I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3465

To amend part D of title IV of the Social Security Act to improve child

support enforcement services, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 15, 1996

Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut (for herself, Mrs. KENNELLY, Mr. SHAW, Mrs.

MORELLA, Mrs. LOWEY, Mrs. CLAYTON, Mrs. CUBIN, Ms. DELAURO, Ms.

DUNN of Washington, Mrs. FOWLER, Ms. GREENE of Utah, Mrs. KELLY,

Ms. LOFGREN, Mrs. MEEK of Florida, Mrs. MEYERS of Kansas, Mrs.

MYRICK, Ms. PRYCE, Mrs. SEASTRAND, Mrs. SCHROEDER, Mrs. VUCANOVICH, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. CAMP, Mr. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. COLLINS of

Georgia, Mr. CRANE, Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania, Mr. ENSIGN, Mr.

HOUGHTON, Mr. MATSUI, Mr. MCCRERY, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts,

Mr. PORTMAN, Mr. RAMSTAD, Mr. ZIMMER, Mr. HOBSON, Mr. NUSSLE,

Mr. UPTON, Mr. TORKILDSEN, Mr. FOLEY, Mr. BOEHLERT, and Mr.

FRELINGHUYSEN) 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 amend part D of title IV of the Social Security Act

to improve child support enforcement services, and for

other purposes.

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

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Child Support Im3 provement Act of 1996’’.

4 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS.

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

Sec. 1. Short title.

Sec. 2. Table of contents.

Sec. 3. Reference to Social Security Act.

TITLE I—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 of hearings.

TITLE II—LOCATE AND CASE TRACKING

Sec. 201. State case registry.

Sec. 202. Collection and disbursement of support payments.

Sec. 203. State directory of new hires.

Sec. 204. Amendments concerning income withholding.

Sec. 205. Locator information from interstate networks.

Sec. 206. Expansion of the Federal parent locator service.

Sec. 207. Collection and use of social security numbers for use in child support

enforcement.

TITLE III—STREAMLINING AND UNIFORMITY OF PROCEDURES

Sec. 301. Adoption of uniform State laws.

Sec. 302. Improvements to full faith and credit for child support orders.

Sec. 303. Administrative enforcement in interstate cases.

Sec. 304. Use of forms in interstate enforcement.

Sec. 305. State laws providing expedited procedures.

TITLE IV—PATERNITY ESTABLISHMENT

Sec. 401. State laws concerning paternity establishment.

Sec. 402. Outreach for voluntary paternity establishment.

Sec. 403. Cooperation by applicants for and recipients of part A assistance.

TITLE V—PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION AND FUNDING

Sec. 501. Performance-based incentives and penalties.

Sec. 502. Federal and State reviews and audits.

Sec. 503. Required reporting procedures.

Sec. 504. Automated data processing requirements.

Sec. 505. Technical assistance.

Sec. 506. Reports and data collection by the secretary.
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TITLE VI—ESTABLISHMENT AND MODIFICATION OF SUPPORT

ORDERS

Sec. 601. Simplified process for review and adjustment of child support orders.

Sec. 602. Furnishing consumer reports for certain purposes relating to child

support.

Sec. 603. Nonliability for financial institutions providing financial records to

State child support enforcement agencies in child support

cases.

TITLE VII—ENFORCEMENT OF SUPPORT ORDERS

Sec. 701. Internal Revenue Service collection of arrearages.

Sec. 702. Authority to collect support from Federal employees.

Sec. 703. Enforcement of child support obligations of members of the Armed

Forces.

Sec. 704. Voiding of fraudulent transfers.

Sec. 705. Work requirement for persons owing past-due child support.

Sec. 706. Definition of support order.

Sec. 707. Reporting arrearages to credit bureaus.

Sec. 708. Liens.

Sec. 709. State law authorizing suspension of licenses.

Sec. 710. Denial of passports for nonpayment of child support.

Sec. 711. International support enforcement.

Sec. 712. Financial institution data matches.

Sec. 713. Enforcement of orders against paternal or maternal grandparents in

cases of minor parents.

Sec. 714. Nondischargeability in bankruptcy of certain debts for the support of

a child.

TITLE VIII—MEDICAL SUPPORT

Sec. 801. Correction to ERISA definition of medical child support order.

Sec. 802. Enforcement of orders for health care coverage.

TITLE IX—ENHANCING RESPONSIBILITY AND OPPORTUNITY FOR

NON-RESIDENTIAL PARENTS

Sec. 901. Grants to States for access and visitation programs.

TITLE X—EFFECTIVE DATES AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS

Sec. 1001. Effective dates and conforming amendments.

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.
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1 TITLE I—ELIGIBILITY FOR SERV2 ICES; DISTRIBUTION OF PAY3 MENTS

4 SEC. 101. STATE OBLIGATION TO PROVIDE CHILD SUP5 PORT ENFORCEMENT SERVICES.

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

7 U.S.C. 654) is amended—

8 (1) by striking paragraph (4) and inserting the

9 following new paragraph:

10 ‘‘(4) provide that the State will—

11 ‘‘(A) provide services relating to the estab12 lishment of paternity or the establishment,

13 modification, or enforcement of child support

14 obligations, as appropriate, under the plan with

15 respect to—

16 ‘‘(i) each child for whom (I) assist17 ance is provided under the State program

18 funded under part A of this title, (II) ben19 efits or services for foster care mainte20 nance are provided under the State pro21 gram funded under part E of this title, or

22 (III) medical assistance is provided under

23 the State plan approved under title XIX,

24 unless, in accordance with paragraph (29),

25 good cause and other exceptions exist;
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1 ‘‘(ii) any other child, if an individual

2 applies for such services with respect to

3 the child; and

4 ‘‘(B) enforce any support obligation estab5 lished with respect to—

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

7 State provides services under the plan; or

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

9 child.’’; and

10 (2) in paragraph (6)—

11 (A) by striking ‘‘provide that’’ and insert12 ing ‘‘provide that—’’;

13 (B) by striking subparagraph (A) and in14 serting the following new subparagraph:

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

16 available to residents of other States on the

17 same terms as to residents of the State submit18 ting the plan;’’;

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

20 individuals not receiving assistance under any

21 State program funded under part A’’ after

22 ‘‘such services shall be imposed’’;

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

24 (D), and (E)—
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1 (i) by indenting the subparagraph in

2 the same manner as, and aligning the left

3 margin of the subparagraph with the left

4 margin of, the matter inserted by subpara5 graph (B) of this paragraph; and

6 (ii) by striking the final comma and

7 inserting a semicolon; and

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

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

10 (b) CONTINUATION OF SERVICES FOR FAMILIES

11 CEASING TO RECEIVE ASSISTANCE UNDER THE STATE

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

13 U.S.C. 654) is amended—

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

15 (23);

16 (2) by striking the period at the end of para17 graph (24) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

18 (3) by adding after paragraph (24) the follow19 ing new paragraph:

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

21 which services are provided under the plan ceases to

22 receive assistance under the State program funded

23 under part A, the State shall provide appropriate no24 tice to the family and continue to provide such serv25 ices, subject to the same conditions and on the same
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1 basis as in the case of other individuals to whom

2 services are furnished under the plan, except that an

3 application or other request to continue services

4 shall not be required of such a family and paragraph

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

6 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

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

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

9 ‘‘454(4)’’.

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

11 652(g)(2)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘454(6)’’ each

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

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

14 666(a)(3)(B)) is amended by striking ‘‘in the case of

15 overdue support which a State has agreed to collect

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

17 case’’.

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

19 amended by striking ‘‘paragraph (4) or (6) of sec20 tion 454’’ and inserting ‘‘section 454(4)’’.

21 SEC. 102. DISTRIBUTION OF CHILD SUPPORT COLLEC22 TIONS.

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

24 amended to read as follows:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 457. DISTRIBUTION OF COLLECTED SUPPORT.

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (e), an

3 amount collected on behalf of a family as support by a

4 State pursuant to a plan approved under this part shall

5 be distributed as follows:

6 ‘‘(1) FAMILIES RECEIVING ASSISTANCE.—In the

7 case of a family receiving assistance from the State,

8 the State shall—

9 ‘‘(A) pay to the Federal Government the

10 Federal share of the amount so collected; and

11 ‘‘(B) retain, or distribute to the family, the

12 State share of the amount so collected.

13 ‘‘(2) FAMILIES THAT FORMERLY RECEIVED AS14 SISTANCE.—In the case of a family that formerly re15 ceived assistance from the State:

16 ‘‘(A) CURRENT SUPPORT PAYMENTS.—To

17 the extent that the amount so collected does not

18 exceed the amount required to be paid to the

19 family for the month in which collected, the

20 State shall distribute the amount so collected to

21 the family.

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

23 extent that the amount so collected exceeds the

24 amount required to be paid to the family for

25 the month in which collected, the State shall

26 distribute the amount so collected as follows:
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1 ‘‘(i) DISTRIBUTION OF ARREARAGES

2 THAT ACCRUED AFTER THE FAMILY

3 CEASED TO RECEIVE ASSISTANCE.—

4 ‘‘(I) PRE-OCTOBER 1997.—Except

5 as provided in subclause (II), the pro6 visions of this section (other than sub7 section (b)(1)) as in effect and applied

8 on the day before the date of the en9 actment of section 102 of the Child

10 Support Improvement Act of 1996

11 shall apply with respect to the dis12 tribution of support arrearages that—

13 ‘‘(aa) accrued after the fam14 ily ceased to receive assistance,

15 and

16 ‘‘(bb) are collected before

17 October 1, 1997.

18 ‘‘(II) POST-SEPTEMBER 1997.—

19 With respect to the amount so col20 lected on or after October 1, 1997 (or

21 before such date, at the option of the

22 State)—

23 ‘‘(aa) IN GENERAL.—The

24 State shall first distribute the

25 amount so collected (other than
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1 any amount described in clause

2 (iv)) to the family to the extent

3 necessary to satisfy any support

4 arrearages with respect to the

5 family that accrued after the

6 family ceased to receive assist7 ance from the State.

8 ‘‘(bb) REIMBURSEMENT OF

9 GOVERNMENTS FOR ASSISTANCE

10 PROVIDED TO THE FAMILY.—

11 After the application of division

12 (aa) and clause (ii)(II)(aa) with

13 respect to the amount so col14 lected, the State shall retain the

15 State share of the amount so col16 lected, and pay to the Federal

17 Government the Federal share

18 (as defined in subsection (c)(2))

19 of the amount so collected, but

20 only to the extent necessary to

21 reimburse amounts paid to the

22 family as assistance by the State.

23 ‘‘(cc) DISTRIBUTION OF THE

24 REMAINDER TO THE FAMILY.—

25 To the extent that neither divi-
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1 sion (aa) nor division (bb) applies

2 to the amount so collected, the

3 State shall distribute the amount

4 to the family.

5 ‘‘(ii) DISTRIBUTION OF ARREARAGES

6 THAT ACCRUED BEFORE THE FAMILY RE7 CEIVED ASSISTANCE.—

8 ‘‘(I) PRE-OCTOBER 2000.—Except

9 as provided in subclause (II), the pro10 visions of this section (other than sub11 section (b)(1)) as in effect and applied

12 on the day before the date of the en13 actment of section 102 of the Child

14 Support Improvement Act of 1996

15 shall apply with respect to the dis16 tribution of support arrearages that—

17 ‘‘(aa) accrued before the

18 family received assistance, and

19 ‘‘(bb) are collected before

20 October 1, 2000.

21 ‘‘(II) POST-SEPTEMBER 2000.—

22 Unless, based on the report required

23 by paragraph (4), the Congress deter24 mines otherwise, with respect to the

25 amount so collected on or after Octo-
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1 ber 1, 2000 (or before such date, at

2 the option of the State)—

3 ‘‘(aa) IN GENERAL.—The

4 State shall first distribute the

5 amount so collected (other than

6 any amount described in clause

7 (iv)) to the family to the extent

8 necessary to satisfy any support

9 arrearages with respect to the

10 family that accrued before the

11 family received assistance from

12 the State.

13 ‘‘(bb) REIMBURSEMENT OF

14 GOVERNMENTS FOR ASSISTANCE

15 PROVIDED TO THE FAMILY.—

16 After the application of clause

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

18 respect to the amount so col19 lected, the State shall retain the

20 State share of the amount so col21 lected, and pay to the Federal

22 Government the Federal share

23 (as defined in subsection (c)(2))

24 of the amount so collected, but

25 only to the extent necessary to
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1 reimburse amounts paid to the

2 family as assistance by the State.

3 ‘‘(cc) DISTRIBUTION OF THE

4 REMAINDER TO THE FAMILY.—

5 To the extent that neither divi6 sion (aa) nor division (bb) applies

7 to the amount so collected, the

8 State shall distribute the amount

9 to the family.

10 ‘‘(iii) DISTRIBUTION OF ARREARAGES

11 THAT ACCRUED WHILE THE FAMILY RE12 CEIVED ASSISTANCE.—In the case of a

13 family described in this subparagraph, the

14 provisions of paragraph (1) shall apply

15 with respect to the distribution of support

16 arrearages that accrued while the family

17 received assistance.

18 ‘‘(iv) AMOUNTS COLLECTED PURSU19 ANT TO SECTION 464.—Notwithstanding

20 any other provision of this section, any

21 amount of support collected pursuant to

22 section 464 shall be retained by the State

23 to the extent past-due support has been as24 signed to the State as a condition of re25 ceiving assistance from the State, up to the
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1 amount necessary to reimburse the State

2 for amounts paid to the family as assist3 ance by the State. The State shall pay to

4 the Federal Government the Federal share

5 of the amounts so retained. To the extent

6 the amount collected pursuant to section

7 464 exceeds the amount so retained, the

8 State shall distribute the excess to the

9 family.

10 ‘‘(v) ORDERING RULES FOR DISTRIBU11 TIONS.—For purposes of this subpara12 graph, unless an earlier effective date is re13 quired by this section, effective October 1,

14 2000, the State shall treat any support ar15 rearages collected as accruing in the fol16 lowing order:

17 ‘‘(I) To the period after the fam18 ily ceased to receive assistance.

19 ‘‘(II) To the period before the

20 family received assistance.

21 ‘‘(III) To the period while the

22 family was receiving assistance.

23 ‘‘(3) FAMILIES THAT NEVER RECEIVED ASSIST24 ANCE.—In the case of any other family, the State
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1 shall distribute the amount so collected to the fam2 ily.

3 ‘‘(4) STUDY AND REPORT.—Not later than Oc4 tober 1, 1998, the Secretary shall report to the Con5 gress the Secretary’s findings with respect to—

6 ‘‘(A) whether the distribution of post-as7 sistance arrearages to families has been effec8 tive in moving people off of welfare and keeping

9 them off of welfare;

10 ‘‘(B) whether early implementation of a

11 pre-assistance arrearage program by some

12 States has been effective in moving people off

13 of welfare and keeping them off of welfare;

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

15 the amendments made by the Child Support

16 Improvement Act of 1996 with respect to child

17 support enforcement in moving people off of

18 welfare and keeping them off of welfare; and

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

20 the Secretary has obtained, what changes, if

21 any, should be made in the policies related to

22 the distribution of child support arrearages.

23 ‘‘(b) CONTINUATION OF ASSIGNMENTS.—Any rights

24 to support obligations, which were assigned to a State as

25 a condition of receiving assistance from the State under
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1 part A and which were in effect on the day before the

2 date of the enactment of the Child Support Improvement

3 Act of 1996, shall remain assigned after such date.

4 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—As used in subsection (a):

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

6 the State’ means—

7 ‘‘(A) assistance under the State program

8 funded under part A or under the State plan

9 approved under part A of this title (as in effect

10 on the day before the date of the enactment of

11 the Child Support Improvement Act of 1996);

12 or

13 ‘‘(B) benefits under the State plan ap14 proved under part E of this title (as in effect

15 on the day before the date of the enactment of

16 the Child Support Improvement Act of 1996).

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

18 share’ means that portion of the amount collected

19 resulting from the application of the Federal medical

20 assistance percentage in effect for the fiscal year in

21 which the amount is collected.

22 ‘‘(3) FEDERAL MEDICAL ASSISTANCE PERCENT23 AGE.—The term ‘Federal medical assistance per24 centage’ means—
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1 ‘‘(A) the Federal medical assistance per2 centage (as defined in section 1118), in the case

3 of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, and

4 American Samoa; or

5 ‘‘(B) the Federal medical assistance per6 centage (as defined in section 1905(b)) in the

7 case of any other State.

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

9 means 100 percent minus the Federal share.

10 ‘‘(d) HOLD HARMLESS PROVISION.—If the amounts

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

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

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

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

15 year 1995 (determined in accordance with section 457 as

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

17 the Child Support Improvement Act of 1996), the State

18 share for the fiscal year shall be an amount equal to the

19 State share in fiscal year 1995.

20 ‘‘(e) GAP PAYMENTS NOT SUBJECT TO DISTRIBU21 TION UNDER THIS SECTION.—This section shall not

22 apply to any amount collected on behalf of a family as

23 support by a State pursuant to a plan approved under this

24 part if such amount would have been distributed to the

25 family by the State under section 402(a)(28), as in effect
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1 and applied on the day before the date of the enactment

2 of section 302 of the Child Support Improvement Act of

3 1996.’’.

4 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

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

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

7 and inserting ‘‘section 457’’.

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

9 (A) in paragraph (11)—

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

11 ‘‘(11)(A)’’; and

12 (ii) by inserting after the semicolon

13 ‘‘and’’; and

14 (B) by redesignating paragraph (12) as

15 subparagraph (B) of paragraph (11).

16 (c) EFFECTIVE DATES.—

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para18 graph (2), the amendments made by this section

19 shall be effective on July 1, 1996, or earlier at the

20 State’s option.

21 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The amend22 ments made by subsection (b)(2) shall become effec23 tive on the date of the enactment of this Act.
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1 SEC. 103. PRIVACY SAFEGUARDS.

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

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

4 is amended—

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

6 (24);

7 (2) by striking the period at the end of para8 graph (25) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

9 (3) by adding after paragraph (25) the follow10 ing new paragraph:

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

12 to all confidential information handled by the State

13 agency, that are designed to protect the privacy

14 rights of the parties, including—

15 ‘‘(A) safeguards against unauthorized use

16 or disclosure of information relating to proceed17 ings or actions to establish paternity, or to es18 tablish or enforce support;

19 ‘‘(B) prohibitions against the release of in20 formation on the whereabouts of 1 party to an21 other party against whom a protective order

22 with respect to the former party has been en23 tered; and

24 ‘‘(C) prohibitions against the release of in25 formation on the whereabouts of 1 party to an26 other party if the State has reason to believe
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1 that the release of the information may result

2 in physical or emotional harm to the former

3 party.’’.

