I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 195

Entitled ‘‘Interstate Child Support Enforcement Act’’.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 4, 1995

Mrs. ROUKEMA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means and, in addition, to the Committees on the

Judiciary, Banking and Financial Services, National Security, and Economic and Educational Opportunities 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

Entitled ‘‘Interstate Child Support Enforcement Act’’.

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; REFERENCE; TABLE OF CON4 TENTS.

5 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

6 ‘‘Interstate Child Support Enforcement Act’’.

7 (b) REFERENCE TO SOCIAL SECURITY ACT.—Except

8 as otherwise specifically provided, whenever in this Act an

9 amendment is expressed in terms of an amendment to or

10 repeal of a section or other provision, the reference shall
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1 be considered to be made to that section or other provision

2 of the Social Security Act.

3 (c) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of

4 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; reference; table of contents.

Sec. 2. Findings, declarations, and purposes.

TITLE I—LOCATE AND CASE TRACKING

Sec. 101. Expansion of use of Federal parent locator system.

Sec. 102. Expansion of data bases accessed by parent locator systems.

Sec. 103. Expansion of access to national network for location of parents.

Sec. 104. Private attorney access to locate and enforcement services.

Sec. 105. Access to law enforcement systems of records.

Sec. 106. State networks for broadcasting warrants.

TITLE II—ESTABLISHMENT

Sec. 201. Service of process.

Sec. 202. Service of process on Federal employees and members of the armed

services relating to child support, alimony, and parentage obligations.

Sec. 203. Presumed address of obligor and obligee.

Sec. 204. Notification to custodial parents.

Sec. 205. State uniformity regarding establishment of parentage and support,

jurisdiction and venue, and Federal employee residential status.

Sec. 206. Fair Credit Reporting Act amendments.

Sec. 207. National Child Support Guideline Commission.

Sec. 208. State child support guideline principles.

Sec. 209. Duration of support.

Sec. 210. National subpoena duces tecum.

Sec. 211. Uniform terms in orders.

Sec. 212. Social security numbers on marriage licenses and child support orders.

Sec. 213. Administrative subpoena power.

TITLE III—PARENTAGE

Sec. 301. Parentage.

TITLE IV—ENFORCEMENT

Sec. 401. Anti-assignment clauses amended.

Sec. 402. National reporting of new hires and child support information.

Sec. 403. Direct income withholding.

Sec. 404. Priority of wage withholding.

Sec. 405. Definition of income subject to withholding includes workers’ compensation.

Sec. 406. Consumer Credit Protection Act amendments.

Sec. 407. Election of remedies prohibition.

Sec. 408. Occupational, professional and business licenses
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Sec. 409. Driver’s licenses.

Sec. 410. Attachment of bank accounts.

Sec. 411. Lotteries, settlements, payouts, awards, and forfeitures.

Sec. 412. Fraudulent transfer pursuit.

Sec. 413. Full IRS collection.

Sec. 414. Bonds.

Sec. 415. Tax offset for non-AFDC post-minor child.

Sec. 416. Attachment of public and private retirement funds.

Sec. 417. Criminal nonsupport.

Sec. 418. Statutes of limitation.

Sec. 419. Interest.

Sec. 420. Health-care enforcement.

Sec. 421. Bankruptcy.

Sec. 422. Federal Government cooperation in enforcement of support obligations of members of the armed forces and other persons entitled to payments by the Federal Government.

Sec. 423. UIFSA endorsement.

TITLE V—COLLECTION AND DISTRIBUTION

Sec. 501. Priority of distribution of collections.

Sec. 502. Relationship of AFDC to CSE—limiting reimbursement claims to

award amount.

Sec. 503. Fees for non-AFDC clients.

Sec. 504. Collection and disbursement points for child support.

TITLE VI—FEDERAL ROLE

Sec. 601. Placement and role of the Federal Child Support Agency.

Sec. 602. Training.

Sec. 603. Staffing.

Sec. 604. Funding and incentives for child support agencies.

Sec. 605. Child support definition.

Sec. 606. Audits.

Sec. 607. Child support assurance demonstration projects.

TITLE VII—STATE ROLE

Sec. 701. Prohibition of residency requirement for IV–D services.

Sec. 702. Advocating for children’s economic security.

Sec. 703. Duties of IV–D agencies.

Sec. 704. Broader access to services.

Sec. 705. Process for change of payee in IV–D cases.

TITLE VIII—EFFECTIVE DATE

Sec. 801. Effective date.

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS, DECLARATIONS, AND PURPOSES.

2 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—

3 (1) there is a large and growing number of

4 child support and parentage cases annually involving
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1 disputes between parents or presumed parents who

2 reside in different States;

3 (2) the laws by which the courts of the various

4 States determine their authority to establish, en5 force, or modify a child support order, or to estab6 lish parentage are not uniform;

7 (3) those laws, along with the limits imposed by

8 a Federal system, on the authority of each State to

9 take certain actions outside its own boundaries, con10 tribute to—

11 (A) the pressing problem of parties moving

12 to avoid jurisdiction,

13 (B) inequities based solely on choice of

14 domicile,

15 (C) disregard of court orders resulting in

16 massive arrearages nationwide,

17 (D) excessive relitigation of cases,

18 (E) the establishment of conflicting orders

19 by the courts of various States, and

20 (F) inter-jurisdiction travel and commu21 nication that is so expensive and time consum22 ing as to disrupt parties’ occupations and com23 mercial activities; and

24 (4) among the results of these conditions are—
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1 (A) the failure of the courts of such juris2 dictions to give full faith and credit to the judi3 cial proceedings of the other States,

4 (B) the deprivation of rights of liberty and

5 property without due process of law,

6 (C) burdens on commerce among the

7 States, and

8 (D) harm to the welfare of children and

9 their parents and other custodians.

10 (b) DECLARATION.—Based on the findings stated in

11 subsection (a), it is necessary to establish national stand12 ards under which the courts of each State will determine

13 their jurisdiction to establish, enforce, or modify a child

14 support order, or to establish parentage and the effect to

15 be given by each State to such determinations by the

16 courts of other States.

17 (c) PURPOSE.—The general purposes of this Act are

18 to—

19 (1) expand the forums available to establish,

20 enforce, or modify a child support order, or to estab21 lish parentage so that such actions may be heard in

22 the State that has the strongest interest in the

23 child’s financial security;
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1 (2) promote and expand the exchange of infor2 mation and other forms of mutual assistance be3 tween States that are concerned with the same child;

4 (3) facilitate the enforcement of support decrees

5 among the States;

6 (4) discourage continuing interstate controver7 sies over child support in the interest of greater fi8 nancial stability and secure family relationships for

9 the child; and

10 (5) avoid jurisdictional competition and conflict

11 between courts in matters relating to the establish12 ment, enforcement, and modification of child support

13 orders, and to the establishment of parentage, which

14 have resulted in the movement of parties among

15 States and a low percentage of interstate cases with

16 support orders, thereby adversely affecting children’s

17 well-being.

18 (d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this Act—

19 (1) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means a State

20 of the United States, the District of Columbia, the

21 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a territory or posses22 sion of the United States, and Indian country as de23 fined in section 1151 of title 18, United States

24 Code.
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1 (2) COURT.—The term ‘‘court’’ means a court,

2 administrative process, or quasijudicial process of a

3 State that is authorized to—

4 (A) establish and enforce parentage orders;

5 (B) establish and enforce orders regarding

6 the amount of support payable by a contestant;

7 or

8 (C) modify orders regarding the amount of

9 support payable by a contestant.

10 TITLE I—LOCATE AND CASE

11 TRACKING

12 SEC. 101. EXPANSION OF USE OF FEDERAL PARENT LOCA13 TOR SYSTEM.

14 Section 453 (42 U.S.C. 653) is amended—

15 (1) by striking ‘‘for the purpose of enforcing

16 support obligations against such parent’’ in sub17 section (a) and inserting ‘‘for the purposes of par18 entage establishment, child support establishment,

19 modification, and enforcement, and child visitation

20 enforcement, provided that safeguards are in place

21 to prevent release of information when it may jeop22 ardize the safety of the children or either parent’’,

23 and

24 (2) by inserting ‘‘and such reasonable fees’’

25 after ‘‘such documents’’ in subsection (d).
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1 SEC. 102. EXPANSION OF DATA BASES ACCESSED BY PAR2 ENT LOCATOR SYSTEMS.

3 (a) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FOR FEDERAL PAR4 ENT LOCATOR SERVICE.—Section 453 (42 U.S.C. 653) is

5 amended—

6 (1) by striking ‘‘the most recent address and

7 place of employment’’ in subsection (b) and inserting

8 ‘‘the most recent residential address, employer name

9 and address, and amounts and nature of income and

10 assets’’,

11 (2) by striking ‘‘the resident parent’’ in sub12 section (c)(3) and inserting ‘‘either parent’’, and

13 (3) by adding at the end of subsection (e) the

14 following new paragraph:

15 ‘‘(4) The Secretary of the Treasury shall enter into

16 an agreement with the Secretary to provide prompt access

17 for the Secretary (in accordance with this subsection and

18 section 6103(l)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986)

19 to the quarterly estimated Federal income tax returns

20 filed by individuals with the Internal Revenue Service.’’.

