), de14 terminations that individuals owe arrearages of child

15 support in an amount exceeding $5,000, under

16 which procedure—

17 ‘‘(A) each individual concerned is afforded

18 notice of such determination and the con19 sequences thereof, and an opportunity to con20 test the determination; and

21 ‘‘(B) the certification by the State agency

22 is furnished to the Secretary in such format,

23 and accompanied by such supporting docu24 mentation, as the Secretary may require.’’.
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1 (b) STATE DEPARTMENT PROCEDURE FOR DENIAL

2 OF PASSPORTS.—

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall,

4 upon certification by the Secretary of Health and

5 Human Services transmitted under section 452(k) of

6 the Social Security Act, refuse to issue a passport to

7 such individual, and may revoke, restrict, or limit a

8 passport issued previously to such individual.

9 (2) LIMIT ON LIABILITY.—The Secretary of

10 State shall not be liable to an individual for any ac11 tion with respect to a certification by a State agency

12 under this section.

13 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section and the amend14 ments made by this section shall become effective October

15 1, 1996.

16 SEC. 171. INTERNATIONAL CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCE17 MENT.

18 (a) AUTHORITY FOR INTERNATIONAL AGREE19 MENTS.—Part D of title IV, as amended by section 162(a)

20 of this Act, is amended by adding after section 459 the

21 following new section:

22 ‘‘SEC. 459A. INTERNATIONAL CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCE23 MENT.

24 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY FOR DECLARATIONS.—
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1 ‘‘(1) DECLARATION.—The Secretary of State,

2 with the concurrence of the Secretary of Health and

3 Human Services, is authorized to declare any foreign

4 country (or a political subdivision thereof) to be a

5 foreign reciprocating country if the foreign country

6 has established, or undertakes to establish, proce7 dures for the establishment and enforcement of du8 ties of support owed to obligees who are residents of

9 the United States, and such procedures are substan10 tially in conformity with the standards prescribed

11 under subsection (b).

12 ‘‘(2) REVOCATION.—A declaration with respect

13 to a foreign country made pursuant to paragraph

14 (1) may be revoked if the Secretaries of State and

15 Health and Human Services determine that—

16 ‘‘(A) the procedures established by the for17 eign nation regarding the establishment and en18 forcement of duties of support have been so

19 changed, or the foreign nation’s implementation

20 of such procedures is so unsatisfactory, that

21 such procedures do not meet the criteria for

22 such a declaration; or

23 ‘‘(B) continued operation of the declaration

24 is not consistent with the purposes of this part.
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1 ‘‘(3) FORM OF DECLARATION.—A declaration

2 under paragraph (1) may be made in the form of an

3 international agreement, in connection with an inter4 national agreement or corresponding foreign declara5 tion, or on a unilateral basis.

6 ‘‘(b) STANDARDS FOR FOREIGN SUPPORT ENFORCE7 MENT PROCEDURES.—

8 ‘‘(1) MANDATORY ELEMENTS.—Child support

9 enforcement procedures of a foreign country which

10 may be the subject of a declaration pursuant to sub11 section (a)(1) shall include the following elements:

12 ‘‘(A) The foreign country (or political sub13 division thereof) has in effect procedures, avail14 able to residents of the United States—

15 ‘‘(i) for establishment of paternity,

16 and for establishment of orders of support

17 for children and custodial parents; and

18 ‘‘(ii) for enforcement of orders to pro19 vide support to children and custodial par20 ents, including procedures for collection

21 and appropriate distribution of support

22 payments under such orders.

23 ‘‘(B) The procedures described in subpara24 graph (A), including legal and administrative
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1 assistance, are provided to residents of the

2 United States at no cost.

3 ‘‘(C) An agency of the foreign country is

4 designated as a Central Authority responsible

5 for—

6 ‘‘(i) facilitating child support enforce7 ment in cases involving residents of the

8 foreign nation and residents of the United

9 States; and

10 ‘‘(ii) ensuring compliance with the

11 standards established pursuant to this sub12 section.

13 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL ELEMENTS.—The Secretary

14 of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of

15 State, in consultation with the States, may establish

16 such additional standards as may be considered nec17 essary to further the purposes of this section.