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

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

6 SEC. 104. RIGHTS TO NOTIFICATION OF HEARINGS.

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

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

9 inserting after paragraph (11) the following new para10 graph:

11 ‘‘(12) provide for the establishment of proce12 dures to require the State to provide individuals who

13 are applying for or receiving services under the State

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

15 are being provided under the State plan—

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

17 which support obligations might be established

18 or modified; and

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

20 or modifying a child support obligation, or (in

21 the case of a petition for modification) a notice

22 of determination that there should be no change

23 in the amount of the child support award, with24 in 14 days after issuance of such order or de25 termination;’’.
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1 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by

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

3 TITLE II—LOCATE AND CASE

4 TRACKING

5 SEC. 201. STATE CASE REGISTRY.

6 Section 454A, as added by section 504(a)(2) of this

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

8 subsections:

9 ‘‘(e) STATE CASE REGISTRY.—

10 ‘‘(1) CONTENTS.—The automated system re11 quired by this section shall include a registry (which

12 shall be known as the ‘State case registry’) that con13 tains records with respect to—

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

15 provided by the State agency under the State

16 plan approved under this part; and

17 ‘‘(B) each support order established or

18 modified in the State on or after October 1,

19 1998.

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

21 State case registry may be established by linking

22 local case registries of support orders through an

23 automated information network, subject to this sec24 tion.
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1 ‘‘(3) USE OF STANDARDIZED DATA ELE2 MENTS.—Such records shall use standardized data

3 elements for both parents (such as names, social se4 curity numbers and other uniform identification

5 numbers, dates of birth, and case identification

6 numbers), and contain such other information (such

7 as on case status) as the Secretary may require.

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

9 the State case registry with respect to which services

10 are being provided under the State plan approved

11 under this part and with respect to which a support

12 order has been established shall include a record

13 of—

14 ‘‘(A) the amount of monthly (or other peri15 odic) support owed under the order, and other

16 amounts (including arrearages, interest or late

17 payment penalties, and fees) due or overdue

18 under the order;

19 ‘‘(B) any amount described in subpara20 graph (A) that has been collected;

21 ‘‘(C) the distribution of such collected

22 amounts;

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

24 the order requires the provision of support; and
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1 ‘‘(E) the amount of any lien imposed with

2 respect to the order pursuant to section

3 466(a)(4).

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

5 agency operating the automated system required by

6 this section shall promptly establish and update,

7 maintain, and regularly monitor, case records in the

8 State case registry with respect to which services are

9 being provided under the State plan approved under

10 this part, on the basis of—

11 ‘‘(A) information on administrative actions

12 and administrative and judicial proceedings and

13 orders relating to paternity and support;

14 ‘‘(B) information obtained from compari15 son with Federal, State, or local sources of in16 formation;

17 ‘‘(C) information on support collections

18 and distributions; and

19 ‘‘(D) any other relevant information.

20 ‘‘(f) INFORMATION COMPARISONS AND OTHER DIS21 CLOSURES OF INFORMATION.—The State shall use the

22 automated system required by this section to extract infor23 mation from (at such times, and in such standardized for24 mat or formats, as may be required by the Secretary), to

25 share and compare information with, and to receive infor-
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1 mation from, other data bases and information compari2 son services, in order to obtain (or provide) information

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

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

5 subject to section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code of

6 1986. Such information comparison activities shall include

7 the following:

8 ‘‘(1) FEDERAL CASE REGISTRY OF CHILD SUP9 PORT ORDERS.—Furnishing to the Federal Case

10 Registry of Child Support Orders established under

11 section 453(h) (and update as necessary, with infor12 mation including notice of expiration of orders) the

13 minimum amount of information on child support

14 cases recorded in the State case registry that is nec15 essary to operate the registry (as specified by the

16 Secretary in regulations).

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

18 Exchanging information with the Federal Parent

19 Locator Service for the purposes specified in section

20 453.

21 ‘‘(3) TEMPORARY FAMILY ASSISTANCE AND

22 MEDICAID AGENCIES.—Exchanging information with

23 State agencies (of the State and of other States) ad24 ministering programs funded under part A, pro25 grams operated under State plans approved under
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1 title XIX, and other programs designated by the

2 Secretary, as necessary to perform State agency re3 sponsibilities under this part and under such pro4 grams.

5 ‘‘(4) INTRASTATE AND INTERSTATE INFORMA6 TION COMPARISONS.—Exchanging information with

7 other agencies of the State, agencies of other States,

8 and interstate information networks, as necessary

9 and appropriate to carry out (or assist other States

10 to carry out) the purposes of this part.’’.

11 SEC. 202. COLLECTION AND DISBURSEMENT OF SUPPORT

12 PAYMENTS.

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

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

15 of this Act, is amended—

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

17 (25);

18 (2) by striking the period at the end of para19 graph (26) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

20 (3) by adding after paragraph (26) the follow21 ing new paragraph:

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

23 1998, the State agency will—

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

25 accordance with section 454B; and
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1 ‘‘(B) have sufficient State staff (consisting

2 of State employees) and (at State option) con3 tractors reporting directly to the State agency

4 to—

5 ‘‘(i) monitor and enforce support col6 lections through the unit in cases being en7 forced by the State pursuant to section

8 454(4) (including carrying out the auto9 mated data processing responsibilities de10 scribed in section 454A(g)); and

11 ‘‘(ii) take the actions described in sec12 tion 466(c)(1) in appropriate cases.’’.

13 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF STATE DISBURSEMENT

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

15 amended by section 504(a)(2) of this Act, is amended by

16 inserting after section 454A the following new section:

17 ‘‘SEC. 454B. COLLECTION AND DISBURSEMENT OF SUP18 PORT PAYMENTS.

19 ‘‘(a) STATE DISBURSEMENT UNIT.—

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

21 meet the requirements of this section, the State

22 agency must establish and operate a unit (which

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

24 the collection and disbursement of payments under

25 support orders—
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1 ‘‘(A) in all cases being enforced by the

2 State pursuant to section 454(4); and

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

4 State under this part in which the support

5 order is initially issued in the State on or after

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

7 noncustodial parent are subject to withholding

8 pursuant to section 466(a)(8)(B).

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

10 unit shall be operated—

11 ‘‘(A) directly by the State agency (or 2 or

12 more State agencies under a regional coopera13 tive agreement), or (to the extent appropriate)

14 by a contractor responsible directly to the State

15 agency; and

16 ‘‘(B) except in cases described in para17 graph (1)(B), in coordination with the auto18 mated system established by the State pursuant

19 to section 454A.

20 ‘‘(3) LINKING OF LOCAL DISBURSEMENT

21 UNITS.—The State disbursement unit may be estab22 lished by linking local disbursement units through

23 an automated information network, subject to this

24 section, if the Secretary agrees that the system will

25 not cost more nor take more time to establish or op-
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1 erate than a centralized system. In addition, employ2 ers shall be given 1 location to which income with3 holding is sent.

4 ‘‘(b) REQUIRED PROCEDURES.—The State disburse5 ment unit shall use automated procedures, electronic proc6 esses, and computer-driven technology to the maximum

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

8 and disbursement of support payments, including proce9 dures—

10 ‘‘(1) for receipt of payments from parents, em11 ployers, and other States, and for disbursements to

12 custodial parents and other obligees, the State agen13 cy, and the agencies of other States;

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

15 ‘‘(3) to ensure prompt disbursement of the cus16 todial parent’s share of any payment; and

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

18 timely information on the current status of support

19 payments under an order requiring payments to be

20 made by or to the parent.

21 ‘‘(c) TIMING OF DISBURSEMENTS.—

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para23 graph (2), the State disbursement unit shall distrib24 ute all amounts payable under section 457(a) within

25 2 business days after receipt from the employer or
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1 other source of periodic income, if sufficient infor2 mation identifying the payee is provided.

3 ‘‘(2) PERMISSIVE RETENTION OF ARREAR4 AGES.—The State disbursement unit may delay the

5 distribution of collections toward arrearages until

6 the resolution of any timely appeal with respect to

7 such arrearages.

8 ‘‘(d) BUSINESS DAY DEFINED.—As used in this sec9 tion, the term ‘business day’ means a day on which State

10 offices are open for regular business.’’.

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

12 added by section 504(a)(2) and as amended by section 201

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

14 new subsection:

15 ‘‘(g) COLLECTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF SUPPORT

16 PAYMENTS.—

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

18 automated system required by this section, to the

19 maximum extent feasible, to assist and facilitate the

20 collection and disbursement of support payments

21 through the State disbursement unit operated under

22 section 454B, through the performance of functions,

23 including, at a minimum—
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1 ‘‘(A) transmission of orders and notices to

2 employers (and other debtors) for the withhold3 ing of wages and other income—

4 ‘‘(i) within 2 business days after re5 ceipt of notice of, and the income source

6 subject to, such withholding from a court,

7 another State, an employer, the Federal

8 Parent Locator Service, or another source

9 recognized by the State; and

10 ‘‘(ii) using uniform formats prescribed

11 by the Secretary;

12 ‘‘(B) ongoing monitoring to promptly iden13 tify failures to make timely payment of support;

14 and

15 ‘‘(C) automatic use of enforcement proce16 dures (including procedures authorized pursu17 ant to section 466(c)) if payments are not time18 ly made.

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

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

21 on which State offices are open for regular busi22 ness.’’.

23 (d) EFFECTIVE DATES.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para2 graph (2), the amendments made by this section

3 shall become effective on October 1, 1998.

4 (2) LIMITED EXCEPTION TO UNIT HANDLING

5 PAYMENTS.—Notwithstanding section 454B(b)(1) of

6 the Social Security Act, as added by this section,

7 any State which, as of the date of the enactment of

8 this Act, processes the receipt of child support pay9 ments through local courts, and, as of March 21,

10 1996, such courts were not funded under part D of

11 title IV of the Social Security Act, may, at the op12 tion of the State, continue to process through Sep13 tember 30, 1999, such payments through such

14 courts as processed such payments on or before such

15 date of enactment.

16 SEC. 203. 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

19 202(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 subsection (g)(2) not later

24 than October 1, 1997, and the requirements of
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1 this section (other than subsection (g)(2)) not

2 later than October 1, 1998.

3 ‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section:

4 ‘‘(A) EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘employee’—

5 ‘‘(i) means an individual who is an

6 employee within the meaning of chapter 24

7 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; and

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

9 a Federal or State agency performing in10 telligence or counterintelligence functions,

11 if the head of such agency has determined

12 that reporting pursuant to paragraph (1)

13 with respect to the employee could endan14 ger the safety of the employee or com15 promise an ongoing investigation or intel16 ligence mission.

17 ‘‘(B) EMPLOYER.—

18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘em19 ployer’ has the meaning given such term in

20 section 3401(d) of the Internal Revenue

21 Code of 1986 and includes any govern22 mental entity and any labor organization.

23 ‘‘(ii) LABOR ORGANIZATION.—The

24 term ‘labor organization’ shall have the

25 meaning given such term in section 2(5) of
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1 the National Labor Relations Act, and in2 cludes any entity (also known as a ‘hiring

3 hall’) which is used by the organization

4 and an employer to carry out requirements

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

6 an agreement between the organization

7 and the employer.

8 ‘‘(b) EMPLOYER INFORMATION.—

9 ‘‘(1) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—

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

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

12 furnish to the Directory of New Hires of the

13 State in which a newly hired employee works, a

14 report that contains the name, address, and so15 cial security number of the employee, and the

16 name and address of, and identifying number

17 assigned under section 6109 of the Internal

18 Revenue Code of 1986 to, the employer.

19 ‘‘(B) MULTISTATE EMPLOYERS.—An em20 ployer that has employees who are employed in

21 2 or more States and that transmits reports

22 magnetically or electronically may comply with

23 subparagraph (A) by designating 1 State in

24 which such employer has employees to which

25 the employer will transmit the report described
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1 in subparagraph (A), and transmitting such re2 port to such State. Any employer that transmits

3 reports pursuant to this subparagraph shall no4 tify the Secretary in writing as to which State

5 such employer designates for the purpose of

6 sending reports.

7 ‘‘(C) FEDERAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOY8 ERS.—Any department, agency, or instrumen9 tality of the United States shall comply with

10 subparagraph (A) by transmitting the report

11 described in subparagraph (A) to the National

12 Directory of New Hires established pursuant to

13 section 453.

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

15 provide the time within which the report required by

16 paragraph (1) shall be made with respect to an em17 ployee, but such report shall be made—

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

19 the employer hires the employee; or

20 ‘‘(B) in the case of an employer transmit21 ting reports magnetically or electronically, by 2

22 monthly transmissions (if necessary) not less

23 than 12 days nor more than 16 days apart.

24 ‘‘(c) REPORTING FORMAT AND METHOD.—Each re25 port required by subsection (b) shall be made on a W–
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1 4 form or, at the option of the employer, an equivalent

2 form, and may be transmitted by 1st class mail, magneti3 cally, or electronically.

4 ‘‘(d) CIVIL MONEY PENALTIES ON NONCOMPLYING

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

6 State civil money penalty which shall be less than—

7 ‘‘(1) $25; or

8 ‘‘(2) $500 if, under State law, the failure is the

9 result of a conspiracy between the employer and the

10 employee to not supply the required report or to

11 supply a false or incomplete report.

12 ‘‘(e) ENTRY OF EMPLOYER INFORMATION.—Infor13 mation shall be entered into the data base maintained by

14 the State Directory of New Hires within 5 business days

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

16 ‘‘(f) INFORMATION COMPARISONS.—

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

18 1998, an agency designated by the State shall, di19 rectly or by contract, conduct automated compari20 sons of the social security numbers reported by em21 ployers pursuant to subsection (b) and the social se22 curity numbers appearing in the records of the State

23 case registry for cases being enforced under the

24 State plan.
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1 ‘‘(2) NOTICE OF MATCH.—When an information

2 comparison conducted under paragraph (1) reveals a

3 match with respect to the social security number of

4 an individual required to provide support under a

5 support order, the State Directory of New Hires

6 shall provide the agency administering the State

7 plan approved under this part of the appropriate

8 State with the name, address, and social security

9 number of the employee to whom the social security

10 number is assigned, and the name and address of,

11 and identifying number assigned under section 6109

12 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to, the em13 ployer.

14 ‘‘(g) TRANSMISSION OF INFORMATION.—

15 ‘‘(1) TRANSMISSION OF WAGE WITHHOLDING

16 NOTICES TO EMPLOYERS.—Within 2 business days

17 after the date information regarding a newly hired

18 employee is entered into the State Directory of New

19 Hires, the State agency enforcing the employee’s

20 child support obligation shall transmit a notice to

21 the employer of the employee directing the employer

22 to withhold from the wages of the employee an

23 amount equal to the monthly (or other periodic)

24 child support obligation (including any past due sup25 port obligation) of the employee, unless the employ-
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1 ee’s wages are not subject to withholding pursuant

2 to section 466(b)(3).

3 ‘‘(2) TRANSMISSIONS TO THE NATIONAL DIREC4 TORY OF NEW HIRES.—

5 ‘‘(A) NEW HIRE INFORMATION.—Within 3

6 business days after the date information re7 garding a newly hired employee is entered into

8 the State Directory of New Hires, the State Di9 rectory of New Hires shall furnish the informa10 tion to the National Directory of New Hires.

11 ‘‘(B) WAGE AND UNEMPLOYMENT COM12 PENSATION INFORMATION.—The State Direc13 tory of New Hires shall, on a quarterly basis,

14 furnish to the National Directory of New Hires

15 extracts of the reports required under section

16 303(a)(6) to be made to the Secretary of Labor

17 concerning the wages and unemployment com18 pensation paid to individuals, by such dates, in

19 such format, and containing such information

20 as the Secretary of Health and Human Services

21 shall specify in regulations.

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

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

24 which State offices are open for regular business.

25 ‘‘(h) OTHER USES OF NEW HIRE INFORMATION.—
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1 ‘‘(1) LOCATION OF CHILD SUPPORT OBLI2 GORS.—The agency administering the State plan ap3 proved under this part shall use information received

4 pursuant to subsection (f)(2) to locate individuals

5 for purposes of establishing paternity and establish6 ing, modifying, and enforcing child support obliga7 tions.

8 ‘‘(2) VERIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY FOR CER9 TAIN PROGRAMS.—A State agency responsible for

10 administering a program specified in section 1137(b)

11 shall have access to information reported by employ12 ers pursuant to subsection (b) of this section for

13 purposes of verifying eligibility for the program.

14 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATION OF EMPLOYMENT SECU15 RITY AND WORKERS’ COMPENSATION.—State agen16 cies operating employment security and workers’

17 compensation programs shall have access to informa18 tion reported by employers pursuant to subsection

19 (b) for the purposes of administering such pro20 grams.’’.

21 (c) QUARTERLY WAGE REPORTING.—Section

22 1137(a)(3) (42 U.S.C. 1320b–7(a)(3)) is amended—

23 (1) by inserting ‘‘(including State and local gov24 ernmental entities and labor organizations (as de-
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1 fined in section 453A(a)(2)(B)(iii))’’ after ‘‘employ2 ers’’; and

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

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

5 or local agency performing intelligence or counter6 intelligence functions, if the head of such agency has

7 determined that filing such a report could endanger

8 the safety of the employee or compromise an ongo9 ing investigation or intelligence mission’’ after

10 ‘‘paragraph (2)’’.

11 SEC. 204. AMENDMENTS CONCERNING INCOME WITHHOLD12 ING.

13 (a) MANDATORY INCOME WITHHOLDING.—

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

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

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

17 for the withholding from income of amounts payable

18 as support in cases subject to enforcement under the

19 State plan.

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

21 person with a support obligation imposed by a sup22 port order issued (or modified) in the State before

23 October 1, 1996, if not otherwise subject to with24 holding under subsection (b), shall become subject to

25 withholding as provided in subsection (b) if arrear-
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1 ages occur, without the need for a judicial or admin2 istrative hearing.’’.

3 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

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

5 amended in the matter preceding paragraph

6 (1), by striking ‘‘subsection (a)(1)’’ and insert7 ing ‘‘subsection (a)(1)(A)’’.

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

9 666(b)(4)) is amended to read as follows:

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

11 in full compliance with all procedural due process re12 quirements of the State, and the State must send

13 notice to each noncustodial parent to whom para14 graph (1) applies—

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

16 and

17 ‘‘(ii) of the procedures to follow if the non18 custodial parent desires to contest such with19 holding on the grounds that the withholding or

20 the amount withheld is improper due to a mis21 take of fact.

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

23 paragraph shall include the information provided to

24 the employer under paragraph (6)(A).’’.
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1 (C) Section 466(b)(5) (42 U.S.C.

2 666(b)(5)) is amended by striking all that fol3 lows ‘‘administered by’’ and inserting ‘‘the

4 State through the State disbursement unit es5 tablished pursuant to section 454B, in accord6 ance with the requirements of section 454B.’’.

7 (D) Section 466(b)(6)(A) (42 U.S.C.