21 (b) STATE INFORMATION.—Section 466(a) (42

22 U.S.C. 666(a)) is amended by inserting after paragraph

23 (11) the following new paragraphs:

24 ‘‘(12) Procedures under which the State agency

25 shall have automated on-line or batch access (or, if

26 necessary, nonautomated access) to information re-
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1 garding residential addresses, employers and em2 ployer addresses, income and assets, and medical in3 surance benefits with respect to absent parents

4 through various data bases. Such data bases shall

5 include data bases belonging to—

6 ‘‘(A) the State revenue or taxation depart7 ment;

8 ‘‘(B) the State motor vehicle registration

9 department;

10 ‘‘(C) the State employment security de11 partment;

12 ‘‘(D) the State crime information system;

13 ‘‘(E) the State bureau of corrections;

14 ‘‘(F) the State recreational, occupational,

15 and professional licensing department;

16 ‘‘(G) the Secretary of State’s office;

17 ‘‘(H) the State bureau of vital statistics;

18 ‘‘(I) State or local agencies administering

19 public assistance;

20 ‘‘(J) State or local real and personal prop21 erty record departments;

22 ‘‘(K) publicly regulated utility companies

23 located in the State;

24 ‘‘(L) credit reporting agencies located in

25 the State; and
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1 ‘‘(M) trade and labor unions located in the

2 State.

3 ‘‘(13) Procedures under which the State agency

4 shall maintain a child support order registry which

5 shall include—

6 ‘‘(A) each child support order in the State

7 in which the parties agree to the inclusion of

8 such order in the registry; and

9 ‘‘(B) at the option of the State, all other

10 child support orders in the State.’’.

11 (c) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the

12 Congress that the Secretary of Health and Human Serv13 ices should investigate pursuant to section 453(e) of the

14 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 653(e)) accessing Federal

15 data banks not already linked to the Parent Locator Serv16 ice which are deemed more-than-marginally useful to lo17 cate absent parents.

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

19 subsections (a) and (b) shall take effect on and after Jan20 uary 1, 1998.

21 SEC. 103. EXPANSION OF ACCESS TO NATIONAL NETWORK

22 FOR LOCATION OF PARENTS.

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 453 (42 U.S.C. 653) is

24 amended by adding at the end the following new sub25 section:
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1 ‘‘(g) The Secretary, through the Office of Child Sup2 port Enforcement, shall expand the Parent Locator Sys3 tem, established under this section to provide a national

4 network based on the comprehensive statewide child sup5 port enforcement systems developed by the various States.

6 Such an expansion would—

7 ‘‘(1) allow each State to—

8 ‘‘(A) locate any absent parent who owes a

9 child support obligation, for whom an obligation

10 is being established, or for whom an order for

11 visitation is being enforced by—

12 ‘‘(i) accessing the records of other

13 State agencies and sources of locate infor14 mation, and

15 ‘‘(ii) accessing Federal sources of lo16 cate information in the same fashion;

17 ‘‘(B) access the files of other States to de18 termine whether there are other child support

19 orders and obtain the details of those orders;

20 ‘‘(C) provide for both on-line and batch

21 processing of locate requests, with on-line ac22 cess restricted to cases in which the information

23 is needed immediately (i.e., court appearances)

24 and batch processing used to ‘troll’ data bases
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1 to locate individuals or update information peri2 odically; and

3 ‘‘(D) direct locate requests to individual

4 States or Federal agencies, broadcast requests

5 to selected States, or broadcast cases to all

6 States when there is no indication of the source

7 of needed information;

8 ‘‘(2) provide for a maximum of 72-hour turn9 around time for information to be broadcast and re10 turned to a requesting State;

11 ‘‘(3) provide ready access to courts of the infor12 mation on the network; and

13 ‘‘(4) access the registry of child support orders

14 for public and private cases maintained at the State

15 level by the State agencies as described in section

16 466(a)(13).’’.

17 (b) EXPANDED STATE INTERACTION WITH NA18 TIONAL NETWORK.—Section 454(16) (42 U.S.C.

19 654(16)) is amended—

20 (1) by striking ‘‘and (E)’’ and inserting ‘‘(E)’’,

21 and

22 (2) by striking ‘‘enforcement;’’ at the end of

23 subparagraph (E) and inserting ‘‘enforcement, and

24 (F) to provide access to the national network devel25 oped pursuant to section 453(g);’’.
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1 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

2 this section shall take effect on and after January 1, 1998.

3 SEC. 104. PRIVATE ATTORNEY ACCESS TO LOCATE AND EN4 FORCEMENT SERVICES.

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

6 section 102, is amended by inserting after paragraph (13)

7 the following new paragraph:

8 ‘‘(14) Procedures under which private attorneys

9 and pro se obligees are given access to State locate

10 information and enforcement techniques of the State

11 child support enforcement agency, for the limited

12 purpose of establishing, modifying, and enforcing

13 child support, visitation, and parentage orders, pro14 vided that safeguards are in place to prevent release

15 of information when it may jeopardize the safety of

16 the children or either parent. Such procedures may

17 provide for reasonable fees for such access.’’.

18 SEC. 105. ACCESS TO LAW ENFORCEMENT SYSTEMS OF

19 RECORDS.

20 The head of the National Criminal Information Cen21 ter, of the National Law Enforcement Telecommuni22 cations Network, and of any other national or regional sys23 tem for tracking individuals shall—
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1 (1) allow access to Federal, State, and local

2 child support enforcement agencies to information

3 held by the Center, Network, or other system; and

4 (2) if an access code is required to allow such

5 access, provide an access code to each child support

6 enforcement agency that applies for one.

7 SEC. 106. STATE NETWORKS FOR BROADCASTING WAR8 RANTS.

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

10 section 104, is amended by inserting after paragraph (14)

11 the following new paragraph:

12 ‘‘(15) Procedures under which the State—

13 ‘‘(A) shall make available for broadcasting

14 on its local and State crime information system

15 failure-to-appear warrants, capiases and bench

16 warrants issued by courts in civil and criminal

17 parentage and child support proceedings; and

18 ‘‘(B) if a defendant or anyone on behalf of

19 the defendant posts security after being ar20 rested, shall remit any subsequent forfeiture to

21 the individual owed the child support obligation

22 to the extent of any arrearage in such obliga23 tion.’’.
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1 TITLE II—ESTABLISHMENT

2 SEC. 201. SERVICE OF PROCESS.

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

4 section 106, is amended by inserting after paragraph (15)

5 the following new paragraph:

6 ‘‘(16) Procedures under which the State shall—

7 ‘‘(A) treat out-of-State service of process

8 in child support and parentage actions in the

9 same manner as in-State service of process;

10 ‘‘(B) require that notice for the exercise of

11 jurisdiction over nonresident be given in a man12 ner reasonably calculated to give actual notice

13 and may be—

14 ‘‘(i) by personal delivery outside the

15 State in the manner prescribed for service

16 of process within the State;

17 ‘‘(ii) in the manner prescribed by the

18 law of the place in which the service is

19 made;

20 ‘‘(iii) by first-class mail addressed to

21 the individual to be served (if allowed by

22 the State’s rules of civil procedure) or any

23 other form of mail that includes a request

24 for a receipt or signature of such individ-
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1 ual, subject to the requirements of such

2 rules of civil procedure; or

3 ‘‘(iv) as directed by the court, includ4 ing publication if other means of notifica5 tion are ineffective, subject to the require6 ments of the State’s rules of civil proce7 dure;

8 ‘‘(C) require that notice to commence a

9 child support or parentage action be delivered,

10 mailed, or published with sufficient time to

11 allow for serving an answer or other response

12 before any hearing in the State, in accordance

13 with the otherwise applicable rule regarding the

14 commencement of an original action in the

15 State;

16 ‘‘(D) require notice of the commencement

17 of a child support or parentage action to each

18 party whose rights, privileges, duties, or powers

19 may be affected by the action;

20 ‘‘(E) require that proof of service outside

21 the State may be made by the affidavit of the

22 individual who made the service, or in the man23 ner prescribed by the law of the State, by the

24 order under which the service is made, or by

25 the law of the place in which service is made,
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1 and if service is made by mail, proof of service

2 may be by a receipt signed by the addressee or

3 other evidence of delivery to the addressee; and

4 ‘‘(F) require the availability of first-class

5 mail service after the service of the summons

6 and initial pleadings.’’.

7 SEC. 202. SERVICE OF PROCESS ON FEDERAL EMPLOYEES

8 AND MEMBERS OF THE ARMED SERVICES RE9 LATING TO CHILD SUPPORT, ALIMONY, AND

10 PARENTAGE OBLIGATIONS.

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part D of title IV is amended by

12 inserting after section 460 the following new section:

13 ‘‘SERVICE OF PROCESS ON FEDERAL EMPLOYEES AND

14 MEMBERS OF THE ARMED SERVICES RELATING TO

15 CHILD SUPPORT, ALIMONY, AND PARENTAGE OBLI16 GATIONS.

17 ‘‘SEC. 460A. (a) The head of each agency shall des18 ignate an agent for receipt of service of process for any

19 employee or member of the armed services of such agency

20 relating to any action filed in a State court to establish,

21 enforce, or modify a child support order or an alimony

22 order, or to establish parentage.