18 ‘‘(c) DESIGNATION OF UNITED STATES CENTRAL

19 AUTHORITY.—It shall be the responsibility of the Sec20 retary of Health and Human Services to facilitate child

21 support enforcement in cases involving residents of the

22 United States and residents of foreign nations that are

23 the subject of a declaration under this section, by activities

24 including—
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1 ‘‘(1) development of uniform forms and proce2 dures for use in such cases;

3 ‘‘(2) notification of foreign reciprocating coun4 tries of the State of residence of individuals sought

5 for support enforcement purposes, on the basis of in6 formation provided by the Federal Parent Locator

7 Service; and

8 ‘‘(3) such other oversight, assistance, and co9 ordination activities as the Secretary may find nec10 essary and appropriate.

11 ‘‘(d) EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.—States may enter

12 into reciprocal arrangements for the establishment and en13 forcement of child support obligations with foreign coun14 tries that are not the subject of a declaration pursuant

15 to subsection (a), to the extent consistent with Federal

16 law.’’.

17 (b) STATE PLAN REQUIREMENT.—Section 454 (42

18 U.S.C. 654), as amended by sections 101(b), 103(a),

19 112(b), 113(a), 133, 143(b), and 170(a)(2) of this Act,

20 is amended—

21 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph

22 (30);

23 (2) by striking the period at the end of para24 graph (31) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
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1 (3) by adding after paragraph (31) the follow2 ing new paragraph:

3 ‘‘(32)(A) provide that any request for services

4 under this part by a foreign reciprocating country or

5 a foreign country with which the State has an ar6 rangement described in section 459A(d)(2) shall be

7 treated as a request by a State;

8 ‘‘(B) provide, at State option, notwithstanding

9 paragraph (4) or any other provision of this part,

10 for services under the plan for enforcement of a

11 spousal support order not described in paragraph

12 (4)(B) entered by such a country (or subdivision);

13 and

14 ‘‘(C) provide that no applications will be re15 quired from, and no costs will be assessed for such

16 services against, the foreign reciprocating country or

17 foreign obligee (but costs may at State option be as18 sessed against the obligor).’’.

19 SEC. 172. FINANCIAL INSTITUTION DATA MATCHES.

20 Section 466(a) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)), as amended by

21 sections 115, 117(a), 123, 165, and 169 of this Act, is

22 amended by adding at the end the following new para23 graph:

24 ‘‘(17) FINANCIAL INSTITUTION DATA

25 MATCHES.—
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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Procedures under

2 which the State agency shall enter into agree3 ments with financial institutions doing business

4 in the State—

5 ‘‘(i) to develop and operate, in coordi6 nation with such financial institutions, a

7 data match system, using automated data

8 exchanges to the maximum extent feasible,

9 in which each such financial institution is

10 required to provide for each calendar quar11 ter the name, record address, social secu12 rity number or other taxpayer identifica13 tion number, and other identifying infor14 mation for each noncustodial parent who

15 maintains an account at such institution

16 and who owes past-due support, as identi17 fied by the State by name and social secu18 rity number or other taxpayer identifica19 tion number; and

20 ‘‘(ii) in response to a notice of lien or

21 levy, encumber or surrender, as the case

22 may be, assets held by such institution on

23 behalf of any noncustodial parent who is

24 subject to a child support lien pursuant to

25 paragraph (4).
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1 ‘‘(B) REASONABLE FEES.—The State

2 agency may pay a reasonable fee to a financial

3 institution for conducting the data match pro4 vided for in subparagraph (A)(i), not to exceed

5 the actual costs incurred by such financial insti6 tution.

7 ‘‘(C) LIABILITY.—A financial institution

8 shall not be liable under any Federal or State

9 law to any person—

10 ‘‘(i) for any disclosure of information

11 to the State agency under subparagraph

12 (A)(i);

13 ‘‘(ii) for encumbering or surrendering

14 any assets held by such financial institu15 tion in response to a notice of lien or levy

16 issued by the State agency as provided for

17 in subparagraph (A)(ii); or

18 ‘‘(iii) for any other action taken in

19 good faith to comply with the requirements

20 of subparagraph (A).

21 ‘‘(D) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this

22 paragraph—

23 ‘‘(i) FINANCIAL INSTITUTION.—The

24 term ‘financial institution’ means any Fed25 eral or State commercial savings bank, in-
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1 cluding savings association or cooperative

2 bank, Federal- or State-chartered credit

3 union, benefit association, insurance com4 pany, safe deposit company, money-market

5 mutual fund, or any similar entity author6 ized to do business in the State; and

7 ‘‘(ii) ACCOUNT.—The term ‘account’

8 means a demand deposit account, checking

9 or negotiable withdrawal order account,

10 savings account, time deposit account, or

11 money-market mutual fund account.’’.