8 666(b)(6)(A)) is amended—

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

10 appropriate agency’’ and all that follows

11 and inserting ‘‘to the State disbursement

12 unit within 5 business days after the date

13 the amount would (but for this subsection)

14 have been paid or credited to the employee,

15 for distribution in accordance with this

16 part. The employer shall comply with the

17 procedural rules relating to income with18 holding of the State in which the employee

19 works, regardless of the State where the

20 notice originates.’’.

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

22 a standard format prescribed by the Sec23 retary, and’’ after ‘‘shall’’; and

24 (iii) by adding at the end the follow25 ing new clause:
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1 ‘‘(iii) As used in this subparagraph, the term

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

3 are open for regular business.’’.

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

5 666(b)(6)(D)) is amended by striking ‘‘any em6 ployer’’ and all that follows and inserting ‘‘any

7 employer who—

8 ‘‘(i) discharges from employment, refuses

9 to employ, or takes disciplinary action against

10 any noncustodial parent subject to wage with11 holding required by this subsection because of

12 the existence of such withholding and the obli13 gations or additional obligations which it im14 poses upon the employer; or

15 ‘‘(ii) fails to withhold support from wages

16 or to pay such amounts to the State disburse17 ment unit in accordance with this subsection.’’.

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

19 amended by adding at the end the following

20 new paragraph:

21 ‘‘(11) Procedures under which the agency ad22 ministering the State plan approved under this part

23 may execute a withholding order without advance

24 notice to the obligor, including issuing the withhold25 ing order through electronic means.’’.
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1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 466(c) (42

2 U.S.C. 666(c)) is repealed.

3 SEC. 205. LOCATOR INFORMATION FROM INTERSTATE NET4 WORKS.

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

6 adding at the end the following new paragraph:

7 ‘‘(12) LOCATOR INFORMATION FROM INTER8 STATE NETWORKS.—Procedures to ensure that all

9 Federal and State agencies conducting activities

10 under this part have access to any system used by

11 the State to locate an individual for purposes relat12 ing to motor vehicles or law enforcement.’’.

13 SEC. 206. EXPANSION OF THE FEDERAL PARENT LOCATOR

14 SERVICE.

15 (a) EXPANDED AUTHORITY TO LOCATE INDIVID16 UALS AND ASSETS.—Section 453 (42 U.S.C. 653) is

17 amended—

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

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

20 establishing parentage, establishing, setting the

21 amount of, modifying, or enforcing child support ob22 ligations, or enforcing child custody or visitation or23 ders—

24 ‘‘(1) information on, or facilitating the discov25 ery of, the location of any individual—
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1 ‘‘(A) who is under an obligation to pay

2 child support or provide child custody or visita3 tion rights;

4 ‘‘(B) against whom such an obligation is

5 sought;

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

7 including the individual’s social security number (or

8 numbers), most recent address, and the name, ad9 dress, and employer identification number of the in10 dividual’s employer;

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

12 other income) from, and benefits of, employment (in13 cluding rights to or enrollment in group health care

14 coverage); and

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

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

17 to, any such individual.’’; and

18 (2) in subsection (b)—

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

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

21 through ‘‘absent parent’’ and inserting ‘‘infor22 mation described in subsection (a)’’; and

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

24 adding the following: ‘‘No information shall be

25 disclosed to any person if the State has notified
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1 the Secretary that the State has reasonable evi2 dence of domestic violence or child abuse and

3 the disclosure of such information could be

4 harmful to the custodial parent or the child of

5 such parent. Information received or transmit6 ted pursuant to this section shall be subject to

7 the safeguard provisions contained in section

8 454(26).’’.

9 (b) AUTHORIZED PERSON FOR INFORMATION RE10 GARDING VISITATION RIGHTS.—Section 453(c) (42

11 U.S.C. 653(c)) is amended—

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

13 inserting ‘‘support or to seek to enforce orders pro14 viding child custody or visitation rights’’; and

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

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

17 an order against a resident parent for child custody

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

19 (c) REIMBURSEMENT FOR INFORMATION FROM FED20 ERAL AGENCIES.—Section 453(e)(2) (42 U.S.C.

21 653(e)(2)) is amended in the 4th sentence by inserting

22 ‘‘in an amount which the Secretary determines to be rea23 sonable payment for the information exchange (which

24 amount shall not include payment for the costs of obtain-
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1 ing, compiling, or maintaining the information)’’ before

2 the period.

3 (d) REIMBURSEMENT FOR REPORTS BY STATE

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

5 adding at the end the following new subsection:

6 ‘‘(g) REIMBURSEMENT FOR REPORTS BY STATE

7 AGENCIES.—The Secretary may reimburse Federal and

8 State agencies for the costs incurred by such entities in

9 furnishing information requested by the Secretary under

10 this section in an amount which the Secretary determines

11 to be reasonable payment for the information exchange

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

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

14 (e) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

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

16 463(e), and 463(f) (42 U.S.C. 652(a)(9), 653(a),

17 653(b), 663(a), 663(e), and 663(f)) are each amend18 ed by inserting ‘‘Federal’’ before ‘‘Parent’’ each

19 place such term appears.

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

21 the heading by adding ‘‘FEDERAL’’ before ‘‘PAR22 ENT’’.

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

24 653), as amended by subsection (d) of this section, is
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1 amended by adding at the end the following new sub2 sections:

3 ‘‘(h) FEDERAL CASE REGISTRY OF CHILD SUPPORT

4 ORDERS.—

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

6 1998, in order to assist States in administering pro7 grams under State plans approved under this part

8 and programs funded under part A, and for the

9 other purposes specified in this section, the Sec10 retary shall establish and maintain in the Federal

11 Parent Locator Service an automated registry

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

13 of Child Support Orders’), which shall contain ab14 stracts of support orders and other information de15 scribed in paragraph (2) with respect to each case

16 in each State case registry maintained pursuant to

17 section 454A(e), as furnished (and regularly up18 dated), pursuant to section 454A(f), by State agen19 cies administering programs under this part.

20 ‘‘(2) CASE INFORMATION.—The information re21 ferred to in paragraph (1) with respect to a case

22 shall be such information as the Secretary may

23 specify in regulations (including the names, social

24 security numbers or other uniform identification

25 numbers, and State case identification numbers) to
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1 identify the individuals who owe or are owed support

2 (or with respect to or on behalf of whom support ob3 ligations are sought to be established), and the State

4 or States which have the case.

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

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

7 administering programs under State plans approved

8 under this part and programs funded under part A,

9 and for the other purposes specified in this section,

10 the Secretary shall, not later than October 1, 1997,

11 establish and maintain in the Federal Parent Loca12 tor Service an automated directory to be known as

13 the National Directory of New Hires, which shall

14 contain the information supplied pursuant to section

15 453A(g)(2).

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

17 entered into the data base maintained by the Na18 tional Directory of New Hires within 2 business

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

20 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATION OF FEDERAL TAX

21 LAWS.—The Secretary of the Treasury shall have

22 access to the information in the National Directory

23 of New Hires for purposes of administering section

24 32 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or the ad25 vance payment of the earned income tax credit
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1 under section 3507 of such Code, and verifying a

2 claim with respect to employment in a tax return.

3 ‘‘(4) LIST OF MULTISTATE EMPLOYERS.—The

4 Secretary shall maintain within the National Direc5 tory of New Hires a list of multistate employers that

6 report information regarding newly hired employees

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

8 which each such employer has designated to receive

9 such information.

10 ‘‘(j) INFORMATION COMPARISONS AND OTHER DIS11 CLOSURES.—

12 ‘‘(1) VERIFICATION BY SOCIAL SECURITY AD13 MINISTRATION.—

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

15 transmit information on individuals and em16 ployers maintained under this section to the So17 cial Security Administration to the extent nec18 essary for verification in accordance with sub19 paragraph (B).

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

21 Security Administration shall verify the accu22 racy of, correct, or supply to the extent pos23 sible, and report to the Secretary, the following

24 information supplied by the Secretary pursuant

25 to subparagraph (A):
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1 ‘‘(i) The name, social security num2 ber, and birth date of each such individual.

3 ‘‘(ii) The employer identification num4 ber of each such employer.

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

6 purpose of locating individuals in a paternity estab7 lishment case or a case involving the establishment,

8 modification, or enforcement of a support order, the

9 Secretary shall—

10 ‘‘(A) compare information in the National

11 Directory of New Hires against information in

12 the support case abstracts in the Federal Case

13 Registry of Child Support Orders not less often

14 than every 2 business days; and

15 ‘‘(B) within 2 business days after such a

16 comparison reveals a match with respect to an

17 individual, report the information to the State

18 agency responsible for the case.

19 ‘‘(3) INFORMATION COMPARISONS AND DISCLO20 SURES OF INFORMATION IN ALL REGISTRIES FOR

21 TITLE IV PROGRAM PURPOSES.—To the extent and

22 with the frequency that the Secretary determines to

23 be effective in assisting States to carry out their re24 sponsibilities under programs operated under this
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•HR 3465 IH

1 part and programs funded under part A, the Sec2 retary shall—

3 ‘‘(A) compare the information in each com4 ponent of the Federal Parent Locator Service

5 maintained under this section against the infor6 mation in each other such component (other

7 than the comparison required by paragraph

8 (2)), and report instances in which such a com9 parison reveals a match with respect to an indi10 vidual to State agencies operating such pro11 grams; and

12 ‘‘(B) disclose information in such registries

13 to such State agencies.

14 ‘‘(4) PROVISION OF NEW HIRE INFORMATION

15 TO THE SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION.—The

16 National Directory of New Hires shall provide the

17 Commissioner of Social Security with all information

18 in the National Directory, which shall be used to de19 termine the accuracy of payments under the supple20 mental security income program under title XVI and

21 in connection with benefits under title II.

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

23 access to information reported by employers pursu24 ant to section 453A(b) for research purposes found

25 by the Secretary to be likely to contribute to achiev-
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•HR 3465 IH

1 ing the purposes of part A or this part, but without

2 personal identifiers.

3 ‘‘(k) FEES.—

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

5 shall reimburse the Commissioner of Social Security,

6 at a rate negotiated between the Secretary and the

7 Commissioner, for the costs incurred by the Com8 missioner in performing the verification services de9 scribed in subsection (j).

10 ‘‘(2) FOR INFORMATION FROM STATE DIREC11 TORIES OF NEW HIRES.—The Secretary shall reim12 burse costs incurred by State directories of new

13 hires in furnishing information as required by sub14 section (j)(3), at rates which the Secretary deter15 mines to be reasonable (which rates shall not include

16 payment for the costs of obtaining, compiling, or

17 maintaining such information).

18 ‘‘(3) FOR INFORMATION FURNISHED TO STATE

19 AND FEDERAL AGENCIES.—A State or Federal agen20 cy that receives information from the Secretary pur21 suant to this section shall reimburse the Secretary

22 for costs incurred by the Secretary in furnishing the

23 information, at rates which the Secretary determines

24 to be reasonable (which rates shall include payment
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•HR 3465 IH

1 for the costs of obtaining, verifying, maintaining,

2 and comparing the information).

3 ‘‘(l) RESTRICTION ON DISCLOSURE AND USE.—In4 formation in the Federal Parent Locator Service, and in5 formation resulting from comparisons using such informa6 tion, shall not be used or disclosed except as expressly pro7 vided in this section, subject to section 6103 of the Inter8 nal Revenue Code of 1986.

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

10 The Secretary shall establish and implement safeguards

11 with respect to the entities established under this section

12 designed to—

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

14 information in the Federal Parent Locator Service;

15 and

16 ‘‘(2) restrict access to confidential information

17 in the Federal Parent Locator Service to authorized

18 persons, and restrict use of such information to au19 thorized purposes.

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

21 department, agency, and instrumentality of the United

22 States shall on a quarterly basis report to the Federal

23 Parent Locator Service the name and social security num24 ber of each employee and the wages paid to the employee

25 during the previous quarter, except that such a report
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•HR 3465 IH

1 shall not be filed with respect to an employee of a depart2 ment, agency, or instrumentality performing intelligence

3 or counterintelligence functions, if the head of such de4 partment, agency, or instrumentality has determined that

5 filing such a report could endanger the safety of the em6 ployee or compromise an ongoing investigation or intel7 ligence mission.’’.

8 (g) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

9 (1) TO PART D OF TITLE IV OF THE SOCIAL SE10 CURITY ACT.—

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

12 654(8)(B)) is amended to read as follows:

13 ‘‘(B) the Federal Parent Locator Service

14 established under section 453;’’.

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

16 amended by inserting ‘‘and provide that infor17 mation requests by parents who are residents of

18 other States be treated with the same priority

19 as requests by parents who are residents of the

20 State submitting the plan’’ before the semi21 colon.

22 (2) TO FEDERAL UNEMPLOYMENT TAX ACT.—

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

24 1986 is amended—
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1 (A) by striking ‘‘Secretary of Health, Edu2 cation, and Welfare’’ each place such term ap3 pears and inserting ‘‘Secretary of Health and

4 Human Services’’;

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

6 ‘‘such information’’ and all that follows and in7 serting ‘‘information furnished under subpara8 graph (A) or (B) is used only for the purposes

9 authorized under such subparagraph;’’;

10 (C) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub11 paragraph (A);

12 (D) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as

13 subparagraph (C); and

14 (E) by inserting after subparagraph (A)

15 the following new subparagraph:

16 ‘‘(B) wage and unemployment compensa17 tion information contained in the records of

18 such agency shall be furnished to the Secretary

19 of Health and Human Services (in accordance

20 with regulations promulgated by such Sec21 retary) as necessary for the purposes of the Na22 tional Directory of New Hires established under

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

24 (3) TO STATE GRANT PROGRAM UNDER TITLE

25 III OF THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACT.—Subsection (h)
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1 of section 303 (42 U.S.C. 503) is amended to read

2 as follows:

3 ‘‘(h)(1) The State agency charged with the adminis4 tration of the State law shall, on a reimbursable basis—

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

6 Health and Human Services, wage and claim infor7 mation, as required pursuant to section 453(i)(1),

8 contained in the records of such agency;

9 ‘‘(B) ensure that information provided pursuant

10 to subparagraph (A) meets such standards relating

11 to correctness and verification as the Secretary of

12 Health and Human Services, with the concurrence

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

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

15 of Labor determines are necessary to insure that in16 formation disclosed under subparagraph (A) is used

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

18 the child support enforcement program under title

19 IV.

20 ‘‘(2) Whenever the Secretary of Labor, after reason21 able notice and opportunity for hearing to the State agen22 cy charged with the administration of the State law, finds

23 that there is a failure to comply substantially with the re24 quirements of paragraph (1), the Secretary of Labor shall

25 notify such State agency that further payments will not
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1 be made to the State until the Secretary of Labor is satis2 fied that there is no longer any such failure. Until the

3 Secretary of Labor is so satisfied, the Secretary shall

4 make no future certification to the Secretary of the Treas5 ury with respect to the State.

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

7 ‘‘(A) the term ‘wage information’ means infor8 mation regarding wages paid to an individual, the

9 social security account number of such individual,

10 and the name, address, State, and the Federal em11 ployer identification number of the employer paying

12 such wages to such individual; and

13 ‘‘(B) the term ‘claim information’ means infor14 mation regarding whether an individual is receiving,

15 has received, or has made application for, unemploy16 ment compensation, the amount of any such com17 pensation being received (or to be received by such

18 individual), and the individual’s current (or most re19 cent) home address.’’.

20 (4) DISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN INFORMATION TO

21 AGENTS OF CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT AGEN22 CIES.—

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (6) of sec24 tion 6103(l) of the Internal Revenue Code of

25 1986 (relating to disclosure of return informa-
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1 tion to Federal, State, and local child support

2 enforcement agencies) is amended by redesig3 nating subparagraph (B) as subparagraph (C)

4 and by inserting after subparagraph (A) the fol5 lowing new subparagraph:

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

7 The following information disclosed to any child

8 support enforcement agency under subpara9 graph (A) with respect to any individual with

10 respect to whom child support obligations are

11 sought to be established or enforced may be dis12 closed by such agency to any agent of such

13 agency which is under contract with such agen14 cy to carry out the purposes described in sub15 paragraph (C):

16 ‘‘(i) The address and social security

17 account number (or numbers) of such indi18 vidual.

19 ‘‘(ii) The amount of any reduction

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

21 past-due support against overpayments) in

22 any overpayment otherwise payable to such

23 individual.’’

24 (B) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—
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1 (i) Paragraph (3) of section 6103(a)

2 of such Code is amended by striking

3 ‘‘(l)(12)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (6) or

4 (12) of subsection (l)’’.

5 (ii) Subparagraph (C) of section

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

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

8 follows:

9 ‘‘(C) RESTRICTION ON DISCLOSURE.—In10 formation may be disclosed under this para11 graph only for purposes of, and to the extent

12 necessary in, establishing and collecting child

13 support obligations from, and locating, individ14 uals owing such obligations.’’

15 (iii) The material following subpara16 graph (F) of section 6103(p)(4) of such

17 Code is amended by striking ‘‘subsection

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

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

20 (h) REQUIREMENT FOR COOPERATION.—The Sec21 retary of Labor and the Secretary of Health and Human

22 Services shall work jointly to develop cost-effective and ef23 ficient methods of accessing the information in the various

24 State directories of new hires and the National Directory

25 of New Hires as established pursuant to the amendments
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1 made by this title. In developing these methods the Sec2 retaries shall take into account the impact, including

3 costs, on the States, and shall also consider the need to

4 insure the proper and authorized use of wage record infor5 mation.

6 SEC. 207. COLLECTION AND USE OF SOCIAL SECURITY

7 NUMBERS FOR USE IN CHILD SUPPORT EN8 FORCEMENT.

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

10 U.S.C. 666(a)), as amended by section 205 of this Act,

11 is amended by adding at the end the following new para12 graph:

13 ‘‘(13) RECORDING OF SOCIAL SECURITY NUM14 BERS IN CERTAIN FAMILY MATTERS.—Procedures

15 requiring that the social security number of—

16 ‘‘(A) any applicant for a professional li17 cense, commercial driver’s license, occupational

18 license, or marriage license be recorded on the

19 application;

20 ‘‘(B) any individual who is subject to a di21 vorce decree, support order, or paternity deter22 mination or acknowledgment be placed in the

23 records relating to the matter; and
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1 ‘‘(C) any individual who has died be placed

2 in the records relating to the death and be re3 corded on the death certificate.