23 ‘‘(b) The agent designated under subsection (a) shall

24 receive service of process—
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1 ‘‘(1) at the designated post of duty or regular

2 place of business of the employee or member of the

3 armed services; or

4 ‘‘(2) at a location within the United States for

5 an employee or member of the uniformed services

6 whose post of duty is outside of the United States.

7 ‘‘(c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to pro8 hibit any employee or member of the armed services from

9 requesting or being granted a stay or continuance in any

10 action in a Federal or State court, including any relief

11 available under the Soldiers and Sailors Civil Relief Act

12 of 1940 (50 U.S.C. App. 501 et seq.).

13 ‘‘(d) For purposes of this section, the term ‘agency’

14 means each agency of the Federal Government, includ15 ing—

16 ‘‘(1) an Executive agency as defined under sec17 tion 105 of title 5, United States Code;

18 ‘‘(2) the Department of Defense with regard to

19 employees of such department and members of the

20 armed services;

21 ‘‘(3) the United States Postal Service and Post22 al Rate Commission;

23 ‘‘(4) any agency of the government of the Dis24 trict of Columbia;
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1 ‘‘(5) any agency of the legislative or judicial

2 branch of the Government; and

3 ‘‘(6) any advisory committee to which the Fed4 eral Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App. 2)

5 applies.’’.

6 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT FOR GARNISHMENT

7 PROCEEDINGS.—Section 459(b) (42 U.S.C. 659(b)) is

8 amended—

9 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(b)’’; and

10 (2) by adding at the end thereof the following

11 new paragraph:

12 ‘‘(2) With respect to any Federal employee, including

13 any member of the armed services, the agent designated

14 under paragraph (1) shall receive service of process—

15 ‘‘(A) at the designated post of duty or regular

16 place of business of the employee or member of the

17 armed services; or

18 ‘‘(B) at a location within the United States for

19 an employee or member of the armed services whose

20 post of duty is outside of the United States.

21 ‘‘(3) Nothing in this section shall be construed to pro22 hibit any employee or member of the armed services from

23 requesting or being granted a stay or continuance in any

24 action in a Federal or State court, including any relief
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1 available under the Soldiers and Sailors Civil Relief Act

2 of 1940 (50 U.S.C. App. 501 et seq.).’’.

3 (c) REGULATIONS.—No later than 270 days after the

4 date of the enactment of this Act, the head of each agency

5 shall promulgate and publish regulations implementing

6 the amendments made by this section.

7 SEC. 203. PRESUMED ADDRESS OF OBLIGOR AND OBLIGEE.

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

9 section 201, is amended by inserting after paragraph (16)

10 the following new paragraph:

11 ‘‘(17) Procedures under which the State shall—

12 ‘‘(A) require the filing of parents’ residen13 tial addresses, mailing addresses, home tele14 phone numbers, driver’s license numbers, social

15 security numbers, names of employers, address16 es of places of employment, and work telephone

17 numbers with the appropriate court or adminis18 trative agency, on or before the date the final

19 order is issued;

20 ‘‘(B) create the presumption that for the

21 purpose of providing sufficient notice in any

22 support-related action other than the initial

23 notice in an action to establish parentage or es24 tablish a child support order that the last resi25 dential address of the party given to the
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1 appropriate agency or court is the current ad2 dress of the party; and

3 ‘‘(C) ensure that information concerning

4 the location of a parent or child shall not be re5 leased to the other parent if there is a court

6 order for the physical protection of one parent

7 or child entered against the other parent.’’.

8 SEC. 204. NOTIFICATION TO CUSTODIAL PARENTS.

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

10 ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph (23), by striking the period

11 at the end of paragraph (24) and inserting ‘‘; and’’, and

12 by inserting after paragraph (24) the following new para13 graph:

14 ‘‘(25) provide that the agency administering the

15 plan—

16 ‘‘(A) notify any individual owed a child

17 support obligation of all hearings in which such

18 obligation might be established, modified, or en19 forced, in a timely fashion to allow custodial

20 parents the opportunity to attend and present

21 evidence to the court, except that failure to ac22 tually notify such individual may not be used as

23 a ground for delay and shall not prevent a

24 court from rendering a decision if the agency
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1 made reasonable attempts to provide such no2 tice; and

3 ‘‘(B) provide custodial parents with a copy

4 of any order that establishes, modifies, or en5 forces a child support obligation within 14 days

6 of the date of the issuance of such order.’’.

7 SEC. 205. STATE UNIFORMITY REGARDING ESTABLISH8 MENT OF PARENTAGE AND SUPPORT, JURIS9 DICTION AND VENUE, AND FEDERAL EM10 PLOYEE RESIDENTIAL STATUS.

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

12 section 203, is amended by inserting after paragraph (17)

13 the following new paragraph:

14 ‘‘(18) Procedures under which within the

15 State—

16 ‘‘(A) a party seeking both parentage and

17 child support establishment shall be able to

18 bring both in a single cause of action;

19 ‘‘(B) the venue for parentage establish20 ment shall be in the county of residence of the

21 child, when the child and alleged parent who is

22 the defendant reside in different counties within

23 the State;

24 ‘‘(C) a court or agency that issues a par25 entage or child support order shall have con-
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1 tinuing and exclusive jurisdiction over the order

2 until that court or agency transfers jurisdiction

3 to the appropriate court or agency in the county

4 where the child resides, or the parties consent

5 to be bound by another court or agency in the

6 State that has subject matter jurisdiction;

7 ‘‘(D) proceedings for purposes of enforce8 ment and modification shall be transferred to

9 the city, county, or district where the child re10 sides without the need for refiling by the plain11 tiff or re-serving the defendant;

12 ‘‘(E) a court or agency that hears parent13 age or child support claims shall have statewide

14 jurisdiction over the parties, and the parentage

15 and child support orders issued by the court or

16 agency shall have statewide effect for enforce17 ment purposes; and

18 ‘‘(F) visitation denial is not a defense to

19 child support enforcement and the nonpayment

20 of support is not a defense to visitation enforce21 ment.’’.

22 SEC. 206. FAIR CREDIT REPORTING ACT AMENDMENTS.

23 Section 604 of the Consumer Credit Protection Act

24 (15 U.S.C. 1681b) is amended by adding at the end there25 of the following new paragraph:
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1 ‘‘(4) To an agency administering a State plan under

2 section 454 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 654)

3 to use the information relevant to the setting of an initial

4 or modified child support award, without the necessity of

5 a court order.’’.

6 SEC. 207. NATIONAL CHILD SUPPORT GUIDELINE COMMIS7 SION.

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby established a

9 commission to be known as the ‘‘National Child Support

10 Guidelines Commission’’ (in this section referred to as the

11 ‘‘Commission’’).

12 (b) GENERAL DUTIES.—The Commission shall con13 vene a conference to study the desirability of a national

14 child support guideline, and if such guideline is advisable,

15 the Commission shall develop for congressional consider16 ation a national child support guideline that is based on

17 the conference’s study of various guideline models, the de18 ficiencies of such models and any needed improvements.

19 (c) MEMBERSHIP.—

20 (1) NUMBER; APPOINTMENT.—

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall

22 be composed of 9 individuals appointed jointly

23 by the Secretary of Health and Human Services

24 and the Congress, not later than January 15,

25 1994.
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1 (B) QUALIFICATIONS OF MEMBERS.—

2 Members of the Commission shall be appointed

3 from among those who are able to provide ex4 pertise and experience in the evaluation and de5 velopment of child support guidelines. At least

6 2 of the members shall represent parent child

7 support advocacy groups.

8 (2) TERMS OF OFFICE.—Each member shall be

9 appointed for a term of 1 year. A vacancy in the

10 Commission shall be filled in the manner in which

11 the original appointment was made.

12 (d) COMMISSION POWERS, COMPENSATION, ACCESS

13 TO INFORMATION, AND SUPERVISION.—The first sentence

14 of subparagraph (C), the first and third sentences of sub15 paragraph (D), subparagraph (F) (except with respect to

16 the conduct of medical studies), clauses (ii) and (iii) of

17 subparagraph (G), and subparagraph (H) of section

18 1886(e)(6) of the Social Security Act shall apply to the

19 Commission in the same manner in which such provisions

20 apply to the Prospective Payment Assessment Commis21 sion.

22 (e) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the ap23 pointment of members, the Commission shall report to the

24 President and the Congress on the results of the study

25 described in subsection (b) and the final assessment by
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1 the Commission of issues relating to a national child sup2 port guideline.

3 (f) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall terminate

4 upon the submission of the report described in subsection

5 (e).

6 SEC. 208. STATE CHILD SUPPORT GUIDELINE PRINCIPLES.

7 Section 467 (42 U.S.C. 667) is amended by adding

8 at the end the following new subsections:

9 ‘‘(d) The guidelines established pursuant to sub10 section (a) shall include the following principles:

11 ‘‘(1) A change in the child support amount re12 sulting from the application of the guidelines since

13 the entry of the last support order is sufficient rea14 son for modification of a child support obligation

15 without the necessity of showing any other change in

16 circumstance.