12 SEC. 173. ENFORCEMENT OF ORDERS AGAINST PATERNAL

13 OR MATERNAL GRANDPARENTS IN CASES OF

14 MINOR PARENTS.

15 Section 466(a) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)), as amended by

16 sections 115, 117(a), 123, 165, 169, and 172 of this Act,

17 is amended by adding at the end the following new para18 graph:

19 ‘‘(18) ENFORCEMENT OF ORDERS AGAINST PA20 TERNAL OR MATERNAL GRANDPARENTS.—Proce21 dures under which, at the State’s option, any child

22 support order enforced under this part with respect

23 to a child of minor parents, if the custodial parents

24 of such child are receiving assistance under the

25 State program funded under part A, shall be en-
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1 forceable, jointly and severally, against the parents

2 of the noncustodial parents of such child.’’.

3 SEC. 174. NONDISCHARGEABILITY IN BANKRUPTCY OF

4 CERTAIN DEBTS FOR THE SUPPORT OF A

5 CHILD.

6 (a) AMENDMENT TO TITLE 11 OF THE UNITED

7 STATES CODE.—Section 523(a) of title 11, United States

8 Code, is amended—

9 (1) in paragraph (16) by striking the period at

10 the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’, and

11 (2) by adding at the end the following:

12 ‘‘(17) to a State or municipality for assistance

13 provided by such State or municipality under a

14 State program funded under section 403 of the So15 cial Security Act to the extent that such assistance

16 is provided for the support of a child of the debtor.’’.

17 (b) AMENDMENT TO THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACT.—

18 Section 456(b) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.

19 656(b)) is amended to read as follows:

20 ‘‘(b) NONDISCHARGEABILITY.—A debt (as defined in

21 section 101 of title 11 of the United States Code) to a

22 State (as defined in such section) or municipality (as de23 fined in such section) for assistance provided by such

24 State or municipality under a State program funded under

25 section 403 is not dischargeable under section 727, 1141,
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1 1228(a), 1228(b), or 1328(b) of title 11 of the United

2 States Code to the extent that such assistance is provided

3 for the support of a child of the debtor (as defined in such

4 section).’’.

5 (c) APPLICATION OF AMENDMENTS.—The amend6 ments made by this section shall apply only with respect

7 to cases commenced under title 11 of the United States

8 Code after the effective date of this section.

9 Subtitle H—Medical Support

10 SEC. 176. CORRECTION TO ERISA DEFINITION OF MEDICAL

11 CHILD SUPPORT ORDER.

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 609(a)(2)(B) of the Em13 ployee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29

14 U.S.C. 1169(a)(2)(B)) is amended—

15 (1) by striking ‘‘issued by a court of competent

16 jurisdiction’’;

17 (2) by striking the period at the end of clause

18 (ii) and inserting a comma; and

19 (3) by adding, after and below clause (ii), the

20 following:

21 ‘‘if such judgment, decree, or order (I) is issued

22 by a court of competent jurisdiction or (II) is

23 issued through an administrative process estab24 lished under State law and has the force and ef25 fect of law under applicable State law.’’.
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1 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by

3 this section shall take effect on the date of the en4 actment of this Act.

5 (2) PLAN AMENDMENTS NOT REQUIRED UNTIL

6 JANUARY 1, 1996.—Any amendment to a plan re7 quired to be made by an amendment made by this

8 section shall not be required to be made before the

9 1st plan year beginning on or after January 1,

10 1996, if—

11 (A) during the period after the date before

12 the date of the enactment of this Act and be13 fore such 1st plan year, the plan is operated in

14 accordance with the requirements of the amend15 ments made by this section; and

16 (B) such plan amendment applies retro17 actively to the period after the date before the

18 date of the enactment of this Act and before

19 such 1st plan year.

20 A plan shall not be treated as failing to be operated

21 in accordance with the provisions of the plan merely

22 because it operates in accordance with this para23 graph.
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1 SEC. 177. ENFORCEMENT OF ORDERS FOR HEALTH CARE

2 COVERAGE.

3 Section 466(a) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)), as amended by

4 sections 115, 117(a), 123, 165, 169, 172, and 173 of this

5 Act, is amended by adding at the end the following new

6 paragraph:

7 ‘‘(19) HEALTH CARE COVERAGE.—Procedures

8 under which all child support orders enforced pursu9 ant to this part shall include a provision for the

10 health care coverage of the child, and in the case in

11 which a noncustodial parent provides such coverage

12 and changes employment, and the new employer pro13 vides health care coverage, the State agency shall

14 transfer notice of the provision to the employer,

15 which notice shall operate to enroll the child in the

16 noncustodial parent’s health plan, unless the non17 custodial parent contests the notice.’’.