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

5 the use of a number other than the social security

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

7 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section

8 205(c)(2)(C) (42 U.S.C. 405(c)(2)(C)), as amended by

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

10 Program Improvements Act of 1994, is amended—

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

12 inserting ‘‘shall require’’;

13 (2) in clause (ii), by inserting after the 1st sen14 tence the following: ‘‘In the administration of any

15 law involving the issuance of a marriage certificate

16 or license, each State shall require each party named

17 in the certificate or license to furnish to the State

18 (or political subdivision thereof), or any State agen19 cy having administrative responsibility for the law

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

21 (3) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘or marriage cer22 tificate’’ after ‘‘Such numbers shall not be recorded

23 on the birth certificate’’;

24 (4) in clause (vi), by striking ‘‘may’’ and insert25 ing ‘‘shall’’; and
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1 (5) by adding at the end the following new

2 clauses:

3 ‘‘(x) An agency of a State (or a politi4 cal subdivision thereof) charged with the

5 administration of any law concerning the

6 issuance or renewal of a license, certificate,

7 permit, or other authorization to engage in

8 a profession, an occupation, or a commer9 cial activity shall require all applicants for

10 issuance or renewal of the license, certifi11 cate, permit, or other authorization to pro12 vide the applicant’s social security number

13 to the agency for the purpose of admin14 istering such laws, and for the purpose of

15 responding to requests for information

16 from an agency operating pursuant to part

17 D of title IV.

18 ‘‘(xi) All divorce decrees, support or19 ders, and paternity determinations issued,

20 and all paternity acknowledgments made,

21 in each State shall include the social secu22 rity number of each party to the decree,

23 order, determination, or acknowledgment

24 in the records relating to the matter, for

25 the purpose of responding to requests for
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1 information from an agency operating pur2 suant to part D of title IV.’’.

3 TITLE III—STREAMLINING AND

4 UNIFORMITY OF PROCEDURES

5 SEC. 301. ADOPTION OF UNIFORM STATE LAWS.

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

7 at the end the following new subsection:

8 ‘‘(f) UNIFORM INTERSTATE FAMILY SUPPORT

9 ACT.—

10 ‘‘(1) ENACTMENT AND USE.—In order to sat11 isfy section 454(20)(A), on and after January 1,

12 1998, each State must have in effect the Uniform

13 Interstate Family Support Act, as approved by the

14 American Bar Association on February 9, 1993, to15 gether with any amendments officially adopted be16 fore January 1, 1998, by the National Conference of

17 Commissioners on Uniform State Laws.

18 ‘‘(2) EMPLOYERS TO FOLLOW PROCEDURAL

19 RULES OF STATE WHERE EMPLOYEE WORKS.—The

20 State law enacted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall

21 provide that an employer that receives an income

22 withholding order or notice pursuant to section 501

23 of the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act follow

24 the procedural rules that apply with respect to such
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1 order or notice under the laws of the State in which

2 the obligor works.

3 SEC. 302. IMPROVEMENTS TO FULL FAITH AND CREDIT

4 FOR CHILD SUPPORT ORDERS.

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

6 amended—

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

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

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

10 undesignated paragraph the following:

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

12 a child lived with a parent or a person acting as par13 ent for at least 6 consecutive months immediately

14 preceding the time of filing of a petition or com15 parable pleading for support and, if a child is less

16 than 6 months old, the State in which the child lived

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

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

19 month period.’’;

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

21 of a State’’ before ‘‘is made’’;

22 (4) in subsection (c)(1), by inserting ‘‘and sub23 sections (e), (f), and (g)’’ after ‘‘located’’;

24 (5) in subsection (d)—
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1 (A) by inserting ‘‘individual’’ before ‘‘con2 testant’’; and

3 (B) by striking ‘‘subsection (e)’’ and in4 serting ‘‘subsections (e) and (f)’’;

5 (6) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘make a modi6 fication of a child support order with respect to a

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

8 support order issued’’;

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

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

11 (8) in subsection (e)(2)—

12 (A) by inserting ‘‘individual’’ before ‘‘con13 testant’’ each place such term appears; and

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

15 modification and assuming’’ and inserting ‘‘with

16 the State of continuing, exclusive jurisdiction

17 for a court of another State to modify the order

18 and assume’’;

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

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

21 (10) by inserting after subsection (e) the follow22 ing new subsection:

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

24 If 1 or more child support orders have been issued with

25 regard to an obligor and a child, a court shall apply the
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1 following rules in determining which order to recognize for

2 purposes of continuing, exclusive jurisdiction and enforce3 ment:

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

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

6 ‘‘(2) If 2 or more courts have issued child sup7 port orders for the same obligor and child, and only

8 1 of the courts would have continuing, exclusive ju9 risdiction under this section, the order of that court

10 must be recognized.

11 ‘‘(3) If 2 or more courts have issued child sup12 port orders for the same obligor and child, and more

13 than 1 of the courts would have continuing, exclusive

14 jurisdiction under this section, an order issued by a

15 court in the current home State of the child must

16 be recognized, but if an order has not been issued

17 in the current home State of the child, the order

18 most recently issued must be recognized.

19 ‘‘(4) If 2 or more courts have issued child sup20 port orders for the same obligor and child, and none

21 of the courts would have continuing, exclusive juris22 diction under this section, a court may issue a child

23 support order, which must be recognized.
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1 ‘‘(5) The court that has issued an order recog2 nized under this subsection is the court having con3 tinuing, exclusive jurisdiction.’’;

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

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

6 ‘‘MODIFIED’’; and

7 (B) by striking ‘‘subsection (e)’’ and in8 serting ‘‘subsections (e) and (f)’’;

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

10 (A) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘includ11 ing the duration of current payments and other

12 obligations of support’’ before the comma; and

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

14 under’’ after ‘‘enforce’’; and

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

16 subsection:

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

18 no individual contestant or child residing in the issuing

19 State, the party or support enforcement agency seeking

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

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

22 with jurisdiction over the nonmovant for the purpose of

23 modification.’’.
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1 SEC. 303. ADMINISTRATIVE ENFORCEMENT IN INTERSTATE

2 CASES.

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

4 sections 205 and 207(a) of this Act, is amended by adding

5 at the end the following new paragraph:

6 ‘‘(14) ADMINISTRATIVE ENFORCEMENT IN

7 INTERSTATE CASES.—Procedures under which—

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

9 business days to a request made by another

10 State to enforce a support order; and

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

12 on which State offices are open for regular

13 business;

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

15 means, transmit to another State a request for

16 assistance in a case involving the enforcement

17 of a support order, which request—

18 ‘‘(i) shall include such information as

19 will enable the State to which the request

20 is transmitted to compare the information

21 about the case to the information in the

22 data bases of the State; and

23 ‘‘(ii) shall constitute a certification by

24 the requesting State—
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1 ‘‘(I) of the amount of support

2 under the order the payment of which

3 is in arrears; and

4 ‘‘(II) that the requesting State

5 has complied with all procedural due

6 process requirements applicable to the

7 case;

8 ‘‘(C) if the State provides assistance to an9 other State pursuant to this paragraph with re10 spect to a case, neither State shall consider the

11 case to be transferred to the caseload of such

12 other State; and

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

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

15 assistance received by the State;

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

17 the State collected support in response to

18 such a request; and

19 ‘‘(iii) the amount of such collected

20 support.’’.

21 SEC. 304. USE OF FORMS IN INTERSTATE ENFORCEMENT.

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

23 652(a)) is amended—

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

25 (9);
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1 (2) by striking the period at the end of para2 graph (10) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

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

4 paragraph:

5 ‘‘(11) not later than October 1, 1996, after con6 sulting with the State directors of programs under

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

8 interstate cases for—

9 ‘‘(A) collection of child support through in10 come withholding;

11 ‘‘(B) imposition of liens; and

12 ‘‘(C) administrative subpoenas.’’.

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

14 654(9)) is amended—

15 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara16 graph (C);

17 (2) by inserting ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara18 graph (D); and

19 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub20 paragraph:

21 ‘‘(E) not later than March 1, 1997, in

22 using the forms promulgated pursuant to sec23 tion 452(a)(11) for income withholding, imposi24 tion of liens, and issuance of administrative

25 subpoenas in interstate child support cases;’’.
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1 SEC. 305. STATE LAWS PROVIDING EXPEDITED PROCE2 DURES.

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

4 U.S.C. 666), as amended by section 204 of this Act, is

5 amended—

6 (1) in subsection (a)(2), by striking the first

7 sentence and inserting the following: ‘‘Expedited ad8 ministrative and judicial procedures (including the

9 procedures specified in subsection (c)) for establish10 ing paternity and for establishing, modifying, and

11 enforcing support obligations.’’; and

12 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the follow13 ing new subsection:

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

15 specified in this subsection are the following:

16 ‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATIVE ACTION BY STATE AGEN17 CY.—Procedures which give the State agency the au18 thority to take the following actions relating to es19 tablishment of paternity or to establishment, modi20 fication, or enforcement of support orders, without

21 the necessity of obtaining an order from any other

22 judicial or administrative tribunal, and to recognize

23 and enforce the authority of State agencies of other

24 States) to take the following actions:
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1 ‘‘(A) GENETIC TESTING.—To order genetic

2 testing for the purpose of paternity establish3 ment as provided in section 466(a)(5).

4 ‘‘(B) FINANCIAL OR OTHER INFORMA5 TION.—To subpoena any financial or other in6 formation needed to establish, modify, or en7 force a support order, and to impose penalties

8 for failure to respond to such a subpoena.

9 ‘‘(C) RESPONSE TO STATE AGENCY RE10 QUEST.—To require all entities in the State (in11 cluding for-profit, nonprofit, and governmental

12 employers) to provide promptly, in response to

13 a request by the State agency of that or any

14 other State administering a program under this

15 part, information on the employment, com16 pensation, and benefits of any individual em17 ployed by such entity as an employee or con18 tractor, and to sanction failure to respond to

19 any such request.

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

21 obtain access, subject to safeguards on privacy

22 and information security, to the following

23 records (including automated access, in the case

24 of records maintained in automated data

25 bases):
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1 ‘‘(i) Records of other State and local

2 government agencies, including—

3 ‘‘(I) vital statistics (including

4 records of marriage, birth, and di5 vorce);

6 ‘‘(II) State and local tax and rev7 enue records (including information

8 on residence address, employer, in9 come and assets);

10 ‘‘(III) records concerning real

11 and titled personal property;

12 ‘‘(IV) records of occupational and

13 professional licenses, and records con14 cerning the ownership and control of

15 corporations, partnerships, and other

16 business entities;

17 ‘‘(V) employment security

18 records;

19 ‘‘(VI) records of agencies admin20 istering public assistance programs;

21 ‘‘(VII) records of the motor vehi22 cle department; and

23 ‘‘(VIII) corrections records.

24 ‘‘(ii) Certain records held by private

25 entities with respect to individuals who owe
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1 or are owed support (or against or with re2 spect to whom a support obligation is

3 sought), consisting of—

4 ‘‘(I) the names and addresses of

5 such individuals and the names and

6 addresses of the employers of such in7 dividuals, as appearing in customer

8 records of public utilities and cable

9 television companies; and

10 ‘‘(II) information (including in11 formation on assets and liabilities) on

12 such individuals held by financial in13 stitutions,

14 subject to the nonliability of such entities

15 arising from affording such access under

16 this subparagraph.

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 telephone number

6 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 504(a)(2) and as

5 amended by sections 201 and 202(c) of this Act, is amend6 ed by adding at the end the following new subsection:

7 ‘‘(h) EXPEDITED ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES.—

8 The automated system required by this section shall be

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

10 expedited administrative procedures required by section

11 466(c).’’.

12 TITLE IV—PATERNITY

13 ESTABLISHMENT

14 SEC. 401. STATE LAWS CONCERNING PATERNITY ESTAB15 LISHMENT.

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

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

18 ‘‘(5) PROCEDURES CONCERNING PATERNITY ES19 TABLISHMENT.—

20 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT PROCESS AVAIL21 ABLE FROM BIRTH UNTIL AGE 18.—

22 ‘‘(i) Procedures which permit the es23 tablishment of the paternity of a child at

24 any time before the child attains 18 years

25 of age.
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1 ‘‘(ii) As of August 16, 1984, clause (i)

2 shall also apply to a child for whom pater3 nity has not been established or for whom

4 a paternity action was brought but dis5 missed because a statute of limitations of

6 less than 18 years was then in effect in the

7 State.

8 ‘‘(B) PROCEDURES CONCERNING GENETIC

9 TESTING.—

10 ‘‘(i) GENETIC TESTING REQUIRED IN

11 CERTAIN CONTESTED CASES.—Procedures

12 under which the State is required, in a

13 contested paternity case (unless otherwise

14 barred by State law) to require the child

15 and all other parties (other than individ16 uals found under section 454(29) to have

17 good cause and other exceptions for refus18 ing to cooperate) to submit to genetic tests

19 upon the request of any such party, if the

20 request is supported by a sworn statement

21 by the party—

22 ‘‘(I) alleging paternity, and set23 ting forth facts establishing a reason24 able possibility of the requisite sexual

25 contact between the parties; or
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1 ‘‘(II) denying paternity, and set2 ting forth facts establishing a reason3 able possibility of the nonexistence of

4 sexual contact between the parties.

5 ‘‘(ii) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—Proce6 dures which require the State agency, in

7 any case in which the agency orders ge8 netic testing—

9 ‘‘(I) to pay costs of such tests,

10 subject to recoupment (if the State so

11 elects) from the alleged father if pa12 ternity is established; and

13 ‘‘(II) to obtain additional testing

14 in any case if an original test result is

15 contested, upon request and advance

16 payment by the contestant.

17 ‘‘(C) VOLUNTARY PATERNITY ACKNOWL18 EDGMENT.—

19 ‘‘(i) SIMPLE CIVIL PROCESS.—Proce20 dures for a simple civil process for volun21 tarily acknowledging paternity under which

22 the State must provide that, before a

23 mother and a putative father can sign an

24 acknowledgment of paternity, the mother

25 and the putative father must be given no-
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1 tice, orally and in writing, of the alter2 natives to, the legal consequences of, and

3 the rights (including, if 1 parent is a

4 minor, any rights afforded due to minority

5 status) and responsibilities that arise from,

6 signing the acknowledgment.

7 ‘‘(ii) HOSPITAL-BASED PROGRAM.—

8 Such procedures must include a hospital9 based program for the voluntary acknowl10 edgment of paternity focusing on the pe11 riod immediately before or after the birth

12 of a child, unless good cause and other ex13 ceptions exist which—

14 ‘‘(I) shall be defined, taking into

15 account the best interests of the child,

16 and

17 ‘‘(II) shall be applied in each

18 case,

19 by, at the option of the State, the State

20 agency administering the State program

21 under part A, this part, or title XIX.

22 ‘‘(iii) PATERNITY ESTABLISHMENT

23 SERVICES.—

24 ‘‘(I) STATE-OFFERED SERV25 ICES.—Such procedures must require
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1 the State agency responsible for main2 taining birth records to offer vol3 untary paternity establishment serv4 ices.

5 ‘‘(II) REGULATIONS.—

6 ‘‘(aa) SERVICES OFFERED

7 BY HOSPITALS AND BIRTH

8 RECORD AGENCIES.—The Sec9 retary shall prescribe regulations

10 governing voluntary paternity es11 tablishment services offered by

12 hospitals and birth record agen13 cies.

14 ‘‘(bb) SERVICES OFFERED

15 BY OTHER ENTITIES.—The Sec16 retary shall prescribe regulations

17 specifying the types of other enti18 ties that may offer voluntary pa19 ternity establishment services,

20 and governing the provision of

21 such services, which shall include

22 a requirement that such an entity

23 must use the same notice provi24 sions used by, use the same ma25 terials used by, provide the per-
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1 sonnel providing such services

2 with the same training provided

3 by, and evaluate the provision of

4 such services in the same manner

5 as the provision of such services

6 is evaluated by, voluntary pater7 nity establishment programs of

8 hospitals and birth record agen9 cies.

10 ‘‘(iv) USE OF PATERNITY ACKNOWL11 EDGMENT AFFIDAVIT.—Such procedures

12 must require the State to develop and use

13 an affidavit for the voluntary acknowledg14 ment of paternity which includes the mini15 mum requirements of the affidavit speci16 fied by the Secretary under section

17 452(a)(7) for the voluntary acknowledg18 ment of paternity, and to give full faith

19 and credit to such an affidavit signed in

20 any other State according to its proce21 dures.

22 ‘‘(D) STATUS OF SIGNED PATERNITY AC23 KNOWLEDGMENT.—

24 ‘‘(i) INCLUSION IN BIRTH RECORDS.—

25 Procedures under which the name of the
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1 father shall be included on the record of

2 birth of the child of unmarried parents

3 only if—

4 ‘‘(I) the father and mother have

5 signed a voluntary acknowledgment of

6 paternity; or

7 ‘‘(II) a court or an administrative

8 agency of competent jurisdiction has

9 issued an adjudication of paternity.

10 Nothing in this clause shall preclude a

11 State agency from obtaining an admission

12 of paternity from the father for submission

13 in a judicial or administrative proceeding,

14 or prohibit the issuance of an order in a

15 judicial or administrative proceeding which

16 bases a legal finding of paternity on an ad17 mission of paternity by the father and any

18 other additional showing required by State

19 law.

20 ‘‘(ii) LEGAL FINDING OF PATER21 NITY.—Procedures under which a signed

22 voluntary acknowledgment of paternity is

23 considered a legal finding of paternity,

24 subject to the right of any signatory to re-
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1 scind the acknowledgment within the ear2 lier of—

3 ‘‘(I) 60 days; or

4 ‘‘(II) the date of an administra5 tive or judicial proceeding relating to

6 the child (including a proceeding to

7 establish a support order) in which

8 the signatory is a party.

9 ‘‘(iii) CONTEST.—Procedures under

10 which, after the 60-day period referred to

11 in clause (ii), a signed voluntary acknowl12 edgment of paternity may be challenged in

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

14 material mistake of fact, with the burden

15 of proof upon the challenger, and under

16 which the legal responsibilities (including

17 child support obligations) of any signatory

18 arising from the acknowledgment may not

19 be suspended during the challenge, except

20 for good cause shown.

21 ‘‘(E) BAR ON ACKNOWLEDGMENT RATIFI22 CATION PROCEEDINGS.—Procedures under

23 which judicial or administrative proceedings are

24 not required or permitted to ratify an unchal25 lenged acknowledgment of paternity.
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1 ‘‘(F) ADMISSIBILITY OF GENETIC TESTING

2 RESULTS.—Procedures—

3 ‘‘(i) requiring the admission into evi4 dence, for purposes of establishing pater5 nity, of the results of any genetic test that

6 is—

7 ‘‘(I) of a type generally acknowl8 edged as reliable by accreditation bod9 ies designated by the Secretary; and

10 ‘‘(II) performed by a laboratory

11 approved by such an accreditation

12 body;

13 ‘‘(ii) requiring an objection to genetic

14 testing results to be made in writing not

15 later than a specified number of days be16 fore any hearing at which the results may

17 be introduced into evidence (or, at State

18 option, not later than a specified number

19 of days after receipt of the results); and

20 ‘‘(iii) making the test results admissi21 ble as evidence of paternity without the

22 need for foundation testimony or other

23 proof of authenticity or accuracy, unless

24 objection is made.
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1 ‘‘(G) PRESUMPTION OF PATERNITY IN

2 CERTAIN CASES.—Procedures which create a re3 buttable or, at the option of the State, conclu4 sive presumption of paternity upon genetic test5 ing results indicating a threshold probability

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

7 ‘‘(H) DEFAULT ORDERS.—Procedures re8 quiring a default order to be entered in a pater9 nity case upon a showing of service of process

10 on the defendant and any additional showing

11 required by State law.