17 ‘‘(2) Any custodial parent requesting a review

18 of a child support award who is not receiving aid for

19 families with dependent children under part A of

20 this title must agree to both review and modification

21 of such award. Such custodial parent shall be ad22 vised of a recalculated support amount based on

23 such review and given an opportunity to decline the

24 pursuit of the modification.
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1 ‘‘(e) The guidelines established pursuant to sub2 section (a) shall take into account the following:

3 ‘‘(1) Work-related or job-training-related child

4 care expenses of either parent for the care of chil5 dren of either parent.

6 ‘‘(2) Health insurance and related uninsured

7 health care expenses, and extraordinary school ex8 penses incurred on behalf of the child of such par9 ents for whom the child support order is sought.

10 ‘‘(3) Multiple family child raising obligations

11 other than those for the child for whom the child

12 support order is sought.’’.

13 SEC. 209. DURATION OF SUPPORT.

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

15 section 205, is amended by inserting after paragraph (18)

16 the following new paragraph:

17 ‘‘(19) Procedures under which the State—

18 ‘‘(A) requires a continuing support obliga19 tion by one or both parents until at least the

20 latter of when a child reaches the age of eight21 een, or graduates from or is no longer enrolled

22 in secondary school or its equivalent, unless a

23 child marries, or is otherwise emancipated by a

24 court of competent jurisdiction;
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1 ‘‘(B) provides that courts with child sup2 port jurisdiction have the discretionary power,

3 pursuant to criteria established by the State, to

4 order—

5 ‘‘(i) child support, payable to an adult

6 child, at least up to the age of 22 for a

7 child enrolled in an accredited postsecond8 ary or vocational school or college and who

9 is a student in good standing;

10 ‘‘(ii) either or both parents to pay for

11 postsecondary school support based on

12 each parent’s financial ability to pay;

13 ‘‘(C) provides for child support to continue

14 beyond the child’s age of majority provided the

15 child is disabled, unable to be self-supportive,

16 and the disability arose during the child’s mi17 nority; and

18 ‘‘(D) provides that courts should consider

19 the effect of child support received on means20 tested governmental benefits and whether to

21 credit governmental benefits against a support

22 award amount.’’.

23 SEC. 210. NATIONAL SUBPOENA DUCES TECUM.

24 Section 452(a) (42 U.S.C. 652(a)) is amended by

25 striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph (9), by striking
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1 the period at the end of paragraph (10), and by inserting

2 after paragraph (10) the following new paragraphs:

3 ‘‘(11) draft and distribute a national subpoena

4 duces tecum for use by local and State child support

5 agencies and child support litigants to reach income

6 information pertaining to all private, Federal, State,

7 and local government employees, as well as any re8 ceivers of income, such subpoena duces tecum—

9 ‘‘(A) to be limited to evidence regarding

10 the prior 12 months of income or evidence of

11 accumulated income to date,

12 ‘‘(B) to be honored by payors with the

13 timely mailing of the information to a supplied

14 address on the subpoena,

15 ‘‘(C) to be enforced by a hearing held in

16 the payor’s State at which time the payor

17 bears, under penalty of State sanction, the bur18 den of specifying the reasons for not timely

19 honoring the subpoena, and

20 ‘‘(D) the information of which is to be ad21 mitted once offered to prove the truth of the

22 matter asserted; and

23 ‘‘(12) establish a simplified certification process

24 and admissibility procedure for out-of-State docu25 ments in child support or parentage cases.’’.
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1 SEC. 211. UNIFORM TERMS IN ORDERS.

2 Section 452(a) (42 U.S.C. 652(a)), as amended by

3 section 210, is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of

4 paragraph (11), by striking the period at the end of para5 graph (12) and inserting ‘‘; and’’, and by inserting after

6 paragraph (12) the following new paragraph:

7 ‘‘(13) develop, in conjunction with State execu8 tive and judicial organizations, a uniform abstract of

9 a child support order, to be used by all State courts

10 to record the facts of a child support order in a reg11 istry of child support orders established under sec12 tion 466(a)(12), such abstract to include—

13 ‘‘(A) the date that support payments are

14 to commence;

15 ‘‘(B) the circumstances upon which sup16 port payments are to terminate;

17 ‘‘(C) the amount of current child support

18 expressed as a sum certain, arrearages ex19 pressed as a sum certain as of a certain date,

20 and any payback schedule for the arrearages;

21 ‘‘(D) whether the support award is in a

22 lump sum (nonallocated) or per child;

23 ‘‘(E) if the award is lump sum, the event

24 causing a change in the support award and the

25 amount of any change;
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1 ‘‘(F) other expenses, such as those for

2 child care and health care;

3 ‘‘(G) names of the parents;

4 ‘‘(H) social security numbers and dates of

5 birth of the parents;

6 ‘‘(I) names of all children covered by the

7 order;

8 ‘‘(J) dates of birth and social security

9 numbers of children covered by the order;

10 ‘‘(K) court identification (FIPS code,

11 name and address) of the court issuing the

12 order;

13 ‘‘(L) health-care support information; and

14 ‘‘(M) party to contact when additional in15 formation is obtained.’’.

16 SEC. 212. SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS ON MARRIAGE LI17 CENSES AND CHILD SUPPORT ORDERS.

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

19 section 209, is amended by inserting after paragraph (19)

20 the following new paragraph:

21 ‘‘(20) Procedures under which social security

22 numbers of the individuals applying for a marriage

23 license are listed on the license by each applicant’s

24 name.’’.
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1 SEC. 213. ADMINISTRATIVE SUBPOENA POWER.

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

3 section 212, is amended by inserting after paragraph (20)

4 the following new paragraph:

5 ‘‘(21) Procedures under which the State agency

6 may issue subpoenas that require the individual

7 served to produce and deliver documents to or to ap8 pear at a court or administrative agency on a certain

9 date and may sanction an individual for failing to

10 obey the subpoena’s command.’’.

11 TITLE III—PARENTAGE

12 SEC. 301. PARENTAGE.

13 (a) STATE PLAN.—Section 454 (42 U.S.C. 654), as

14 amended by section 204, is amended by striking ‘‘and’’

15 at the end of paragraph (24), by striking the period at

16 the end of paragraph (25) and inserting ‘‘; and’’, and by

17 inserting after paragraph (25) the following new para18 graph:

19 ‘‘(26) in order to encourage voluntary paternity

20 acknowledgement, provide for—

21 ‘‘(A) the development and distribution of

22 material at schools, hospitals, agencies admin23 istering the programs under part A of this title

24 and title XIX, prenatal health-care providers,

25 WIC programs, health departments, clinics, and

26 other appropriate locations that describe the
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1 benefits and responsibilities of paternity estab2 lishment and the process by which paternity

3 services may be obtained,

4 ‘‘(B) outreach programs at hospitals and

5 birthing facilities and programs for prenatal

6 care, child birth, and parenting, and

7 ‘‘(C) the use of consent procedures.’’.

8 (b) ENHANCED FEDERAL MATCH.—Section

9 455(a)(1) (42 U.S.C. 655(a)(1)) is amended by striking

10 ‘‘and’’ at the end of subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘and’’

11 after the semicolon at the end of subparagraph (C), and

12 by inserting after subparagraph (C) the following new sub13 paragraph:

14 ‘‘(D) equal to 90 percent (rather than the

15 percentage specified in subparagraph (A)) of so

16 much of the sums expended during such quar17 ter as are attributable to costs incurred in car18 rying out the purposes of section 454(26);’’.

19 TITLE IV—ENFORCEMENT

20 SEC. 401. ANTI-ASSIGNMENT CLAUSES AMENDED.

21 Section 462(f)(2) (42 U.S.C. 662(f)(2)) is amended

22 by striking ‘‘(not including’’ and all that follows through

23 ‘‘compensation)’’.
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1 SEC. 402. NATIONAL REPORTING OF NEW HIRES AND CHILD

2 SUPPORT INFORMATION.

3 (a) FEDERAL IMPLEMENTATION OF SYSTEM.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treas5 ury, in consultation with the Secretary of Labor,

6 shall establish a system of reporting of new employ7 ees by requiring employers to provide a copy of every

8 new employee’s W–4 form to the child support en9 forcement agency of the State in which the employ10 ment is located.

11 (2) EXPANDED USE OF FORM.—The Secretary

12 of the Treasury shall modify the W–4 form com13 pleted by the new employee to include—

14 (A) whether a child support obligation is

15 owed by the new employee, and if so, to whom

16 such obligation is payable and the amount of

17 such obligation,

18 (B) whether payment of such obligation is

19 to be by income withholding, and

20 (C) whether the new employee has health

21 care insurance available.

22 (3) EMPLOYER WITHHOLDING OBLIGATION.—

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle C of the Inter24 nal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to employ25 ment taxes) is amended by inserting after chap26 ter 24 the following new chapter:
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1 ‘‘CHAPTER 24A—COLLECTION OF CHILD

2 SUPPORT OBLIGATIONS AT SOURCE

3 OF WAGES

‘‘Sec. 3411. Child support obligations collected at source of wages.

4 ‘‘SEC. 3411. CHILD SUPPORT OBLIGATIONS COLLECTED AT

5 SOURCE OF WAGES.

6 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT OF WITHHOLDING.—Every em7 ployer making payment of wages shall deduct and with8 hold upon such wages a specified child support obligation

9 amount.