18 Subtitle I—Enhancing Responsibil19 ity and Opportunity for Non20 Residential Parents

21 SEC. 181. GRANTS TO STATES FOR ACCESS AND VISITATION

22 PROGRAMS.

23 Part D of title IV (42 U.S.C. 651–669) is amended

24 by adding at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 469A. GRANTS TO STATES FOR ACCESS AND VISITA2 TION PROGRAMS.

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administration for Children

4 and Families shall make grants under this section to en5 able States to establish and administer programs to sup6 port and facilitate noncustodial parents’ access to and visi7 tation of their children, by means of activities including

8 mediation (both voluntary and mandatory), counseling,

9 education, development of parenting plans, visitation en10 forcement (including monitoring, supervision and neutral

11 drop-off and pickup), and development of guidelines for

12 visitation and alternative custody arrangements.

13 ‘‘(b) AMOUNT OF GRANT.—The amount of the grant

14 to be made to a State under this section for a fiscal year

15 shall be an amount equal to the lesser of—

16 ‘‘(1) 90 percent of State expenditures during

17 the fiscal year for activities described in subsection

18 (a); or

19 ‘‘(2) the allotment of the State under sub20 section (c) for the fiscal year.

21 ‘‘(c) ALLOTMENTS TO STATES.—

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The allotment of a State

23 for a fiscal year is the amount that bears the same

24 ratio to the amount appropriated for grants under

25 this section for the fiscal year as the number of chil26 dren in the State living with only 1 biological parent
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1 bears to the total number of such children in all

2 States.

3 ‘‘(2) MINIMUM ALLOTMENT.—The Administra4 tion for Children and Families shall adjust allot5 ments to States under paragraph (1) as necessary to

6 ensure that no State is allotted less than—

7 ‘‘(A) $50,000 for fiscal year 1996 or 1997;

8 or

9 ‘‘(B) $100,000 for any succeeding fiscal

10 year.

11 ‘‘(d) NO SUPPLANTATION OF STATE EXPENDITURES

12 FOR SIMILAR ACTIVITIES.—A State to which a grant is

13 made under this section may not use the grant to supplant

14 expenditures by the State for activities specified in sub15 section (a), but shall use the grant to supplement such

16 expenditures at a level at least equal to the level of such

17 expenditures for fiscal year 1995.

18 ‘‘(e) STATE ADMINISTRATION.—Each State to which

19 a grant is made under this section—

20 ‘‘(1) may administer State programs funded

21 with the grant, directly or through grants to or con22 tracts with courts, local public agencies, or non-prof23 it private entities;

24 ‘‘(2) shall not be required to operate such pro25 grams on a statewide basis; and
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1 ‘‘(3) shall monitor, evaluate, and report on such

2 programs in accordance with regulations prescribed

3 by the Secretary.’’.

4 Subtitle J—Effect of Enactment

5 SEC. 191. EFFECTIVE DATES.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise specifically

7 provided (but subject to subsections (b) and (c))—

8 (1) the provisions of this Act requiring the en9 actment or amendment of State laws under section

10 466 of the Social Security Act, or revision of State

11 plans under section 454 of such Act, shall be effec12 tive with respect to periods beginning on and after

13 October 1, 1996; and

14 (2) all other provisions of this Act shall become

15 effective upon the date of the enactment of this Act.

16 (b) GRACE PERIOD FOR STATE LAW CHANGES.—The

17 provisions of this Act shall become effective with respect

18 to a State on the later of—

19 (1) the date specified in this Act, or

20 (2) the effective date of laws enacted by the leg21 islature of such State implementing such provisions,

22 but in no event later than the 1st day of the 1st calendar

23 quarter beginning after the close of the 1st regular session

24 of the State legislature that begins after the date of the

25 enactment of this Act. For purposes of the previous sen-
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1 tence, in the case of a State that has a 2-year legislative

2 session, each year of such session shall be deemed to be

3 a separate regular session of the State legislature.

4 (c) GRACE PERIOD FOR STATE CONSTITUTIONAL

5 AMENDMENT.—A State shall not be found out of compli6 ance with any requirement enacted by this Act if the State

7 is unable to so comply without amending the State con8 stitution until the earlier of—

9 (1) 1 year after the effective date of the nec10 essary State constitutional amendment; or

11 (2) 5 years after the date of the enactment of

12 this Act.

Æ