12 ‘‘(I) NO RIGHT TO JURY TRIAL.—Proce13 dures providing that the parties to an action to

14 establish paternity are not entitled to a trial by

15 jury.

16 ‘‘(J) TEMPORARY SUPPORT ORDER BASED

17 ON PROBABLE PATERNITY IN CONTESTED

18 CASES.—Procedures which require that a tem19 porary order be issued, upon motion by a party,

20 requiring the provision of child support pending

21 an administrative or judicial determination of

22 parentage, if there is clear and convincing evi23 dence of paternity (on the basis of genetic tests

24 or other evidence).
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1 ‘‘(K) PROOF OF CERTAIN SUPPORT AND

2 PATERNITY ESTABLISHMENT COSTS.—Proce3 dures under which bills for pregnancy, child4 birth, and genetic testing are admissible as evi5 dence without requiring third-party foundation

6 testimony, and shall constitute prima facie evi7 dence of amounts incurred for such services or

8 for testing on behalf of the child.

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

10 Procedures ensuring that the putative father

11 has a reasonable opportunity to initiate a pater12 nity action.

13 ‘‘(M) FILING OF ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND

14 ADJUDICATIONS IN STATE REGISTRY OF BIRTH

15 RECORDS.—Procedures under which voluntary

16 acknowledgments and adjudications of paternity

17 by judicial or administrative processes are filed

18 with the State registry of birth records for com19 parison with information in the State case reg20 istry.’’.

21 (b) NATIONAL PATERNITY ACKNOWLEDGMENT AFFI22 DAVIT.—Section 452(a)(7) (42 U.S.C. 652(a)(7)) is

23 amended by inserting ‘‘, and specify the minimum require24 ments of an affidavit to be used for the voluntary acknowl25 edgment of paternity which shall include the social secu-
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1 rity number of each parent and, after consultation with

2 the States, other common elements as determined by such

3 designee’’ before the semicolon.

4 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 468 (42

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

6 for voluntarily acknowledging paternity and’’.

7 SEC. 402. OUTREACH FOR VOLUNTARY PATERNITY ESTAB8 LISHMENT.

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

10 inserting ‘‘and will publicize the availability and encourage

11 the use of procedures for voluntary establishment of pater12 nity and child support by means the State deems appro13 priate’’ before the semicolon.

14 SEC. 403. COOPERATION BY APPLICANTS FOR AND RECIPI15 ENTS OF PART A ASSISTANCE.

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

17 101(b), 103(a), 202(a), and 203(a) of this Act, is amend18 ed—

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

20 (27);

21 (2) by striking the period at the end of para22 graph (28) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

23 (3) by inserting after paragraph (28) the fol24 lowing new paragraph:
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1 ‘‘(29) provide that the State agency responsible

2 for administering the State plan—

3 ‘‘(A) shall make the determination (and re4 determination at appropriate intervals) as to

5 whether an individual who has applied for or is

6 receiving assistance under the State program

7 funded under part A or the State program

8 under title XIX is cooperating in good faith

9 with the State in establishing the paternity of,

10 or in establishing, modifying, or enforcing a

11 support order for, any child of the individual by

12 providing the State agency with the name of,

13 and such other information as the State agency

14 may require with respect to, the noncustodial

15 parent of the child, subject to good cause and

16 other exceptions which—

17 ‘‘(i) shall be defined, taking into ac18 count the best interests of the child, and

19 ‘‘(ii) shall be applied in each case,

20 by, at the option of the State, the State

21 agency administering the State program

22 under part A, this part, or title XIX;

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

24 additional necessary information and appear at

25 interviews, hearings, and legal proceedings;
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1 ‘‘(C) shall require the individual and the

2 child to submit to genetic tests pursuant to ju3 dicial or administrative order;

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

5 a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity, after

6 notice of the rights and consequences of such

7 an acknowledgment, but may not require the in8 dividual to sign an acknowledgment or other9 wise relinquish the right to genetic tests as a

10 condition of cooperation and eligibility for as11 sistance under the State program funded under

12 part A or the State program under title XIX;

13 and

14 ‘‘(E) shall promptly notify the individual

15 and the State agency administering the State

16 program funded under part A and the State

17 agency administering the State program under

18 title XIX of each such determination, and if

19 noncooperation is determined, the basis there20 fore.’’.
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1 TITLE V—PROGRAM

2 ADMINISTRATION AND FUNDING

3 SEC. 501. PERFORMANCE-BASED INCENTIVES AND PEN4 ALTIES.

5 (a) DEVELOPMENT OF NEW SYSTEM.—The Sec6 retary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with

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

8 the Social Security Act, shall develop a new incentive sys9 tem to replace, in a revenue neutral manner, the system

10 under section 458 of such Act. The new system shall pro11 vide additional payments to any State based on such

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

13 November 1, 1996, the Secretary shall report on the new

14 system to the Committee on Ways and Means of the

15 House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance

16 of the Senate.

17 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO PRESENT SYS18 TEM.—Section 458 (42 U.S.C. 658) is amended—

19 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘aid to fami20 lies with dependent children under a State plan ap21 proved under part A of this title’’ and inserting ‘‘as22 sistance under a program funded under part A’’;

23 (2) in subsection (b)(1)(A), by striking ‘‘section

24 402(a)(26)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 408(a)(4)’’;

25 (3) in subsections (b) and (c)—
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1 (A) by striking ‘‘AFDC collections’’ each

2 place it appears and inserting ‘‘title IV–A col3 lections’’, and

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

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

6 IV–A collections’’; and

7 (4) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘combined

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

9 it appears and inserting ‘‘combined title IV–A/non10 title IV–A administrative costs’’.

11 (c) CALCULATION OF PATERNITY ESTABLISHMENT

12 PERCENTAGE.—

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

14 652(g)(1)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘75’’ and in15 serting ‘‘90’’.

16 (2) Section 452(g)(1) (42 U.S.C. 652(g)(1)) is

17 amended—

18 (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (B)

19 through (E) as subparagraphs (C) through (F),

20 respectively, and by inserting after subpara21 graph (A) the following new subparagraph:

22 ‘‘(B) for a State with a paternity establish23 ment percentage of not less than 75 percent but

24 less than 90 percent for such fiscal year, the

25 paternity establishment percentage of the State
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1 for the immediately preceding fiscal year plus 2

2 percentage points;’’; and

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

4 flush sentence:

5 ‘‘In determining compliance under this section, a State

6 may use as its paternity establishment percentage either

7 the State’s IV–D paternity establishment percentage (as

8 defined in paragraph (2)(A)) or the State’s statewide pa9 ternity establishment percentage (as defined in paragraph

10 (2)(B)).’’.

11 (3) Section 452(g)(2) (42 U.S.C. 652(g)(2)) is

12 amended—

13 (A) in subparagraph (A)—

14 (i) in the matter preceding clause

15 (i)—

16 (I) by striking ‘‘paternity estab17 lishment percentage’’ and inserting

18 ‘‘IV–D paternity establishment per19 centage’’; and

20 (II) by striking ‘‘(or all States, as

21 the case may be)’’;

22 (ii) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end

23 thereof;
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1 (B) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as

2 subparagraph (C) and by inserting after sub3 paragraph (A) the following new subparagraph:

4 ‘‘(B) the term ‘statewide paternity establish5 ment percentage’ means, with respect to a State for

6 a fiscal year, the ratio (expressed as a percentage)

7 that the total number of minor children—

8 ‘‘(i) who have been born out of wedlock,

9 and

10 ‘‘(ii) the paternity of whom has been estab11 lished or acknowledged during the fiscal year,

12 bears to the total number of children born out of

13 wedlock during the preceding fiscal year; and’’; and

14 (iii) in the matter following subpara15 graph (C) (as so redesignated), by striking

16 ‘‘to have good cause for refusing to cooper17 ate’’ and inserting ‘‘to qualify for a good

18 cause or other exception to cooperation’’.

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

20 amended—

21 (A) by striking subparagraph (A) and re22 designating subparagraphs (B) and (C) as sub23 paragraphs (A) and (B), respectively; and

24 (B) in subparagraph (A) (as so redesig25 nated), by striking ‘‘the percentage of children
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1 born out-of-wedlock in a State’’ and inserting

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

3 born out of wedlock or for whom support has

4 not been established’’.

5 (d) EFFECTIVE DATES.—

6 (1) INCENTIVE ADJUSTMENTS.—

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

8 subsection (a) and the amendments made by sub9 section (b) shall become effective on October 1,

10 1997, except to the extent provided in subparagraph

11 (B).

12 (B) APPLICATION OF SECTION 458.—Section

13 458 of the Social Security Act, as in effect on the

14 day before the date of the enactment of this section,

15 shall be effective for purposes of incentive payments

16 to States for fiscal years before fiscal year 1999.

17 (2) PENALTY REDUCTIONS.—The amendments

18 made by subsection (c) shall become effective with

19 respect to calendar quarters beginning on or after

20 the date of the enactment of this Act.

21 SEC. 502. FEDERAL AND STATE REVIEWS AND AUDITS.

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

23 U.S.C. 654) is amended—

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

25 inserting ‘‘(14)(A)’’;
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1 (2) by redesignating paragraph (15) as sub2 paragraph (B) of paragraph (14); and

3 (3) by inserting after paragraph (14) the fol4 lowing new paragraph:

5 ‘‘(15) provide for—

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

7 reports to the Secretary on the State program

8 operated under the State plan approved under

9 this part, including such information as may be

10 necessary to measure State compliance with

11 Federal requirements for expedited procedures,

12 using such standards and procedures as are re13 quired by the Secretary, under which the State

14 agency will determine the extent to which the

15 program is operated in compliance with this

16 part; and

17 ‘‘(B) a process of extracting from the auto18 mated data processing system required by para19 graph (16) and transmitting to the Secretary

20 data and calculations concerning the levels of

21 accomplishment (and rates of improvement)

22 with respect to applicable performance indica23 tors (including paternity establishment percent24 ages) to the extent necessary for purposes of

25 sections 452(g) and 458.’’.
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1 (b) FEDERAL ACTIVITIES.—Section 452(a)(4) (42

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

3 ‘‘(4)(A) review data and calculations transmit4 ted by State agencies pursuant to section

5 454(15)(B) on State program accomplishments with

6 respect to performance indicators for purposes of

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

8 ‘‘(B) review annual reports submitted pursuant

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

10 to the State comments, recommendations for addi11 tional or alternative corrective actions, and technical

12 assistance; and

13 ‘‘(C) conduct audits, in accordance with the

14 Government auditing standards of the Comptroller

15 General of the United States—

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

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

18 meet the requirements of this part concerning

19 performance standards and reliability of pro20 gram data) to assess the completeness, reliabil21 ity, and security of the data and the accuracy

22 of the reporting systems used in calculating

23 performance indicators under subsection (g) of

24 this section and section 458;
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1 ‘‘(ii) of the adequacy of financial manage2 ment of the State program operated under the

3 State plan approved under this part, including

4 assessments of—

5 ‘‘(I) whether Federal and other funds

6 made available to carry out the State pro7 gram are being appropriately expended,

8 and are properly and fully accounted for;

9 and

10 ‘‘(II) whether collections and disburse11 ments of support payments are carried out

12 correctly and are fully accounted for; and

13 ‘‘(iii) for such other purposes as the Sec14 retary may find necessary;’’.

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

16 this section shall be effective with respect to calendar

17 quarters beginning 12 months or more after the date of

18 the enactment of this Act.

19 SEC. 503. REQUIRED REPORTING PROCEDURES.

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

21 652(a)(5)) is amended by inserting ‘‘, and establish proce22 dures to be followed by States for collecting and reporting

23 information required to be provided under this part, and

24 establish uniform definitions (including those necessary to

25 enable the measurement of State compliance with the re-
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1 quirements of this part relating to expedited processes) to

2 be applied in following such procedures’’ before the semi3 colon.

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

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

6 202(a), 203(a), and 403 of this Act, is amended—

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

8 (28);

9 (2) by striking the period at the end of para10 graph (29) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

11 (3) by adding after paragraph (29) the follow12 ing new paragraph:

13 ‘‘(30) provide that the State shall use the defi14 nitions established under section 452(a)(5) in col15 lecting and reporting information as required under

16 this part.’’.

17 SEC. 504. AUTOMATED DATA PROCESSING REQUIREMENTS.

18 (a) REVISED REQUIREMENTS.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 454(16) (42 U.S.C.

20 654(16)) is amended—

21 (A) by striking ‘‘, at the option of the

22 State,’’;

23 (B) by inserting ‘‘and operation by the

24 State agency’’ after ‘‘for the establishment’’;
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1 (C) by inserting ‘‘meeting the requirements

2 of section 454A’’ after ‘‘information retrieval

3 system’’;

4 (D) by striking ‘‘in the State and localities

5 thereof, so as (A)’’ and inserting ‘‘so as’’;

6 (E) by striking ‘‘(i)’’; and

7 (F) by striking ‘‘(including’’ and all that

8 follows and inserting a semicolon.

9 (2) AUTOMATED DATA PROCESSING.—Part D of

10 title IV (42 U.S.C. 651–669) is amended by insert11 ing after section 454 the following new section:

12 ‘‘SEC. 454A. AUTOMATED DATA PROCESSING.

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In order for a State to meet the

14 requirements of this section, the State agency administer15 ing the State program under this part shall have in oper16 ation a single statewide automated data processing and

17 information retrieval system which has the capability to

18 perform the tasks specified in this section with the fre19 quency and in the manner required by or under this part.

20 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM MANAGEMENT.—The automated sys21 tem required by this section shall perform such functions

22 as the Secretary may specify relating to management of

23 the State program under this part, including—
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1 ‘‘(1) controlling and accounting for use of Fed2 eral, State, and local funds in carrying out the pro3 gram; and

4 ‘‘(2) maintaining the data necessary to meet

5 Federal reporting requirements under this part on a

6 timely basis.

7 ‘‘(c) CALCULATION OF PERFORMANCE INDICA8 TORS.—In order to enable the Secretary to determine the

9 incentive payments and penalty adjustments required by

10 sections 452(g) and 458, the State agency shall—

11 ‘‘(1) use the automated system—

12 ‘‘(A) to maintain the requisite data on

13 State performance with respect to paternity es14 tablishment and child support enforcement in

15 the State; and

16 ‘‘(B) to calculate the paternity establish17 ment percentage for the State for each fiscal

18 year; and

19 ‘‘(2) have in place systems controls to ensure

20 the completeness and reliability of, and ready access

21 to, the data described in paragraph (1)(A), and the

22 accuracy of the calculations described in paragraph

23 (1)(B).

24 ‘‘(d) INFORMATION INTEGRITY AND SECURITY.—The

25 State agency shall have in effect safeguards on the integ-
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1 rity, accuracy, and completeness of, access to, and use of

2 data in the automated system required by this section,

3 which shall include the following (in addition to such other

4 safeguards as the Secretary may specify in regulations):

5 ‘‘(1) POLICIES RESTRICTING ACCESS.—Written

6 policies concerning access to data by State agency

7 personnel, and sharing of data with other persons,

8 which—

9 ‘‘(A) permit access to and use of data only

10 to the extent necessary to carry out the State

11 program under this part; and

12 ‘‘(B) specify the data which may be used

13 for particular program purposes, and the per14 sonnel permitted access to such data.

15 ‘‘(2) SYSTEMS CONTROLS.—Systems controls

16 (such as passwords or blocking of fields) to ensure

17 strict adherence to the policies described in para18 graph (1).

19 ‘‘(3) MONITORING OF ACCESS.—Routine mon20 itoring of access to and use of the automated sys21 tem, through methods such as audit trails and feed22 back mechanisms, to guard against and promptly

23 identify unauthorized access or use.

24 ‘‘(4) TRAINING AND INFORMATION.—Proce25 dures to ensure that all personnel (including State
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1 and local agency staff and contractors) who may

2 have access to or be required to use confidential pro3 gram data are informed of applicable requirements

4 and penalties (including those in section 6103 of the

5 Internal Revenue Code of 1986), and are adequately

6 trained in security procedures.

7 ‘‘(5) PENALTIES.—Administrative penalties (up

8 to and including dismissal from employment) for un9 authorized access to, or disclosure or use of, con10 fidential data.’’.

11 (3) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Health

12 and Human Services shall prescribe final regulations

13 for implementation of section 454A of the Social Se14 curity Act not later than 2 years after the date of

15 the enactment of this Act.

16 (4) IMPLEMENTATION TIMETABLE.—Section

17 454(24) (42 U.S.C. 654(24)), as amended by section

18 103(a)(1) of this Act, is amended to read as follows:

19 ‘‘(24) provide that the State will have in effect

20 an automated data processing and information re21 trieval system—

22 ‘‘(A) by October 1, 1997, which meets all

23 requirements of this part which were enacted on

24 or before the date of enactment of the Family

25 Support Act of 1988, and
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1 ‘‘(B) by October 1, 1999, which meets all

2 requirements of this part enacted on or before

3 the date of the enactment of the Child Support

4 Improvement Act of 1996, except that such

5 deadline shall be extended by 1 day for each

6 day (if any) by which the Secretary fails to

7 meet the deadline imposed by section 504(a)(3)

8 of the Child Support Improvement Act of

9 1996;’’.

10 (b) SPECIAL FEDERAL MATCHING RATE FOR DE11 VELOPMENT COSTS OF AUTOMATED SYSTEMS.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 455(a) (42 U.S.C.

13 655(a)) is amended—

14 (A) in paragraph (1)(B)—

15 (i) by striking ‘‘90 percent’’ and in16 serting ‘‘the percent specified in paragraph

17 (3)’’;

18 (ii) by striking ‘‘so much of’’; and

19 (iii) by striking ‘‘which the Secretary’’

20 and all that follows and inserting ‘‘, and’’;

21 and

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

23 paragraph:

24 ‘‘(3)(A) The Secretary shall pay to each State, for

25 each quarter in fiscal years 1996 and 1997, 90 percent
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1 of so much of the State expenditures described in para2 graph (1)(B) as the Secretary finds are for a system meet3 ing the requirements specified in section 454(16) (as in

4 effect on September 30, 1995) but limited to the amount

5 approved for States in the advance planning documents

6 of such States submitted on or before September 30,

7 1995.

8 ‘‘(B)(i) The Secretary shall pay to each State, for

9 each quarter in fiscal years 1996 through 2001, the per10 centage specified in clause (ii) of so much of the State

11 expenditures described in paragraph (1)(B) as the Sec12 retary finds are for a system meeting the requirements

13 of sections 454(16) and 454A.

14 ‘‘(ii) The percentage specified in this clause is 80 per15 cent.’’.