10 ‘‘(b) SPECIFIED CHILD SUPPORT OBLIGATION

11 AMOUNT.—For purposes of this chapter, the specified

12 child support obligation amount with respect to any em13 ployee shall be determined based on information provided

14 by the employee that has been confirmed or corrected by

15 the State enforcing the wage withholding within which the

16 employer is located under procedures described in section

17 466(a)(22) of the Social Security Act.

18 ‘‘(c) LIABILITY FOR PAYMENT.—The employer shall

19 be liable for the payment of the specified child support

20 obligation amount to the payee identified by the employee.

21 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL RULES.—For purposes of this chapter

22 (and so much of subtitle F as relates to this chapter), any

23 specified child support obligation amount shall be treated
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1 as if it were a tax withheld under chapter 24 and rules

2 similar to the rules of such chapter shall apply.

3 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the

4 terms ‘wages’, ‘employee’ and ‘‘employer’ shall have the

5 meanings given to such terms by subsections (a), (c), and

6 (d), respectively.’’

7 (B) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of

8 chapters of subtitle C of the Internal Revenue

9 Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after the

10 item relating to chapter 24 the following new

11 item:

‘‘CHAPTER 24A. Child support obligations collected at source of

wages.’’.

12 (4) WITHHELD CHILD SUPPORT OBLIGATIONS

13 REPORTED ON W–2 FORMS.—Subsection (a) of sec14 tion 6051 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (re15 lating to receipts for employees) is amended by

16 striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph (8), by strik17 ing the period at the end of paragraph (9) and in18 serting ‘‘, and’’, and by inserting after paragraph

19 (9) the following new paragraph:

20 ‘‘(10) the total amount of specified child sup21 port obligations withheld under section 3411.’’.

22 (b) STATE IMPLEMENTATION OF SYSTEM.—Section

23 466(a) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)), as amended by section 213,
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1 is amended by inserting after paragraph (21) the following

2 new paragraph:

3 ‘‘(22) Procedures under which the State shall—

4 ‘‘(A) impose monetary penalties on—

5 ‘‘(i) any individual who owes child

6 support obligations who fails to report

7 such obligations on a Federal income tax

8 W–4 form at time of employment;

9 ‘‘(ii) any employer who fails to for10 ward such W–4 form to the State child

11 support enforcement agency within 10 cal12 endar days of the date of the employment

13 of such individual; and

14 ‘‘(iii) any employer who fails to with15 hold the child support obligation and dis16 burse such obligation to the individual

17 owed such obligation within 10 calendar

18 days of the date of the payroll, using elec19 tronic funds transfer, if possible, unless

20 otherwise notified by such State agency;

21 ‘‘(B) confirm the information provided

22 under subparagraph (A)(ii) or identify child

23 support obligations that have not been reported

24 by the new employee through the use of the
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1 Parent Locator System established under sec2 tion 453;

3 ‘‘(C) notify the employer in cases where

4 the employee has not correctly reported on the

5 W–4 using a standard wage withholding notice

6 developed by the Federal Office of Child Sup7 port Enforcement under section 452(a)(14);

8 ‘‘(D) broadcast over the Parent Locator

9 System to other States information based on

10 W–4 form information that has been sent to the

11 State child support enforcement agency; and

12 ‘‘(E) in the event of a match between the

13 W–4 related information and the abstract of

14 support orders on file in the State registry of

15 child support orders, notify the individual owed

16 a child support obligation or such individual’s

17 designee of such information.

18 If an individual owed a child support obligation who

19 is not utilizing the State program under this part

20 desires the wage withholding services described in

21 this paragraph, such individual shall be required to

22 apply for assistance under the State plan.’’.

23 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The provisions and amend24 ments made by this section shall take effect on and after

25 January 1, 1998.
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1 SEC. 403. DIRECT INCOME WITHHOLDING.

2 (a) STATE LAW.—

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 466(b) (42 U.S.C.

4 666(b)) is amended by adding at the end the follow5 ing new paragraphs:

6 ‘‘(11) Any individual or entity engaged in com7 merce, as a condition of doing business in the State,

8 shall honor income withholding notices or orders is9 sued by a court or agency of any other State. Serv10 ice of the notice may be by first-class mail, or di11 rectly served on the income source. The individual or

12 entity served shall immediately provide a copy of the

13 notice to the employee. The individual or entity shall

14 honor the withholding notice or order—

15 ‘‘(A) if such notice or order is regular on

16 its face,

17 ‘‘(B) regardless of the location of the em18 ployee’s workplace.

19 If such notice or order is fully complied with, the in20 dividual or entity may not be held liable for wrongful

21 withholding.

22 ‘‘(12) In any case under this part, if a contest

23 to or refusal to comply with an income withholding

24 notice or order occurs, the State seeking withholding

25 shall send an informational copy of the withholding

26 notice or order to the registry established under sub-
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1 section (a)(15) in the State in which the employee

2 is employed or which is the source of the income.’’.

3 (2) CONTEST HEARING.—Paragraph (4) of sec4 tion 466(b) (42 U.S.C. 666(b)) is amended by add5 ing at the end the following new subparagraph:

6 ‘‘(C) If the employee requests a hearing to con7 test the withholding based on a mistake of fact, that

8 hearing may be held in the State of the income

9 source or the State of the employee’s employment,

10 with a determination made within 45 days of the

11 mailing of the withholding notice or order to the in12 come source. The State where any hearing is held

13 shall provide the appropriate services in cases en14 forced under the State plan to ensure that the inter15 ests of the individual owed the child support obliga16 tion are represented.’’.

17 (3) EMPLOYER RECORDS.—Paragraph (6) of

18 section 466(b) (42 U.S.C. 666(b)) is amended by

19 adding at the end the following new subparagraph:

20 ‘‘(E) The employer shall maintain records of

21 payroll deductions taken in compliance with this sec22 tion and make such records available upon request

23 to the State or individual enforcing the wage with24 holding order.’’.
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1 (b) UNIFORM WITHHOLDING NOTICE.—Section

2 452(a) (42 U.S.C. 652(a)), as amended by section 211,

3 is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph

4 (12), by striking the period at the end of paragraph (13)

5 and inserting ‘‘; and’’, and by inserting after paragraph

6 (13) the following new paragraph:

7 ‘‘(14) develop a uniform withholding notice to

8 be used in all income withholding cases, such notice

9 to list the number of children covered by such notice

10 and to be generic to allow for the service of the same

11 notice on subsequent or concurrent sources of in12 come without the necessity of obtaining from the

13 decisionmaker a new, income-source-specific notice.’’.

14 SEC. 404. PRIORITY OF WAGE WITHHOLDING.

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

16 section 403, is amended by inserting after paragraph (14)

17 the following new paragraph:

18 ‘‘(13) Procedures under which, absent a request

19 by the custodial parent, the presumptive priority of

20 withholding under a child support or income with21 holding order is—

22 ‘‘(A) payments on current support obliga23 tions,

24 ‘‘(B) payments of premiums for health in25 surance for dependent children, and
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1 ‘‘(C) payments on past due child support

2 obligations and unreimbursed health-care ex3 penses.

4 In the case of multiple withholding orders affecting

5 the same employee, payments shall be made to each

6 child on a pro rata basis.’’.

7 SEC. 405. DEFINITION OF INCOME SUBJECT TO WITHHOLD8 ING INCLUDES WORKERS’ COMPENSATION.

9 Section 462 (42 U.S.C. 662(f)) is amended—

10 (1) by striking ‘‘For purposes of section 459’’

11 and inserting ‘‘For purposes of section 459 and, in

12 the case of subsection (f), this part’’,

13 (2) by striking the period at the end of para14 graph (2) of subsection (f) and inserting ‘‘, or’’, and

15 (3) by adding at the end of subsection (f) the

16 following new paragraph:

17 ‘‘(3) workers’ compensation benefits.’’.

18 SEC. 406. CONSUMER CREDIT PROTECTION ACT AMEND19 MENTS.

20 (a) PREEMPTION OF STATE LAWS.—Section 307 of

21 the Consumer Credit Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1677) is

22 amended—

23 (1) by striking ‘‘This’’ and inserting ‘‘(a) IN

24 GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), this’’;
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1 (2) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of paragraph

2 (1);

3 (3) by striking the period at the end of para4 graph (2) and inserting ‘‘, or’’; and

5 (4) by adding at the end the following:

6 ‘‘(3) providing a cause of action, either by the

7 State or a private individual, to enforce a Federal or

8 State law related to garnishment for the purpose of

9 securing child support.

10 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a)(1) does not apply

11 to the laws of any State that prohibit or restrict garnish12 ments for the purpose of securing support for any

13 person.’’.

14 (b) OTHER FORMS OF INCOME.—Title III of the

15 Consumer Credit Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1671 et seq.)

16 is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

17 ‘‘SEC. 308. OTHER FORMS OF INCOME.

18 ‘‘This title does not apply to forms of income that

19 are not earnings within the definition contained in section

20 302(a).’’.

21 (c) PRIORITY OF DEBTS.—Title III of the Consumer

22 Credit Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1671 et seq.), as amend23 ed by subsection (b), is further amended by adding at the

24 end the following new section:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 309. PRIORITY OF DEBTS.