16 (2) TEMPORARY LIMITATION ON PAYMENTS

17 UNDER SPECIAL FEDERAL MATCHING RATE.—

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of

19 Health and Human Services may not pay more

20 than $400,000,000 in the aggregate under sec21 tion 455(a)(3)(B) of the Social Security Act for

22 fiscal years 1996 through 2001.

23 (B) ALLOCATION OF LIMITATION AMONG

24 STATES.—The total amount payable to a State

25 under section 455(a)(3)(B) of such Act for fis-
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1 cal years 1996 through 2001 shall not exceed

2 the limitation determined for the State by the

3 Secretary of Health and Human Services in

4 regulations.

5 (C) ALLOCATION FORMULA.—The regula6 tions referred to in subparagraph (B) shall pre7 scribe a formula for allocating the amount spec8 ified in subparagraph (A) among States with

9 plans approved under part D of title IV of the

10 Social Security Act, which shall take into ac11 count—

12 (i) the relative size of State caseloads

13 under such part; and

14 (ii) the level of automation needed to

15 meet the automated data processing re16 quirements of such part.

17 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 123(c) of

18 the Family Support Act of 1988 (102 Stat. 2352; Public

19 Law 100–485) is repealed.

20 SEC. 505. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.

21 (a) FOR TRAINING OF FEDERAL AND STATE STAFF,

22 RESEARCH AND DEMONSTRATION PROGRAMS, AND SPE23 CIAL PROJECTS OF REGIONAL OR NATIONAL SIGNIFI24 CANCE.—Section 452 (42 U.S.C. 652) is amended by add25 ing at the end the following new subsection:
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1 ‘‘(j) Out of any money in the Treasury of the United

2 States not otherwise appropriated, there is hereby appro3 priated to the Secretary for each fiscal year an amount

4 equal to 1 percent of the total amount paid to the Federal

5 Government pursuant to section 457(a) during the imme6 diately preceding fiscal year (as determined on the basis

7 of the most recent reliable data available to the Secretary

8 as of the end of the 3rd calendar quarter following the

9 end of such preceding fiscal year), to cover costs incurred

10 by the Secretary for—

11 ‘‘(1) information dissemination and technical

12 assistance to States, training of State and Federal

13 staff, staffing studies, and related activities needed

14 to improve programs under this part (including tech15 nical assistance concerning State automated systems

16 required by this part); and

17 ‘‘(2) research, demonstration, and special

18 projects of regional or national significance relating

19 to the operation of State programs under this part.

20 The amount appropriated under this subsection shall re21 main available until expended.’’.

22 (b) OPERATION OF FEDERAL PARENT LOCATOR

23 SERVICE.—Section 453 (42 U.S.C. 653), as amended by

24 section 206 of this Act, is amended by adding at the end

25 the following new subsection:
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1 ‘‘(o) RECOVERY OF COSTS.—Out of any money in the

2 Treasury of the United States not otherwise appropriated,

3 there is hereby appropriated to the Secretary for each fis4 cal year an amount equal to 2 percent of the total amount

5 paid to the Federal Government pursuant to section

6 457(a) during the immediately preceding fiscal year (as

7 determined on the basis of the most recent reliable data

8 available to the Secretary as of the end of the 3rd calendar

9 quarter following the end of such preceding fiscal year),

10 to cover costs incurred by the Secretary for operation of

11 the Federal Parent Locator Service under this section, to

12 the extent such costs are not recovered through user

13 fees.’’.

14 SEC. 506. REPORTS AND DATA COLLECTION BY THE SEC15 RETARY.

16 (a) ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.—

17 (1) Section 452(a)(10)(A) (42 U.S.C.

18 652(a)(10)(A)) is amended—

19 (A) by striking ‘‘this part;’’ and inserting

20 ‘‘this part, including—’’; and

21 (B) by adding at the end the following new

22 clauses:

23 ‘‘(i) the total amount of child support

24 payments collected as a result of services
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1 furnished during the fiscal year to individ2 uals receiving services under this part;

3 ‘‘(ii) the cost to the States and to the

4 Federal Government of so furnishing the

5 services; and

6 ‘‘(iii) the number of cases involving

7 families—

8 ‘‘(I) who became ineligible for as9 sistance under State programs funded

10 under part A during a month in the

11 fiscal year; and

12 ‘‘(II) with respect to whom a

13 child support payment was received in

14 the month;’’.

15 (2) Section 452(a)(10)(C) (42 U.S.C.

16 652(a)(10)(C)) is amended—

17 (A) in the matter preceding clause (i)—

18 (i) by striking ‘‘with the data required

19 under each clause being separately stated

20 for cases’’ and inserting ‘‘separately stated

21 for (1) cases’’;

22 (ii) by striking ‘‘cases where the child

23 was formerly receiving’’ and inserting ‘‘or

24 formerly received’’;
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1 (iii) by inserting ‘‘or 1912’’ after

2 ‘‘471(a)(17)’’; and

3 (iv) by inserting ‘‘(2)’’ before ‘‘all

4 other’’;

5 (B) in each of clauses (i) and (ii), by strik6 ing ‘‘, and the total amount of such obliga7 tions’’;

8 (C) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘described

9 in’’ and all that follows and inserting ‘‘in which

10 support was collected during the fiscal year;’’;

11 (D) by striking clause (iv); and

12 (E) by redesignating clause (v) as clause

13 (vii), and inserting after clause (iii) the follow14 ing new clauses:

15 ‘‘(iv) the total amount of support col16 lected during such fiscal year and distrib17 uted as current support;

18 ‘‘(v) the total amount of support col19 lected during such fiscal year and distrib20 uted as arrearages;

21 ‘‘(vi) the total amount of support due

22 and unpaid for all fiscal years; and’’.

23 (3) Section 452(a)(10)(G) (42 U.S.C.

24 652(a)(10)(G)) is amended by striking ‘‘on the use

25 of Federal courts and’’.
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1 (4) Section 452(a)(10) (42 U.S.C. 652(a)(10))

2 is amended—

3 (A) in subparagraph (H), by striking

4 ‘‘and’’;

5 (B) in subparagraph (I), by striking the

6 period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

7 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (I) the

8 following new subparagraph:

9 ‘‘(J) compliance, by State, with the stand10 ards established pursuant to subsections (h)

11 and (i).’’.

12 (5) Section 452(a)(10) (42 U.S.C. 652(a)(10))

13 is amended by striking all that follows subparagraph

14 (J), as added by paragraph (4).

15 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

16 subsection (a) shall be effective with respect to fiscal year

17 1997 and succeeding fiscal years.

18 TITLE VI—ESTABLISHMENT AND

19 MODIFICATION OF SUPPORT

20 ORDERS

21 SEC. 601. SIMPLIFIED PROCESS FOR REVIEW AND ADJUST22 MENT OF CHILD SUPPORT ORDERS.

23 Section 466(a)(10) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)(10)) is amend24 ed to read as follows:
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1 ‘‘(10) REVIEW AND ADJUSTMENT OF SUPPORT

2 ORDERS UPON REQUEST.—Procedures under which

3 the State may review and adjust each support order

4 being enforced under this part if there is an assign5 ment under part A, or shall review and adjust each

6 support order being enforced under this part upon

7 the request of either parent. Such procedures shall

8 provide the following:

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—

10 ‘‘(i) 3-YEAR CYCLE.—Except as pro11 vided in subparagraphs (B) and (C), the

12 State shall review and, as appropriate, ad13 just the support order every 3 years, tak14 ing into account the best interests of the

15 child involved.

16 ‘‘(ii) METHODS OF ADJUSTMENT.—

17 The State may elect to review and, if ap18 propriate, adjust an order pursuant to

19 clause (i) by—

20 ‘‘(I) reviewing and, if appro21 priate, adjusting the order in accord22 ance with the guidelines established

23 pursuant to section 467(a) if the

24 amount of the child support award

25 under the order differs from the
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1 amount that would be awarded in ac2 cordance with the guidelines; or

3 ‘‘(II) applying a cost-of-living ad4 justment to the order in accordance

5 with a formula developed by the State

6 and permit either party to contest the

7 adjustment, within 30 days after the

8 date of the notice of the adjustment,

9 by making a request for review and, if

10 appropriate, adjustment of the order

11 in accordance with the child support

12 guidelines established pursuant to sec13 tion 467(a).

14 ‘‘(iii) NO PROOF OF CHANGE IN CIR15 CUMSTANCES NECESSARY.—Any adjust16 ment under this subparagraph (A) shall be

17 made without a requirement for proof or

18 showing of a change in circumstances.

19 ‘‘(B) AUTOMATED METHOD.—The State

20 may use automated methods (including auto21 mated comparisons with wage or State income

22 tax data) to identify orders eligible for review,

23 conduct the review, identify orders eligible for

24 adjustment, and apply the appropriate adjust-
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1 ment to the orders eligible for adjustment

2 under the threshold established by the State.

3 ‘‘(C) REQUEST UPON SUBSTANTIAL

4 CHANGE IN CIRCUMSTANCES.—The State shall,

5 at the request of either parent subject to such

6 an order or of any State child support enforce7 ment agency, review and, if appropriate, adjust

8 the order in accordance with the guidelines es9 tablished pursuant to section 467(a) based

10 upon a substantial change in the circumstances

11 of either parent.

12 ‘‘(D) NOTICE OF RIGHT TO REVIEW.—The

13 State shall provide notice not less than once

14 every 3 years to the parents subject to such an

15 order informing them of their right to request

16 the State to review and, if appropriate, adjust

17 the order pursuant to this paragraph. The no18 tice may be included in the order.’’.

19 SEC. 602. FURNISHING CONSUMER REPORTS FOR CERTAIN

20 PURPOSES RELATING TO CHILD SUPPORT.

21 Section 604 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15

22 U.S.C. 1681b) is amended by adding at the end the follow23 ing new paragraphs:

24 ‘‘(4) In response to a request by the head of a

25 State or local child support enforcement agency (or
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1 a State or local government official authorized by

2 the head of such an agency), if the person making

3 the request certifies to the consumer reporting agen4 cy that—

5 ‘‘(A) the consumer report is needed for the

6 purpose of establishing an individual’s capacity

7 to make child support payments or determining

8 the appropriate level of such payments;

9 ‘‘(B) the paternity of the consumer for the

10 child to which the obligation relates has been

11 established or acknowledged by the consumer in

12 accordance with State laws under which the ob13 ligation arises (if required by those laws);

14 ‘‘(C) the person has provided at least 10

15 days’ prior notice to the consumer whose report

16 is requested, by certified or registered mail to

17 the last known address of the consumer, that

18 the report will be requested; and

19 ‘‘(D) the consumer report will be kept con20 fidential, will be used solely for a purpose de21 scribed in subparagraph (A), and will not be

22 used in connection with any other civil, admin23 istrative, or criminal proceeding, or for any

24 other purpose.
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1 ‘‘(5) To an agency administering a State plan

2 under section 454 of the Social Security Act (42

3 U.S.C. 654) for use to set an initial or modified

4 child support award.’’.

5 SEC. 603. NONLIABILITY FOR FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

6 PROVIDING FINANCIAL RECORDS TO STATE

7 CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES

8 IN CHILD SUPPORT CASES.

9 Part D of title IV (42 U.S.C. 651–669) is amended

10 by adding at the end the following:

11 ‘‘SEC. 469A. NONLIABILITY FOR FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

12 PROVIDING FINANCIAL RECORDS TO STATE

13 CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES

14 IN CHILD SUPPORT CASES.

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro16 vision of Federal or State law, a financial institution shall

17 not be liable under any Federal or State law to any person

18 for disclosing any financial record of an individual to a

19 State child support enforcement agency attempting to es20 tablish, modify, or enforce a child support obligation of

21 such individual.

22 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION OF DISCLOSURE OF FINANCIAL

23 RECORD OBTAINED BY STATE CHILD SUPPORT EN24 FORCEMENT AGENCY.—A State child support enforcement

25 agency which obtains a financial record of an individual
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1 from a financial institution pursuant to subsection (a)

2 may disclose such financial record only for the purpose

3 of, and to the extent necessary in, establishing, modifying,

4 or enforcing a child support obligation of such individual.

5 ‘‘(c) CIVIL DAMAGES FOR UNAUTHORIZED DISCLO6 SURE.—

7 ‘‘(1) DISCLOSURE BY STATE OFFICER OR EM8 PLOYEE.—If any person knowingly, or by reason of

9 negligence, discloses a financial record of an individ10 ual in violation of subsection (b), such individual

11 may bring a civil action for damages against such

12 person in a district court of the United States.

13 ‘‘(2) NO LIABILITY FOR GOOD FAITH BUT ER14 RONEOUS INTERPRETATION.—No liability shall arise

15 under this subsection with respect to any disclosure

16 which results from a good faith, but erroneous, in17 terpretation of subsection (b).

18 ‘‘(3) DAMAGES.—In any action brought under

19 paragraph (1), upon a finding of liability on the part

20 of the defendant, the defendant shall be liable to the

21 plaintiff in an amount equal to the sum of—

22 ‘‘(A) the greater of—

23 ‘‘(i) $1,000 for each act of unauthor24 ized disclosure of a financial record with
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1 respect to which such defendant is found

2 liable; or

3 ‘‘(ii) the sum of—

4 ‘‘(I) the actual damages sus5 tained by the plaintiff as a result of

6 such unauthorized disclosure; plus

7 ‘‘(II) in the case of a willful dis8 closure or a disclosure which is the re9 sult of gross negligence, punitive dam10 ages; plus

11 ‘‘(B) the costs (including attorney’s fees)

12 of the action.

13 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—

14 ‘‘(1) FINANCIAL INSTITUTION.—The term ‘fi15 nancial institution’ means—

16 ‘‘(A) a depository institution, as defined in

17 section 3(c) of the Federal Deposit Insurance

18 Act (12 U.S.C. 1813(c));

19 ‘‘(B) an institution-affiliated party, as de20 fined in section 3(u) of such Act (12 U.S.C.

21 1813(u));

22 ‘‘(C) any Federal credit union or State

23 credit union, as defined in section 101 of the

24 Federal Credit Union Act (12 U.S.C. 1752), in25 cluding an institution-affiliated party of such a
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1 credit union, as defined in section 206(r) of

2 such Act (12 U.S.C. 1786(r)); and

3 ‘‘(D) any benefit association, insurance

4 company, safe deposit company, money-market

5 mutual fund, or similar entity authorized to do

6 business in the State.

7 ‘‘(2) FINANCIAL RECORD.—The term ‘‘financial

8 record’’ has the meaning given such term in section

9 1101 of the Right to Financial Privacy Act of 1978

10 (12 U.S.C. 3401).’’.

11 TITLE VII—ENFORCEMENT OF

12 SUPPORT ORDERS

13 SEC. 701. INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE COLLECTION OF

14 ARREARAGES.

15 (a) COLLECTION OF FEES.—Section 6305(a) of the

16 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to collection of

17 certain liability) is amended—

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

19 (3);

20 (2) by striking the period at the end of para21 graph (4) and inserting ‘‘, and’’;

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

23 paragraph:

24 ‘‘(5) no additional fee may be assessed for ad25 justments to an amount previously certified pursu-
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1 ant to such section 452(b) with respect to the same

2 obligor.’’; and

3 (4) by striking ‘‘Secretary of Health, Edu4 cation, and Welfare’’ each place it appears and in5 serting ‘‘Secretary of Health and Human Services’’.

6 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

7 this section shall become effective October 1, 1997.

8 SEC. 702. AUTHORITY TO COLLECT SUPPORT FROM FED9 ERAL EMPLOYEES.

10 (a) CONSOLIDATION AND STREAMLINING OF AU11 THORITIES.—Section 459 (42 U.S.C. 659) is amended to

12 read as follows:

13 ‘‘SEC. 459. CONSENT BY THE UNITED STATES TO INCOME

14 WITHHOLDING, GARNISHMENT, AND SIMILAR

15 PROCEEDINGS FOR ENFORCEMENT OF CHILD

16 SUPPORT AND ALIMONY OBLIGATIONS.

17 ‘‘(a) CONSENT TO SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT.—Not18 withstanding any other provision of law (including section

19 207 of this Act and section 5301 of title 38, United States

20 Code), effective January 1, 1975, moneys (the entitlement

21 to which is based upon remuneration for employment) due

22 from, or payable by, the United States or the District of

23 Columbia (including any agency, subdivision, or instru24 mentality thereof) to any individual, including members

25 of the Armed Forces of the United States, shall be subject,
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1 in like manner and to the same extent as if the United

2 States or the District of Columbia were a private person,

3 to withholding in accordance with State law enacted pur4 suant to subsections (a)(1) and (b) of section 466 and reg5 ulations of the Secretary under such subsections, and to

6 any other legal process brought, by a State agency admin7 istering a program under a State plan approved under this

8 part or by an individual obligee, to enforce the legal obliga9 tion of the individual to provide child support or alimony.

10 ‘‘(b) CONSENT TO REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO

11 PRIVATE PERSON.—With respect to notice to withhold in12 come pursuant to subsection (a)(1) or (b) of section 466,

13 or any other order or process to enforce support obliga14 tions against an individual (if the order or process con15 tains or is accompanied by sufficient data to permit

16 prompt identification of the individual and the moneys in17 volved), each governmental entity specified in subsection

18 (a) shall be subject to the same requirements as would

19 apply if the entity were a private person, except as other20 wise provided in this section.

21 ‘‘(c) DESIGNATION OF AGENT; RESPONSE TO NOTICE

22 OR PROCESS—

23 ‘‘(1) DESIGNATION OF AGENT.—The head of

24 each agency subject to this section shall—
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1 ‘‘(A) designate an agent or agents to re2 ceive orders and accept service of process in

3 matters relating to child support or alimony;

4 and

5 ‘‘(B) annually publish in the Federal Reg6 ister the designation of the agent or agents,

7 identified by title or position, mailing address,

8 and telephone number.

9 ‘‘(2) RESPONSE TO NOTICE OR PROCESS.—If an

10 agent designated pursuant to paragraph (1) of this

11 subsection receives notice pursuant to State proce12 dures in effect pursuant to subsection (a)(1) or (b)

13 of section 466, or is effectively served with any

14 order, process, or interrogatory, with respect to an

15 individual’s child support or alimony payment obli16 gations, the agent shall—

17 ‘‘(A) as soon as possible (but not later

18 than 15 days) thereafter, send written notice of

19 the notice or service (together with a copy of

20 the notice or service) to the individual at the

21 duty station or last-known home address of the

22 individual;

23 ‘‘(B) within 30 days (or such longer period

24 as may be prescribed by applicable State law)

25 after receipt of a notice pursuant to such State
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1 procedures, comply with all applicable provi2 sions of section 466; and

3 ‘‘(C) within 30 days (or such longer period

4 as may be prescribed by applicable State law)

5 after effective service of any other such order,

6 process, or interrogatory, respond to the order,

7 process, or interrogatory.