2 ‘‘If an individual’s disposable earnings are not suffi3 cient to pay—

4 ‘‘(1) a garnishment intended to satisfy a Fed5 eral debt; and

6 ‘‘(2) a garnishment intended to satisfy a debt

7 related to the support of any child,

8 the Federal debt shall be satisfied through garnishment

9 only after the debt related to child support has first been

10 satisfied.’’.

11 (d) ADDITIONAL INDEBTEDNESS IN ANTI-DIS12 CHARGE SECTION.—Section 304 of the Consumer Credit

13 Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 1674) is amended by adding

14 at the end the following:

15 ‘‘(c) The prohibition contained in subsection (a) shall

16 apply to any employee whose earnings are subject to gar17 nishment for more than one indebtedness, if the additional

18 indebtedness arises from an order for the support of a

19 child.’’.

20 SEC. 407. ELECTION OF REMEDIES PROHIBITION.

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

22 section 402, is amended by inserting after paragraph (22)

23 the following new paragraph:

24 ‘‘(23) Procedures under which the doctrine of

25 election of remedies may not be invoked in child sup26 port cases.’’.
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1 SEC. 408. OCCUPATIONAL, PROFESSIONAL AND BUSINESS

2 LICENSES

3 (a) STATE HOLD BASED ON WARRANT OR SUPPORT

4 DELINQUENCY.—Section 466(a) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)), as

5 amended by section 407, is amended by inserting after

6 paragraph (23) the following new paragraph:

7 ‘‘(24) Procedures under which the State occu8 pational licensing and regulating departments and

9 agencies may not issue or renew occupational, pro10 fessional, or business licenses of—

11 ‘‘(A) noncustodial parents who are the sub12 ject of outstanding failure to appear warrants,

13 capiases, and bench warrants related to a child

14 support proceeding that appear on the State’s

15 crime information system, until removed from

16 the system; and

17 ‘‘(B) individuals who are delinquent in

18 their child support obligation, until the pro se

19 obligee, the obligee’s attorney, or a State pros20 ecutor responsible for child support enforcement

21 consents to, or a court that is responsible for

22 the order’s enforcement orders, the release of

23 the hold on the license, or an expedited inquiry

24 and review is completed while such individual is

25 granted a 60-day temporary license.’’.
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1 (b) FEDERAL HOLD BASED ON SUPPORT DELIN2 QUENCY.—No Federal agency may issue or renew occupa3 tional, professional, or business licenses of individuals who

4 are delinquent in their child support obligation, until the

5 pro se obligee, the obligee’s attorney or a State prosecutor

6 responsible for child support enforcement consents to, or

7 a court that is responsible for the order’s enforcement or8 ders, the release of the hold on the license, or an expedited

9 inquiry and review is completed while such individual is

10 granted a 60-day temporary license.

11 (c) WAIVER OF FEDERAL IMMUNITY.—The Federal

12 Government shall waive its sovereign immunity claims for

13 this limited purpose and cooperate fully with local and

14 State officials regarding license issuances or renewals.

15 SEC. 409. DRIVER’S LICENSES.

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

17 section 408, is amended by inserting after paragraph (24)

18 the following new paragraph:

19 ‘‘(25) Procedures under which the State motor

20 vehicle department may not issue or renew a driver’s

21 license (other than a temporary license of not more

22 than 60-days duration) of any noncustodial parent

23 who is the subject of an outstanding failure to ap24 pear warrant, capias, or bench warrant related to a

25 child support proceeding that appears on the State’s
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1 crime information system, until removed from the

2 system.’’.

3 SEC. 410. ATTACHMENT OF BANK ACCOUNTS.

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

5 section 409, is amended by inserting after paragraph (25)

6 the following new paragraph:

7 ‘‘(26) Procedures under which the State shall

8 authorize post-judgment seizure of the bank ac9 counts of delinquent child support obligors without

10 the need to obtain a separate court order for the at11 tachment. The funds shall be frozen pending notice

12 to and an expedited opportunity to be heard for the

13 account holder or holders. If the account holder or

14 holders do not successfully challenge the freeze, the

15 part of the account subject to the freeze up to the

16 amount of the child support debt shall be turned

17 over to the individual or State seeking the execu18 tion.’’.

19 SEC. 411. LOTTERIES, SETTLEMENTS, PAYOUTS, AWARDS,

20 AND FORFEITURES.

21 Paragraph (4) of section 466(a) (42 U.S.C. 666(a))

22 is amended by inserting before the period the following:

23 ‘‘, including the following:

24 ‘‘(A) A lottery player’s winnings from a

25 State lottery or a gambler’s winnings in a
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1 State-sanctioned or tribal-sanctioned gambling

2 house or casino held by the distributor.

3 ‘‘(B) Insurance settlements or policy pay4 outs held by the insurance carrier or the risk5 holder.

6 ‘‘(C) State or Federal court awards, judg7 ments, or settlements held by either the attor8 ney for the payor or the pro se payor.

9 ‘‘(D) Property seized and forfeited to the

10 State when an individual has been convicted of

11 a crime involving forfeiture of property.’’.

12 SEC. 412. FRAUDULENT TRANSFER PURSUIT.

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

14 section 410, is amended by inserting after paragraph (26)

15 the following new paragraph:

16 ‘‘(27) Procedures that allow the State to void

17 fraudulent conveyances of property that are made in

18 an attempt to avoid child support obligations.’’.

19 SEC. 413. FULL IRS COLLECTION.

20 (a) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the

21 Congress that the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue

22 Services should instruct the field offices and agents of the

23 Internal Revenue Service to give a high priority to re24 quests for the use of full collection in delinquent child sup-
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1 port cases, and to set uniform standards for full collection

2 to ensure its expeditious and effective implementation.

3 (b) SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURE.—The Secretary of the

4 Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and

5 Human Services, shall by regulation simplify the full col6 lection process and reduce the amount of child support

7 arrearage needed before an individual may apply for full

8 collection, and shall report to the Congress by January

9 1, 1997, on the actions taken and the effect of such ac10 tions.

11 SEC. 414. BONDS.

12 Paragraph (6) of section 466(a) (42 U.S.C. 666(a))

13 is amended by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(6)’’ and by adding

14 at the end the following new subparagraph:

15 ‘‘(B) In cases not involving absent parents, pro16 cedures which allow the posting of a cash bond, se17 curity deposit, or personal undertaking with the

18 State child enforcement agency if child support pay19 ments are not timely made, with the refund of funds

20 (other than the costs of posting) if the individual

21 who owes a child support obligation makes full pay22 ments for a prescribed period of time.’’.

23 SEC. 415. TAX OFFSET FOR NONAFDC POST-MINOR CHILD.

24 Section 464(c) (42 U.S.C. 664(c)) is amended—
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1 (1) by striking ‘‘(1) Except as provided in para2 graph (2), as’’ and inserting ‘‘As’’, and

3 (2) by striking paragraphs (2) and (3).

4 SEC. 416. ATTACHMENT OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE RETIRE5 MENT FUNDS.

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

7 section 412, is amended by inserting after paragraph (27)

8 the following new paragraph:

9 ‘‘(28) Procedures under which—

10 ‘‘(A) an individual owed a child support

11 obligation may attach lump sum funds invested

12 by the individual who owes such obligation or

13 the employer of such individual in public and

14 private retirement plans, including any funds

15 that are prematurely reachable by such individ16 ual without loss of employment even if the dis17 tribution would cause a penalty or tax to such

18 individual for early withdrawal;

19 ‘‘(B) all early withdrawal penalties or taxes

20 remain the responsibility of the individual who

21 owes such obligation; and

22 ‘‘(C) the attachment is made without the

23 requirement of a separate court order, with no24 tice and an expedited hearing provided if re25 quested.’’.
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1 SEC. 417. CRIMINAL NONSUPPORT.

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

3 section 416 is amended by inserting after paragraph (28)

4 the following new paragraph:

5 ‘‘(29) Procedures under which—

6 ‘‘(A) criminal nonsupport penalties may be

7 imposed; and

8 ‘‘(B) the use immunity may be granted to

9 compel testimony in civil child support proceed10 ings where the defendant claims a Fifth

11 Amendment privilege against self-incrimination,

12 and once granted, bars Federal or other State

13 prosecution for criminal nonsupport based on

14 the testimony given in the civil proceeding in

15 which use immunity was granted.’’.

16 SEC. 418. STATUTES OF LIMITATION.

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 466(a) (42 U.S.C.

18 666(a)), as amended by section 417, is amended by insert19 ing after paragraph (29) the following new paragraph:

20 ‘‘(30) Procedures which permit the enforcement

21 of any child support order until at least the child’s

22 30th birthday.’’.

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

24 this section shall apply to orders entered before, on, and

25 after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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1 SEC. 419. INTEREST.

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

3 section 418, is amended by inserting after paragraph (30

4 the following new paragraph:

5 ‘‘(31) Procedures under which the State child

6 support enforcement agency is required to assess

7 and collect interest on all child support judgments,

8 at the rate determined for interest on money judg9 ments, and in addition to any late payment fee im10 posed by the State under section 454(21).’’.

11 SEC. 420. HEALTH-CARE ENFORCEMENT.

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

13 section 419, is amended by inserting after paragraph (31)

14 the following new paragraph:

15 ‘‘(32) Procedures under which—

16 ‘‘(A) a rebuttable presumption is estab17 lished that the individual owed a child support

18 obligation shall have the right to choose the ap19 propriate health care insurance for the children

20 of the parties;

21 ‘‘(B) in making the appropriate order for

22 health care insurance, the court shall consider

23 the availability, coverage, and cost of any pro24 posed insurance plan;

25 ‘‘(C) the insurance premium and

26 noncovered health care expenses are appor-
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•HR 195 IH

1 tioned between the parents pursuant to a for2 mula included in the State’s child support

3 guideline;

4 ‘‘(D) any insurance premium or sum-cer5 tain health care expense for which the individ6 ual who owes such obligation is responsible

7 shall be included in the child support order;

8 ‘‘(E) the individual owed such obligation

9 under the child support order may act in the

10 place of the insured, including the right to

11 make direct application for insurance, and to

12 make claims and sign claim forms to the same

13 extent as the insured could;

14 ‘‘(F) if the individual who owes such obli15 gation is securing the insurance, such individual

16 shall provide, within 30 days of the order, writ17 ten proof to the individual owed such obligation

18 and the State child support enforcement agency

19 that insurance has been obtained or an applica20 tion made for insurance, and the date the in21 surance coverage is to take effect;

22 ‘‘(G) each welfare benefit plan operating

23 under the laws of the State is required to in24 clude in such plan that—
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1 ‘‘(i) the employer or union shall re2 lease to the individual owed such obligation

3 or the State child enforcement agency,

4 upon request, information on the depend5 ent coverage including the name of the in6 surer,

7 ‘‘(ii) the employer or union or insurer

8 shall provide all necessary reimbursement

9 forms to such individual, and

10 ‘‘(iii) the employer or union shall pro11 vide claim forms and enrollment cards to

12 such individual and honor the signature of

13 such individual on the claim form;

14 ‘‘(H) courts shall quantify ‘reasonable cost’

15 in the order providing for medical support; and

16 ‘‘(I) employers located in the State are re17 quired to provide notice, using an address pro18 vided by the State child support enforcement

19 agency, to the custodial parent for children of

20 any termination or change in benefit of an in21 surance plan under which children in the par22 ent’s care are covered.’’.
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1 SEC. 421. BANKRUPTCY.

2 (a) DEFINITION.—Section 101 of title 11, United

3 States Code, is amended by inserting after paragraph (12)

4 the following new paragraph:

5 ‘‘(12a) ‘debt for child support’ means a debt to

6 a child for maintenance for or support of the child

7 within the meaning of section 523(a)(5).’’.

8 (b) EXCEPTION FROM AUTOMATIC STAY.—Section

9 362(b) of title 11, United States Code, is amended—

10 (1) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(2)’’;

11 (2) by adding ‘‘or’’ after the semicolon; and

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

13 paragraph:

14 ‘‘(B) under subsection (a), of the commence15 ment or continuation of a civil action or administra16 tive proceeding against the debtor—

17 ‘‘(i) to establish parentage;

18 ‘‘(ii) to establish, review, adjust, or modify

19 a judgment or order creating a debt for child

20 support; or

21 ‘‘(iii) to enforce or collect on a judgment or

22 order issued in such an action or proceeding;’’.

23 (c) TREATMENT OF DEBT FOR CHILD SUPPORT IN

24 PROCEEDINGS UNDER CHAPTERS 11, 12, AND 13.—

25 (1) CHAPTER 11.—Section 1123(a) of title 11,

26 United States Code, is amended—
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•HR 195 IH

1 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para2 graph (6);

3 (B) by striking the period at the end of

4 paragraph (7) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

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

6 paragraph:

7 ‘‘(8) provide for the full payment when due of

8 debts for child support, unless the parent in custody

9 or guardian of the child agrees otherwise.’’.

10 (2) CHAPTER 12.—Section 1222(a) of title 11,

11 United States Code, is amended—

12 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para13 graph (2);

14 (B) by striking the period at the end of

15 paragraph (3) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

16 (C) by adding at the end the following new

17 paragraph:

18 ‘‘(4) provide for the full payment when due of

19 debts for child support, unless the parent in custody

20 or guardian of the child agrees otherwise.’’.

21 (3) CHAPTER 13.—Section 1322(a) of title 11,

22 United States Code, is amended—

23 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para24 graph (2);
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•HR 195 IH

1 (B) by striking the period at the end of

2 paragraph (3) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

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

4 paragraph:

5 ‘‘(4) provide for the full payment when due of

6 debts for child support, unless the parent in custody

7 or guardian of the child agrees otherwise.’’.

8 (d) ASSERTION OF CLAIM FOR CHILD SUPPORT.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 5 of

10 title 11, United States Code, is amended by adding

11 at the end the following new section:

12 ‘‘§ 511. Assertion of claim for child support

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A claim for payment of a debt

14 for child support may be asserted by the filing of a claim

15 form that describes the debt.

16 ‘‘(b) FEE.—No fee shall be charged for the filing of

17 a claim described in subsection (a).

18 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS FOR APPEARANCE.—A claim

19 described in subsection (a) may be made in any court by

20 a person appearing—

21 ‘‘(1) in proper person; or

22 ‘‘(2) through an attorney admitted to practice

23 in any district court, without the attorney’s being re24 quired to meet any admission requirements other
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1 than those applicable in the district in which the at2 torney is admitted to practice.’’.

3 (2) BANKRUPTCY RULES.—Pursuant to section

4 2705 of title 28, United States Code, the Bank5 ruptcy Rules shall be amended as necessary to im6 plement section 511 of title 11, United States Code,

7 as added by paragraph (1); until the Bankruptcy

8 Rules are so amended, any provision of the Bank9 ruptcy Rules or the rules of any court that is incon10 sistent with that section is superseded by that sec11 tion.

12 (e) CLARIFICATION OF THE NONDISCHARGEABILITY

13 OF STATE PUBLIC DEBTS AND ASSIGNED CHILD SUP14 PORT BASED ON THE PROVISION OF EXPENDITURES

15 UNDER PARTS A AND E OF TITLE IV OF THE SOCIAL

16 SECURITY ACT.—Section 523 of title 11, United States

17 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new

18 subsection:

19 ‘‘(f) For the purposes of subsection (a)(5), a debt to

20 a child of the debtor for maintenance for or support of

21 the child includes State public debts and assigned child

22 support based on the provision of expenditures under

23 parts A and E of title IV of the Social Security Act (43

24 U.S.C. 401 et seq. and 470 et seq.).’’.
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1 SEC. 422. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT COOPERATION IN EN2 FORCEMENT OF SUPPORT OBLIGATIONS OF

3 MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES AND

4 OTHER PERSONS ENTITLED TO PAYMENTS

5 BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.

6 (a) AVAILABILITY OF CURRENT LOCATOR INFORMA7 TION.—The Secretary of Defense shall prescribe regula8 tions providing for each worldwide personnel locator serv9 ice of the Armed Forces and each installation personnel

10 locator service of the Armed Forces—

11 (1) to include the residential address of each

12 member of the Armed Forces listed in such service;

13 (2) in the case of a change of duty station or

14 residential address of a member so listed, to be up15 dated with regard to the residential address of the

16 member within 30 days after the change of duty sta17 tion or residential address; and

18 (3) to make the information regarding the

19 member’s residential address available, on request,

20 to any authorized person (as defined in section

21 453(c) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 653(c))

22 for the purposes of part D of title IV of such Act.

23 (b) FACILITATING THE GRANTING OF LEAVE FOR

24 ATTENDANCE AT HEARINGS.—

25 (1) REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—The Secretary

26 of each military department shall prescribe regula-
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1 tions to facilitate the granting of leave to a member

2 of the Armed Forces under the jurisdiction of that

3 Secretary when necessary for the member to attend

4 a hearing of a Court that is conducted in connection

5 with a civil action—

6 (A) to determine whether the member is a

7 natural parent of a child; or

8 (B) to determine an obligation of the mem9 ber to provide child support.

10 (2) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—The regulations may

11 authorize a waiver of the applicability of the regula12 tions to a member of the Armed Forces when—

13 (A) the member is serving in an area of

14 combat operations; or

15 (B) such a waiver is otherwise necessary in

16 the national security interest of the United

17 States.

18 (3) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

19 (A) The term ‘‘Court’’ has the meaning

20 given such term in section 1408(a) of title 10,

21 United States Code.

22 (B) The term ‘‘child support’’ has the

23 meaning given such term in section 462 of the

24 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 662).
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1 (c) PAYMENT OF MILITARY RETIRED PAY IN COM2 PLIANCE WITH COURT ORDERS.—

3 (1) DATE OF CERTIFICATION OF COURT

4 ORDER.—Section 1408 of title 10, United States

5 Code, is amended—

6 (A) by redesignating subsection (h) as sub7 section (i); and

8 (B) by inserting after subsection (g) the

9 following new subsection (h):

10 ‘‘(h) CERTIFICATION DATE.—It is not necessary that

11 the date of a certification of the authenticity or complete12 ness of a copy of a court order for child support received

13 by the Secretary concerned for the purposes of this section

14 be recent in relation to the date of receipt.’’.