8 ‘‘(d) PRIORITY OF CLAIMS.—If a governmental entity

9 specified in subsection (a) receives notice or is served with

10 process, as provided in this section, concerning amounts

11 owed by an individual to more than 1 person—

12 ‘‘(1) support collection under section 466(b)

13 must be given priority over any other process, as

14 provided in section 466(b)(7);

15 ‘‘(2) allocation of moneys due or payable to an

16 individual among claimants under section 466(b)

17 shall be governed by section 466(b) and the regula18 tions prescribed under such section; and

19 ‘‘(3) such moneys as remain after compliance

20 with paragraphs (1) and (2) shall be available to

21 satisfy any other such processes on a first-come,

22 first-served basis, with any such process being satis23 fied out of such moneys as remain after the satisfac24 tion of all such processes which have been previously

25 served.
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1 ‘‘(e) NO REQUIREMENT TO VARY PAY CYCLES.—A

2 governmental entity that is affected by legal process

3 served for the enforcement of an individual’s child support

4 or alimony payment obligations shall not be required to

5 vary its normal pay and disbursement cycle in order to

6 comply with the legal process.

7 ‘‘(f) RELIEF FROM LIABILITY.—

8 ‘‘(1) Neither the United States, nor the govern9 ment of the District of Columbia, nor any disbursing

10 officer shall be liable with respect to any payment

11 made from moneys due or payable from the United

12 States to any individual pursuant to legal process

13 regular on its face, if the payment is made in ac14 cordance with this section and the regulations issued

15 to carry out this section.

16 ‘‘(2) No Federal employee whose duties include

17 taking actions necessary to comply with the require18 ments of subsection (a) with regard to any individ19 ual shall be subject under any law to any discipli20 nary action or civil or criminal liability or penalty

21 for, or on account of, any disclosure of information

22 made by the employee in connection with the carry23 ing out of such actions.

24 ‘‘(g) REGULATIONS.—Authority to promulgate regu25 lations for the implementation of this section shall, insofar
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1 as this section applies to moneys due from (or payable

2 by)—

3 ‘‘(1) the United States (other than the legisla4 tive or judicial branches of the Federal Government)

5 or the government of the District of Columbia, be

6 vested in the President (or the designee of the Presi7 dent);

8 ‘‘(2) the legislative branch of the Federal Gov9 ernment, be vested jointly in the President pro tem10 pore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of

11 Representatives (or their designees), and

12 ‘‘(3) the judicial branch of the Federal Govern13 ment, be vested in the Chief Justice of the United

14 States (or the designee of the Chief Justice).

15 ‘‘(h) MONEYS SUBJECT TO PROCESS.—

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2),

17 moneys paid or payable to an individual which are

18 considered to be based upon remuneration for em19 ployment, for purposes of this section—

20 ‘‘(A) consist of—

21 ‘‘(i) compensation paid or payable for

22 personal services of the individual, whether

23 the compensation is denominated as wages,

24 salary, commission, bonus, pay, allowances,
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1 or otherwise (including severance pay, sick

2 pay, and incentive pay);

3 ‘‘(ii) periodic benefits (including a

4 periodic benefit as defined in section

5 228(h)(3)) or other payments—

6 ‘‘(I) under the insurance system

7 established by title II;

8 ‘‘(II) under any other system or

9 fund established by the United States

10 which provides for the payment of

11 pensions, retirement or retired pay,

12 annuities, dependents’ or survivors’

13 benefits, or similar amounts payable

14 on account of personal services per15 formed by the individual or any other

16 individual;

17 ‘‘(III) as compensation for death

18 under any Federal program;

19 ‘‘(IV) under any Federal pro20 gram established to provide ‘black

21 lung’ benefits; or

22 ‘‘(V) by the Secretary of Veter23 ans Affairs as compensation for a

24 service-connected disability paid by

25 the Secretary to a former member of
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1 the Armed Forces who is in receipt of

2 retired or retainer pay if the former

3 member has waived a portion of the

4 retired or retainer pay in order to re5 ceive such compensation; and

6 ‘‘(iii) worker’s compensation benefits

7 paid under Federal or State law but

8 ‘‘(B) do not include any payment—

9 ‘‘(i) by way of reimbursement or oth10 erwise, to defray expenses incurred by the

11 individual in carrying out duties associated

12 with the employment of the individual; or

13 ‘‘(ii) as allowances for members of the

14 uniformed services payable pursuant to

15 chapter 7 of title 37, United States Code,

16 as prescribed by the Secretaries concerned

17 (defined by section 101(5) of such title) as

18 necessary for the efficient performance of

19 duty.

20 ‘‘(2) CERTAIN AMOUNTS EXCLUDED.—In deter21 mining the amount of any moneys due from, or pay22 able by, the United States to any individual, there

23 shall be excluded amounts which—

24 ‘‘(A) are owed by the individual to the

25 United States;
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1 ‘‘(B) are required by law to be, and are,

2 deducted from the remuneration or other pay3 ment involved, including Federal employment

4 taxes, and fines and forfeitures ordered by

5 court-martial;

6 ‘‘(C) are properly withheld for Federal,

7 State, or local income tax purposes, if the with8 holding of the amounts is authorized or re9 quired by law and if amounts withheld are not

10 greater than would be the case if the individual

11 claimed all dependents to which he was entitled

12 (the withholding of additional amounts pursu13 ant to section 3402(i) of the Internal Revenue

14 Code of 1986 may be permitted only when the

15 individual presents evidence of a tax obligation

16 which supports the additional withholding);

17 ‘‘(D) are deducted as health insurance pre18 miums;

19 ‘‘(E) are deducted as normal retirement

20 contributions (not including amounts deducted

21 for supplementary coverage); or

22 ‘‘(F) are deducted as normal life insurance

23 premiums from salary or other remuneration

24 for employment (not including amounts de25 ducted for supplementary coverage).
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1 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—

2 ‘‘(1) UNITED STATES.—The term ‘United

3 States’ includes any department, agency, or instru4 mentality of the legislative, judicial, or executive

5 branch of the Federal Government, the United

6 States Postal Service, the Postal Rate Commission,

7 any Federal corporation created by an Act of Con8 gress that is wholly owned by the Federal Govern9 ment, and the governments of the territories and

10 possessions of the United States.

11 ‘‘(2) CHILD SUPPORT.—The term ‘child sup12 port’, when used in reference to the legal obligations

13 of an individual to provide such support, means

14 amounts required to be paid under a judgment, de15 cree, or order, whether temporary, final, or subject

16 to modification, issued by a court or an administra17 tive agency of competent jurisdiction, for the sup18 port and maintenance of a child, including a child

19 who has attained the age of majority under the law

20 of the issuing State, or a child and the parent with

21 whom the child is living, which provides for mone22 tary support, health care, arrearages or reimburse23 ment, and which may include other related costs and

24 fees, interest and penalties, income withholding, at25 torney’s fees, and other relief.
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1 ‘‘(3) ALIMONY.—

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘alimony’,

3 when used in reference to the legal obligations

4 of an individual to provide the same, means

5 periodic payments of funds for the support and

6 maintenance of the spouse (or former spouse)

7 of the individual, and (subject to and in accord8 ance with State law) includes separate mainte9 nance, alimony pendente lite, maintenance, and

10 spousal support, and includes attorney’s fees,

11 interest, and court costs when and to the extent

12 that the same are expressly made recoverable as

13 such pursuant to a decree, order, or judgment

14 issued in accordance with applicable State law

15 by a court of competent jurisdiction.

16 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTIONS.—Such term does not

17 include—

18 ‘‘(i) any child support; or

19 ‘‘(ii) any payment or transfer of prop20 erty or its value by an individual to the

21 spouse or a former spouse of the individual

22 in compliance with any community prop23 erty settlement, equitable distribution of

24 property, or other division of property be25 tween spouses or former spouses.
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1 ‘‘(4) PRIVATE PERSON.—The term ‘private per2 son’ means a person who does not have sovereign or

3 other special immunity or privilege which causes the

4 person not to be subject to legal process.

5 ‘‘(5) LEGAL PROCESS.—The term ‘legal proc6 ess’ means any writ, order, summons, or other simi7 lar process in the nature of garnishment—

8 ‘‘(A) which is issued by—

9 ‘‘(i) a court or an administrative

10 agency of competent jurisdiction in any

11 State, territory, or possession of the

12 United States;

13 ‘‘(ii) a court or an administrative

14 agency of competent jurisdiction in any

15 foreign country with which the United

16 States has entered into an agreement

17 which requires the United States to honor

18 the process; or

19 ‘‘(iii) an authorized official pursuant

20 to an order of such a court or an adminis21 trative agency of competent jurisdiction or

22 pursuant to State or local law; and

23 ‘‘(B) which is directed to, and the purpose

24 of which is to compel, a governmental entity

25 which holds moneys which are otherwise pay-
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1 able to an individual to make a payment from

2 the moneys to another party in order to satisfy

3 a legal obligation of the individual to provide

4 child support or make alimony payments.’’.

5 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

6 (1) TO PART D OF TITLE IV.—Sections 461 and

7 462 (42 U.S.C. 661 and 662) are repealed.

8 (2) TO TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE.—Sec9 tion 5520a of title 5, United States Code, is amend10 ed, in subsections (h)(2) and (i), by striking ‘‘sec11 tions 459, 461, and 462 of the Social Security Act

12 (42 U.S.C. 659, 661, and 662)’’ and inserting ‘‘sec13 tion 459 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.

14 659)’’.

15 (c) MILITARY RETIRED AND RETAINER PAY.—

16 (1) DEFINITION OF COURT.—Section

17 1408(a)(1) of title 10, United States Code, is

18 amended—

19 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub20 paragraph (B);

21 (B) by striking the period at the end of

22 subparagraph (C) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

23 (C) by adding after subparagraph (C) the

24 following new subparagraph:
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1 ‘‘(D) any administrative or judicial tribu2 nal of a State competent to enter orders for

3 support or maintenance (including a State

4 agency administering a program under a State

5 plan approved under part D of title IV of the

6 Social Security Act), and, for purposes of this

7 subparagraph, the term ‘State’ includes the

8 District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of

9 Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, and

10 American Samoa.’’.

11 (2) DEFINITION OF COURT ORDER.—Section

12 1408(a)(2) of such title is amended—

13 (A) by inserting ‘‘or a support order, as

14 defined in section 453(p) of the Social Security

15 Act (42 U.S.C. 653(p)),’’ before ‘‘which—’’;

16 (B) in subparagraph (B)(i), by striking

17 ‘‘(as defined in section 462(b) of the Social Se18 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 662(b)))’’ and inserting

19 ‘‘(as defined in section 459(i)(2) of the Social

20 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 659(i)(2)))’’; and

21 (C) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking

22 ‘‘(as defined in section 462(c) of the Social Se23 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 662(c)))’’ and inserting

24 ‘‘(as defined in section 459(i)(3) of the Social

25 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 659(i)(3)))’’.
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1 (3) PUBLIC PAYEE.—Section 1408(d) of such

2 title is amended—

3 (A) in the heading, by inserting ‘‘(OR FOR

4 BENEFIT OF)’’ before ‘‘SPOUSE OR’’; and

5 (B) in paragraph (1), in the 1st sentence,

6 by inserting ‘‘(or for the benefit of such spouse

7 or former spouse to a State disbursement unit

8 established pursuant to section 454B of the So9 cial Security Act or other public payee des10 ignated by a State, in accordance with part D

11 of title IV of the Social Security Act, as di12 rected by court order, or as otherwise directed

13 in accordance with such part D)’’ before ‘‘in an

14 amount sufficient’’.

15 (4) RELATIONSHIP TO PART D OF TITLE IV.—

16 Section 1408 of such title is amended by adding at

17 the end the following new subsection:

18 ‘‘(j) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS.—In any case

19 involving an order providing for payment of child support

20 (as defined in section 459(i)(2) of the Social Security Act)

21 by a member who has never been married to the other

22 parent of the child, the provisions of this section shall not

23 apply, and the case shall be subject to the provisions of

24 section 459 of such Act.’’.
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1 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

2 this section shall become effective 6 months after the date

3 of the enactment of this Act.

4 SEC. 703. ENFORCEMENT OF CHILD SUPPORT OBLIGA5 TIONS OF MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES.

6 (a) AVAILABILITY OF LOCATOR INFORMATION.—

7 (1) MAINTENANCE OF ADDRESS INFORMA8 TION.—The Secretary of Defense shall establish a

9 centralized personnel locator service that includes

10 the address of each member of the Armed Forces

11 under the jurisdiction of the Secretary. Upon re12 quest of the Secretary of Transportation, addresses

13 for members of the Coast Guard shall be included in

14 the centralized personnel locator service.

15 (2) TYPE OF ADDRESS.—

16 (A) RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS.—Except as

17 provided in subparagraph (B), the address for

18 a member of the Armed Forces shown in the lo19 cator service shall be the residential address of

20 that member.

21 (B) DUTY ADDRESS.—The address for a

22 member of the Armed Forces shown in the loca23 tor service shall be the duty address of that

24 member in the case of a member—
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1 (i) who is permanently assigned over2 seas, to a vessel, or to a routinely

3 deployable unit; or

4 (ii) with respect to whom the Sec5 retary concerned makes a determination

6 that the member’s residential address

7 should not be disclosed due to national se8 curity or safety concerns.

9 (3) UPDATING OF LOCATOR INFORMATION.—

10 Within 30 days after a member listed in the locator

11 service establishes a new residential address (or a

12 new duty address, in the case of a member covered

13 by paragraph (2)(B)), the Secretary concerned shall

14 update the locator service to indicate the new ad15 dress of the member.

16 (4) AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.—The Sec17 retary of Defense shall make information regarding

18 the address of a member of the Armed Forces listed

19 in the locator service available, on request, to the

20 Federal Parent Locator Service established under

21 section 453 of the Social Security Act.

22 (b) FACILITATING GRANTING OF LEAVE FOR AT23 TENDANCE AT HEARINGS.—

24 (1) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of each

25 military department, and the Secretary of Transpor-
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1 tation with respect to the Coast Guard when it is

2 not operating as a service in the Navy, shall pre3 scribe regulations to facilitate the granting of leave

4 to a member of the Armed Forces under the juris5 diction of that Secretary in a case in which—

6 (A) the leave is needed for the member to

7 attend a hearing described in paragraph (2);

8 (B) the member is not serving in or with

9 a unit deployed in a contingency operation (as

10 defined in section 101 of title 10, United States

11 Code); and

12 (C) the exigencies of military service (as

13 determined by the Secretary concerned) do not

14 otherwise require that such leave not be grant15 ed.

16 (2) COVERED HEARINGS.—Paragraph (1) ap17 plies to a hearing that is conducted by a court or

18 pursuant to an administrative process established

19 under State law, in connection with a civil action—

20 (A) to determine whether a member of the

21 Armed Forces is a natural parent of a child; or

22 (B) to determine an obligation of a mem23 ber of the Armed Forces to provide child sup24 port.
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1 (3) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub2 section—

3 (A) The term ‘‘court’’ has the meaning

4 given that term in section 1408(a) of title 10,

5 United States Code.

6 (B) The term ‘‘child support’’ has the

7 meaning given such term in section 459(i) of

8 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 659(i)).

9 (c) PAYMENT OF MILITARY RETIRED PAY IN COM10 PLIANCE WITH CHILD SUPPORT ORDERS.—

11 (1) DATE OF CERTIFICATION OF COURT

12 ORDER.—Section 1408 of title 10, United States

13 Code, as amended by section 702(c)(4) of this Act,

14 is amended—

15 (A) by redesignating subsections (i) and (j)

16 as subsections (j) and (k), respectively; and

17 (B) by inserting after subsection (h) the

18 following new subsection:

19 ‘‘(i) CERTIFICATION DATE.—It is not necessary that

20 the date of a certification of the authenticity or complete21 ness of a copy of a court order for child support received

22 by the Secretary concerned for the purposes of this section

23 be recent in relation to the date of receipt by the Sec24 retary.’’.
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1 (2) PAYMENTS CONSISTENT WITH ASSIGN2 MENTS OF RIGHTS TO STATES.—Section 1408(d)(1)

3 of such title is amended by inserting after the 1st

4 sentence the following new sentence: ‘‘In the case of

5 a spouse or former spouse who, pursuant to section

6 408(a)(4) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.

7 608(a)(4)), assigns to a State the rights of the

8 spouse or former spouse to receive support, the Sec9 retary concerned may make the child support pay10 ments referred to in the preceding sentence to that

11 State in amounts consistent with that assignment of

12 rights.’’.

13 (3) ARREARAGES OWED BY MEMBERS OF THE

14 UNIFORMED SERVICES.—Section 1408(d) of such

15 title is amended by adding at the end the following

16 new paragraph:

17 ‘‘(6) In the case of a court order for which effective

18 service is made on the Secretary concerned on or after

19 the date of the enactment of this paragraph and which

20 provides for payments from the disposable retired pay of

21 a member to satisfy the amount of child support set forth

22 in the order, the authority provided in paragraph (1) to

23 make payments from the disposable retired pay of a mem24 ber to satisfy the amount of child support set forth in a

25 court order shall apply to payment of any amount of child
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1 support arrearages set forth in that order as well as to

2 amounts of child support that currently become due.’’.

3 (4) PAYROLL DEDUCTIONS.—The Secretary of

4 Defense shall begin payroll deductions within 30

5 days after receiving notice of withholding, or for the

6 1st pay period that begins after such 30-day period.

7 SEC. 704. VOIDING OF FRAUDULENT TRANSFERS.

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

9 301 of this Act, is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing new subsection:

11 ‘‘(g) LAWS VOIDING FRAUDULENT TRANSFERS.—In

12 order to satisfy section 454(20)(A), each State must have

13 in effect—

14 ‘‘(1)(A) the Uniform Fraudulent Conveyance

15 Act of 1981;

16 ‘‘(B) the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act

17 of 1984; or

18 ‘‘(C) another law, specifying indicia of

19 fraud which create a prima facie case that a

20 debtor transferred income or property to avoid

21 payment to a child support creditor, which the

22 Secretary finds affords comparable rights to

23 child support creditors; and

24 ‘‘(2) procedures under which, in any case in

25 which the State knows of a transfer by a child sup-
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1 port debtor with respect to which such a prima facie

2 case is established, the State must—

3 ‘‘(A) seek to void such transfer; or

4 ‘‘(B) obtain a settlement in the best inter5 ests of the child support creditor.’’.

6 SEC. 705. WORK REQUIREMENT FOR PERSONS OWING

7 PAST-DUE CHILD SUPPORT.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 466(a) (42 U.S.C.

9 666(a)), as amended by sections 205, 207(a), and 303 of

10 this Act, is amended by adding at the end the following

11 new paragraph:

12 ‘‘(15) PROCEDURES TO ENSURE THAT PERSONS

13 OWING PAST-DUE SUPPORT WORK OR HAVE A PLAN

14 FOR PAYMENT OF SUCH SUPPORT.—

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Procedures under

16 which the State has the authority, in any case

17 in which an individual owes past-due support

18 with respect to a child receiving assistance

19 under a State program funded under part A, to

20 issue an order or to request that a court or an

21 administrative process established pursuant to

22 State law issue an order that requires the indi23 vidual to—

24 ‘‘(i) pay such support in accordance

25 with a plan approved by the court, or, at
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1 the option of the State, a plan approved by

2 the State agency administering the State

3 program under this part; or

4 ‘‘(ii) if the individual is subject to

5 such a plan and is not incapacitated, par6 ticipate in such work activities (as defined

7 in section 407(d)) as the court, or, at the

8 option of the State, the State agency ad9 ministering the State program under this

10 part, deems appropriate.

11 ‘‘(B) PAST-DUE SUPPORT DEFINED.—For

12 purposes of subparagraph (A), the term ‘past13 due support’ means the amount of a delin14 quency, determined under a court order, or an

15 order of an administrative process established

16 under State law, for support and maintenance

17 of a child, or of a child and the parent with

18 whom the child is living.’’.

19 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The flush para20 graph at the end of section 466(a) (42 U.S.C.666(a)) is

21 amended by striking ‘‘and (7)’’ and inserting ‘‘(7), and

22 (15)’’.
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1 SEC. 706. DEFINITION OF SUPPORT ORDER.

2 Section 453 (42 U.S.C. 653) as amended by sections

3 206 and 505(b) of this Act, is amended by adding at the

4 end the following new subsection:

5 ‘‘(p) SUPPORT ORDER DEFINED.—As used in this

6 part, the term ‘support order’ means a judgment, decree,

7 or order, whether temporary, final, or subject to modifica8 tion, issued by a court or an administrative agency of com9 petent jurisdiction, for the support and maintenance of a

10 child, including a child who has attained the age of major11 ity under the law of the issuing State, or a child and the

12 parent with whom the child is living, which provides for

13 monetary support, health care, arrearages, or reimburse14 ment, and which may include related costs and fees, inter15 est and penalties, income withholding, attorneys’ fees, and

16 other relief.’’.

17 SEC. 707. REPORTING ARREARAGES TO CREDIT BUREAUS.

18 Section 466(a)(7) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)(7)) is amended

19 to read as follows:

20 ‘‘(7) REPORTING ARREARAGES TO CREDIT BU21 REAUS.—

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Procedures (subject to

23 safeguards pursuant to subparagraph (B)) re24 quiring the State to report periodically to

25 consumer reporting agencies (as defined in sec26 tion 603(f) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act
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1 (15 U.S.C. 1681a(f)) the name of any non2 custodial parent who is delinquent in the pay3 ment of support, and the amount of overdue

4 support owed by such parent.

5 ‘‘(B) SAFEGUARDS.—Procedures ensuring

6 that, in carrying out subparagraph (A), infor7 mation with respect to a noncustodial parent is

8 reported—

9 ‘‘(i) only after such parent has been

10 afforded all due process required under

11 State law, including notice and a reason12 able opportunity to contest the accuracy of

13 such information; and

14 ‘‘(ii) only to an entity that has fur15 nished evidence satisfactory to the State

16 that the entity is a consumer reporting

17 agency (as so defined).’’.

18 SEC. 708. LIENS.

19 Section 466(a)(4) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)(4)) is amended

20 to read as follows:

21 ‘‘(4) LIENS.—Procedures under which—

22 ‘‘(A) liens arise by operation of law against

23 real and personal property for amounts of over24 due support owed by a noncustodial parent who

25 resides or owns property in the State; and
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1 ‘‘(B) the State accords full faith and credit

2 to liens described in subparagraph (A) arising

3 in another State, when the State agency, party,

4 or other entity seeking to enforce such a lien

5 complies with the procedural rules relating to

6 recording or serving liens that arise within the

7 State, except that such rules may not require

8 judicial notice or hearing prior to the enforce9 ment of such a lien.’’.

10 SEC. 709. STATE LAW AUTHORIZING SUSPENSION OF LI11 CENSES.

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

13 sections 205, 207(a), 303, and 705 of this Act, is amended

14 by adding at the end the following:

15 ‘‘(16) AUTHORITY TO WITHHOLD OR SUSPEND

16 LICENSES.—Procedures under which the State has

17 (and uses in appropriate cases) authority to withhold

18 or suspend, or to restrict the use of driver’s licenses,

19 professional and occupational licenses, and rec20 reational licenses of individuals owing overdue sup21 port or failing, after receiving appropriate notice, to

22 comply with subpoenas or warrants relating to pa23 ternity or child support proceedings.’’.
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1 SEC. 710. DENIAL OF PASSPORTS FOR NONPAYMENT OF

2 CHILD SUPPORT.

3 (a) HHS CERTIFICATION PROCEDURE.—

4 (1) SECRETARIAL RESPONSIBILITY.—Section

5 452 (42 U.S.C. 652), as amended by section 505 of

6 this Act, is amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing new subsection:

8 ‘‘(k)(1) If the Secretary receives a certification by a

9 State agency in accordance with the requirements of sec10 tion 454(31) that an individual owes arrearages of child

11 support in an amount exceeding $5,000, the Secretary

12 shall transmit such certification to the Secretary of State

13 for action (with respect to denial, revocation, or limitation

14 of passports) pursuant paragraph (2).

15 ‘‘(2) The Secretary of State shall, upon certification

16 by the Secretary transmitted under paragraph (1), refuse

17 to issue a passport to such individual, and may revoke,

18 restrict, or limit a passport issued previously to such indi19 vidual.

20 ‘‘(3) The Secretary and the Secretary of State shall

21 not be liable to an individual for any action with respect

22 to a certification by a State agency under this section.’’.

23 (2) STATE AGENCY RESPONSIBILITY.—Section

24 454 (42 U.S.C. 654), as amended by sections

25 101(b), 103(a), 202(b), 203(a), 403, and 503(b) of

26 this Act, is amended—
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1 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para2 graph (29);

3 (B) by striking the period at the end of

4 paragraph (30) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

5 (C) by adding after paragraph (30) the fol6 lowing new paragraph:

7 ‘‘(31) provide that the State agency will have in

8 effect a procedure for certifying to the Secretary, for

9 purposes of the procedure under section 452(k), de10 terminations that individuals owe arrearages of child

11 support in an amount exceeding $5,000, under

12 which procedure—

13 ‘‘(A) each individual concerned is afforded

14 notice of such determination and the con15 sequences thereof, and an opportunity to con16 test the determination; and

17 ‘‘(B) the certification by the State agency

18 is furnished to the Secretary in such format,

19 and accompanied by such supporting docu20 mentation, as the Secretary may require.’’.

21 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section and the amend22 ments made by this section shall become effective October

23 1, 1997.
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1 SEC. 711. INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT.

2 (a) AUTHORITY FOR INTERNATIONAL AGREE3 MENTS.—Part D of title IV, as amended by section 702(a)

4 of this Act, is amended by adding after section 459 the

5 following new section:

6 ‘‘SEC. 459A. INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT.

7 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY FOR DECLARATIONS.—

8 ‘‘(1) DECLARATION.—The Secretary of State,

9 with the concurrence of the Secretary of Health and

10 Human Services, is authorized to declare any foreign

11 country (or a political subdivision thereof) to be a

12 foreign reciprocating country if the foreign country

13 has established, or undertakes to establish, proce14 dures for the establishment and enforcement of du15 ties of support owed to obligees who are residents of

16 the United States, and such procedures are substan17 tially in conformity with the standards prescribed

18 under subsection (b).

19 ‘‘(2) REVOCATION.—A declaration with respect

20 to a foreign country made pursuant to paragraph

21 (1) may be revoked if the Secretaries of State and

22 Health and Human Services determine that—

23 ‘‘(A) the procedures established by the for24 eign country regarding the establishment and

25 enforcement of duties of support have been so

26 changed, or the foreign country’s implementa-
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1 tion of such procedures is so unsatisfactory,

2 that such procedures do not meet the criteria

3 for such a declaration; or

4 ‘‘(B) continued operation of the declaration

5 is not consistent with the purposes of this part.

6 ‘‘(3) FORM OF DECLARATION.—A declaration

7 under paragraph (1) may be made in the form of an

8 international agreement, in connection with an inter9 national agreement or corresponding foreign declara10 tion, or on a unilateral basis.

11 ‘‘(b) STANDARDS FOR FOREIGN SUPPORT ENFORCE12 MENT PROCEDURES.—

13 ‘‘(1) MANDATORY ELEMENTS.—Support en14 forcement procedures of a foreign country which

15 may be the subject of a declaration pursuant to sub16 section (a)(1) shall include the following elements:

17 ‘‘(A) The foreign country (or political sub18 division thereof) has in effect procedures, avail19 able to residents of the United States—

20 ‘‘(i) for establishment of paternity,

21 and for establishment of orders of support

22 for children and custodial parents; and

23 ‘‘(ii) for enforcement of orders to pro24 vide support to children and custodial par25 ents, including procedures for collection
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1 and appropriate distribution of child sup2 port payments under such orders.

3 ‘‘(B) The procedures described in subpara4 graph (A), including legal and administrative

5 assistance, are provided to residents of the

6 United States at no cost.

7 ‘‘(C) An agency of the foreign country is

8 designated as a Central Authority responsible

9 for—

10 ‘‘(i) facilitating support enforcement in cases

11 involving residents of the foreign country and resi12 dents of the United States; and

13 ‘‘(ii) ensuring compliance with the standards es14 tablished pursuant to this subsection.

15 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL ELEMENTS.—The Secretary

16 of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of

17 State, in consultation with the States, may establish

18 such additional standards as may be considered nec19 essary to further the purposes of this section.

20 ‘‘(c) DESIGNATION OF UNITED STATES CENTRAL

21 AUTHORITY.—It shall be the responsibility of the Sec22 retary of Health and Human Services to facilitate support

23 enforcement in cases involving residents of the United

24 States and residents of foreign countries that are the sub-
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1 ject of a declaration under this section, by activities in2 cluding—

3 ‘‘(1) development of uniform forms and proce4 dures for use in such cases;

5 ‘‘(2) notification of foreign reciprocating coun6 tries of the State of residence of individuals sought

7 for support enforcement purposes, on the basis of in8 formation provided by the Federal Parent Locator

9 Service; and

10 ‘‘(3) such other oversight, assistance, and co11 ordination activities as the Secretary may find nec12 essary and appropriate.

13 ‘‘(d) EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.—States may enter

14 into reciprocal arrangements for the establishment and en15 forcement of support obligations with foreign countries

16 that are not the subject of a declaration pursuant to sub17 section (a), to the extent consistent with Federal law.’’.

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

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

20 202(b), 203(a), 403, 503(b), and 710(a)(2) of this Act,

21 is amended—

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

23 (30);

24 (2) by striking the period at the end of para25 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. 712. FINANCIAL INSTITUTION DATA MATCHES.

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

21 sections 205, 207(a), 303, 705, and 709 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’ has the mean-
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1 ing given to such term by section

2 469A(d)(1).

3 ‘‘(ii) ACCOUNT.—The term ‘account’

4 means a demand deposit account, checking

5 or negotiable withdrawal order account,

6 savings account, time deposit account, or

7 money-market mutual fund account.’’.

8 SEC. 713. ENFORCEMENT OF ORDERS AGAINST PATERNAL

9 OR MATERNAL GRANDPARENTS IN CASES OF

10 MINOR PARENTS.

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

12 sections 205, 207(a), 303, 705, 709, and 712 of this Act,

13 is amended by adding at the end the following new para14 graph:

15 ‘‘(18) ENFORCEMENT OF ORDERS AGAINST PA16 TERNAL OR MATERNAL GRANDPARENTS.—Proce17 dures under which, at the State’s option, any child

18 support order enforced under this part with respect

19 to a child of minor parents, if the custodial parent

20 of such child is receiving assistance under the State

21 program under part A, shall be enforceable, jointly

22 and severally, against the parents of the noncusto23 dial parent of such child.’’.
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1 SEC. 714. NONDISCHARGEABILITY IN BANKRUPTCY OF

2 CERTAIN DEBTS FOR THE SUPPORT OF A

3 CHILD.

4 (a) AMENDMENT TO TITLE 11 OF THE UNITED

5 STATES CODE.—Section 523(a) of title 11, United States

6 Code, is amended—

7 (1) in paragraph (16) by striking the period at

8 the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’,

9 (2) by adding at the end the following:

10 ‘‘(17) owed under State law to a State or mu11 nicipality that is—

12 ‘‘(A) in the nature of support, and

13 ‘‘(B) enforceable under part D of title IV

14 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et

15 seq.).’’, and

16 (3) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘section

17 402(a)(26)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 408(a)(4)’’.

18 (b) AMENDMENT TO THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACT.—

19 Section 456(b) (42 U.S.C. 656(b)) is amended to read as

20 follows:

21 ‘‘(b) NONDISCHARGEABILITY.—A debt (as defined in

22 section 101 of title 11 of the United States Code) owed

23 under State law to a State (as defined in such section)

24 or municipality (as defined in such section) that is in the

25 nature of support and that is enforceable under this part
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1 is not released by a discharge in bankruptcy under title

2 11 of the United States Code.’’.

3 (c) APPLICATION OF AMENDMENTS.—The amend4 ments made by this section shall apply only with respect

5 to cases commenced under title 11 of the United States

6 Code after the date of the enactment of this Act.

7 TITLE VIII—MEDICAL SUPPORT

8 SEC. 801. CORRECTION TO ERISA DEFINITION OF MEDICAL

9 CHILD SUPPORT ORDER.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 609(a)(2)(B) of the Em11 ployee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29

12 U.S.C. 1169(a)(2)(B)) is amended—

13 (1) by striking ‘‘issued by a court of competent

14 jurisdiction’’;

15 (2) by striking the period at the end of clause

16 (ii) and inserting a comma; and

17 (3) by adding, after and below clause (ii), the

18 following:

19 ‘‘if such judgment, decree, or order (I) is issued

20 by a court of competent jurisdiction or (II) is

21 issued through an administrative process estab22 lished under State law and has the force and ef23 fect of law under applicable State law.’’.

24 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by

2 this section shall take effect on the date of the en3 actment of this Act.

4 (2) PLAN AMENDMENTS NOT REQUIRED UNTIL

5 JANUARY 1, 1997.—Any amendment to a plan re6 quired to be made by an amendment made by this

7 section shall not be required to be made before the

8 1st plan year beginning on or after January 1,

9 1997, if—

10 (A) during the period after the date before

11 the date of the enactment of this Act and be12 fore such 1st plan year, the plan is operated in

13 accordance with the requirements of the amend14 ments made by this section; and

15 (B) such plan amendment applies retro16 actively to the period after the date before the

17 date of the enactment of this Act and before

18 such 1st plan year.

19 A plan shall not be treated as failing to be operated

20 in accordance with the provisions of the plan merely

21 because it operates in accordance with this para22 graph.
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1 SEC. 802. ENFORCEMENT OF ORDERS FOR HEALTH CARE

2 COVERAGE.

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

4 sections 205, 207(a), 303, 705, 709, 712, and 713 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 TITLE IX—ENHANCING RESPON19 SIBILITY AND OPPORTUNITY

20 FOR NON-RESIDENTIAL PAR21 ENTS

22 SEC. 901. GRANTS TO STATES FOR ACCESS AND VISITA23 TION PROGRAMS.

24 Part D of title IV (42 U.S.C. 651–669), as amended

25 by section 603, is amended by adding at the end the fol26 lowing new section:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 469B. 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 1997 or 1998;

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 TITLE X—EFFECTIVE DATES

5 AND CONFORMING AMEND6 MENTS

7 SEC. 1001. EFFECTIVE DATES AND CONFORMING AMEND8 MENTS.

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise specifically

10 provided (but subject to subsections (b) and (c))—

11 (1) the provisions of this Act requiring the en12 actment or amendment of State laws under section

13 466 of the Social Security Act, or revision of State

14 plans under section 454 of such Act, shall be effec15 tive with respect to periods beginning on and after

16 October 1, 1996; and

17 (2) all other provisions of this Act shall become

18 effective upon the date of the enactment of this Act.

19 (b) GRACE PERIOD FOR STATE LAW CHANGES.—The

20 provisions of this Act shall become effective with respect

21 to a State on the later of—

22 (1) the date specified in this Act, or

23 (2) the effective date of laws enacted by the leg24 islature of such State implementing such provisions,
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1 but in no event later than the 1st day of the 1st calendar

2 quarter beginning after the close of the 1st regular session

3 of the State legislature that begins after the date of the

4 enactment of this Act. For purposes of the previous sen5 tence, in the case of a State that has a 2-year legislative

6 session, each year of such session shall be deemed to be

7 a separate regular session of the State legislature.

8 (c) GRACE PERIOD FOR STATE CONSTITUTIONAL

9 AMENDMENT.—A State shall not be found out of compli10 ance with any requirement enacted by this Act if the State

11 is unable to so comply without amending the State con12 stitution until the earlier of—

13 (1) 1 year after the effective date of the nec14 essary State constitutional amendment; or

15 (2) 5 years after the date of the enactment of

16 this Act.

17 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

18 (1) The following provisions are amended by

19 striking ‘‘absent’’ each place it appears and inserting

20 ‘‘noncustodial’’:

21 (A) Section 451 (42 U.S.C. 651).

22 (B) Subsections (a)(1), (a)(8), (a)(10)(E),

23 (a)(10)(F), (f), and (h) of section 452 (42

24 U.S.C. 652).
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1 (C) Subsections (a) and (f) of section 453

2 (42 U.S.C. 653).

3 (D) Paragraphs (8), (13), and (21)(A) of

4 section 454 (42 U.S.C. 654).

5 (E) Section 455(e)(1) (42 U.S.C.

6 655(e)(1)).

7 (F) Section 458(a) (42 U.S.C. 658(a)).

8 (G) Subsections (a), (b), and (c) of section

9 463 (42 U.S.C. 663).

10 (H) Subsections (a)(3)(A), (a)(3)(C),

11 (a)(6), and (a)(8)(B)(ii), the last sentence of

12 subsection (a), and subsections (b)(1),

13 (b)(3)(B), (b)(3)(B)(i), (b)(6)(A)(i), (b)(8),

14 (b)(9), and (e) of section 466 (42 U.S.C. 666).

15 (2) The following provisions are amended by

16 striking ‘‘an absent’’ each place it appears and in17 serting ‘‘a noncustodial’’:

18 (A) Paragraphs (2) and (3) of section

19 453(c) (42 U.S.C. 653(c)).

20 (B) Subparagraphs (B) and (C) of section

21 454(9) (42 U.S.C. 654(9)).

22 (C) Section 456(a)(3) (42 U.S.C.

23 656(a)(3)).
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1 (D) Subsections (a)(3)(A), (a)(6),

2 (a)(8)(B)(i), (b)(3)(A), and (b)(3)(B) of section

3 466 (42 U.S.C. 666).

4 (E) Paragraphs (2) and (4) of section 469

5 (42 U.S.C. 669).

Æ