15 (2) PAYMENTS CONSISTENT WITH ASSIGN16 MENTS OF RIGHTS TO STATES.—

17 (A) AUTHORITY.—Subsection (d)(1) of

18 such section is amended by inserting after the

19 first sentence the following: ‘‘In the case of a

20 spouse or former spouse who, pursuant to sec21 tion 402(a)(26) of the Social Security Act (42

22 U.S.C. 602(26)), assigns to a State the rights

23 of the spouse or former spouse to receive sup24 port, the Secretary concerned may make the

25 child support payments referred to in the pre-
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1 ceding sentence to that State in amounts con2 sistent with the assignment of rights.’’.

3 (B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Subsection

4 (c)(2) of such section is amended—

5 (i) by inserting after the first sentence

6 the following: ‘‘The second sentence of sub7 section (d)(1) shall not be construed to

8 create any such right, title, or interest.’’;

9 (ii) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(2)’’;

10 and

11 (iii) by designating the last sentence

12 as subparagraph (B).

13 (3) ARREARAGES OWED BY MEMBERS OF THE

14 UNIFORMED SERVICES.—Part D of title IV (42

15 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) is amended by inserting after

16 section 465 the following new section:

17 ‘‘SEC. 465A. PAYMENT OF CHILD SUPPORT ARREARAGES

18 OWED BY MEMBERS OF THE UNIFORMED

19 SERVICES.

20 ‘‘Any authority, requirement, or procedure provided

21 in this part or section 1408 of title 10, United States

22 Code, that applies to the payment of child support owed

23 by a member of the uniformed services (as defined in sec24 tion 101 of title 37, United States Code) shall apply to
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1 the payment of child support arrearages as well as to

2 amounts of child support that are currently due.’’.

3 SEC. 423. UIFSA ENDORSEMENT.

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

5 at the end the following new subsection:

6 ‘‘(f) In order to satisfy section 454(20)(A), each

7 State must have in effect laws which adopt without mate8 rial change by January 1, 1997, the officially approved

9 version of the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act

10 adopted by the National Conference of Commissioners on

11 Uniform State Laws and approved by the American Bar

12 Association House of Delegates on February 9, 1993.’’.

13 TITLE V—COLLECTION AND

14 DISTRIBUTION

15 SEC. 501. PRIORITY OF DISTRIBUTION OF COLLECTIONS.

16 (a) STATE DISTRIBUTION PLAN.—Section 457 (42

17 U.S.C. 657) is amended by adding at the end the following

18 new subsection:

19 ‘‘(e) The amounts collected as support by a State

20 pursuant to a plan approved under this part during any

21 fiscal year beginning after September 30, 1996 (except

22 amounts collected through a tax refund offset), shall (sub23 ject to subsection (d) be distributed as follows:

24 ‘‘(1) To a current month’s child support obliga25 tion.
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1 ‘‘(2) After the fulfillment of the current

2 month’s obligation, to debts owed the family (other

3 than obligations under this title); if any right to

4 child support were assigned to the State, then all ar5 rearages that accrued after the child no longer re6 ceived assistance under this title are to be distrib7 uted to the family; States may include any

8 preassignment family-debt arrearages at this priority

9 level.

10 ‘‘(3) To reimburse the State making the collec11 tion for any assistance payments made to the family

12 (with appropriate reimbursement of the Federal

13 Government to the extent of its participation in the

14 financing).

15 ‘‘(4) To reimburse other States for payments

16 described in paragraph (3) (in the order in which

17 such payments occurred). The collecting State shall

18 continue to enforce the order until all such payments

19 have been reimbursed and to transmit the collections

20 and identifying information to the other State.’’.

21 (b) STUDY AND PILOT PROJECTS.—The Comptroller

22 General of the United States (hereafter in this subsection

23 referred to as the ‘‘Comptroller General’’) shall analyze

24 the existing child support distribution system under sec25 tion 457 of the Social Security Act and authorize pilot
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1 projects for the distribution of arrearages in the following

2 order:

3 (1) Application of all support collected first to

4 a current month’s child support obligation.

5 (2) Application of funds collected in excess of

6 the amount of the current month’s obligation to

7 debts owed the family (other than obligations under

8 this title).

9 (3) Using funds collected in excess of the debts

10 to the family and in excess of the amount of the cur11 rent support obligation, to reimburse the State mak12 ing the collection for any assistance payments made

13 to the family (with appropriate reimbursement of the

14 Federal Government to the extent of its participa15 tion in the financing).

16 (4) Using funds collected in excess of the cur17 rent month’s support obligation after the debt to the

18 family and the collecting State have been satisfied,

19 to reimburse other States for payments described in

20 paragraph (3) (in the order in which such payments

21 occurred). The collecting State shall continue to en22 force the order until all such payments have been re23 imbursed and to transmit the collections and identi24 fying information to the other State.
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1 (5) Subject to paragraph (6), the priority of

2 distribution of interest shall reflect the distribution

3 priority for the child support installment or the title

4 IV of the Social Security Act grant on which the in5 terest accrued.

6 (6) A State’s right to retain interest on as7 signed support is limited to the grant amount paid

8 by that State. All additional interest is to be distrib9 uted to the individual owed such support.

10 The pilot projects shall be awarded to States that allow

11 for the indefinite tolling of the statute of limitations on

12 debts under title IV of the Social Security Act and are

13 not governed by Federal case law that allows for the

14 dischargeability of such debts in bankruptcy. In analyzing

15 each pilot project a cost-benefit analysis, a welfare-medic16 aid-food stamp cost-avoidance analysis, and an analysis of

17 the family impact including a present value dollar valu18 ation of the distribution scheme shall be reported to the

19 Comptroller General. The Comptroller General shall re20 port the results of the study and pilot projects to the Con21 gress.

22 (c) REVISION OF FEDERAL INCOME TAX REFUND

23 OFFSET.—Section 6402 of the Internal Revenue Code of

24 1986 (relating to authority to make credits or refunds)

25 is amended—
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1 (1) by striking ‘‘after any other reductions al2 lowed by law (but before’’ in subsection (c) and in3 serting ‘‘before any other reductions allowed by law

4 (and before’’, and

5 (2) by striking ‘‘with respect to past-due sup6 port collected pursuant to an assignment under sec7 tion 402(a)(26) of the Social Security Act’’ in sub8 section (d).

9 (d) FIFTY-DOLLAR DISREGARDED FOR ALL MEANS10 TESTED PROGRAM.—Section 457(b)(1) (42 U.S.C.

11 657(b)(1)) is amended by inserting ‘‘under this part or

12 under any other Federal program which determines eligi13 bility for assistance or amount of such assistance based

14 on the income or assets of the applicant for or recipient

15 of such assistance’’ after ‘‘during such month’’.

16 (e) FILL-THE-GAP POLICIES ENCOURAGED.—The

17 Secretary of Health and Human Services shall, upon re18 quest by any State, grant a waiver under section

19 1115(a)(1) of the Social Security Act with respect to the

20 date limitations under section 402(a)(28) of such Act.

21 SEC. 502. RELATIONSHIP OF AFDC TO CSE—LIMITING REIM22 BURSEMENT CLAIMS TO AWARD AMOUNT.

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

24 section 421, is amended by inserting after paragraph (32)

25 the following new paragraph:
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1 ‘‘(33) Procedures under which any claims for

2 the child’s portion of the assistance under this title

3 such State may have against a noncustodial parent

4 shall be limited to the amount specified as child sup5 port under a court or administrative order.’’.

6 SEC. 503. FEES FOR NONAFDC CLIENTS.

7 Clause (ii) of section 454(6)(E) (42 U.S.C.

8 654(6)(E)) shall be amended to read as follows:

9 ‘‘(ii) at the option of the State, from any

10 individual other than the custodial parent;’’.

11 SEC. 504. COLLECTION AND DISBURSEMENT POINTS FOR

12 CHILD SUPPORT.

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

14 301, is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para15 graph (25), by striking the period at the end of paragraph

16 (26) and inserting ‘‘; and’’, and by inserting after para17 graph (26) the following new paragraph:

18 ‘‘(27) provide either one central, statewide col19 lection, accounting, and disbursement point for cases

20 under this part or several local or regional collection

21 and disbursement points throughout the State for all

22 cases.’’.
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1 TITLE VI—FEDERAL ROLE

2 SEC. 601. PLACEMENT AND ROLE OF THE FEDERAL CHILD

3 SUPPORT AGENCY.

4 Section 452(a) (42 U.S.C. 652(a)), as amended by

5 section 403 is amended—

6 (1) by striking ‘‘under the direction of a des7 ignee of the Secretary’’ and inserting ‘‘to be known

8 as the Office of Child Support Enforcement, under

9 the direction of an assistant secretary appointed by

10 the President with the advice and consent of the

11 Senate’’;

12 (2) by inserting ‘‘using a methodology that re13 flects cost-avoidance as well as cost-recovery’’ after

14 ‘‘the States and the Federal Government’’ in para15 graph (10)(A);

16 (3) by inserting ‘‘, including a separate legal

17 counsel for the Office’’ after ‘‘Enforcement’’ in para18 graph (10)(B);

19 (4) by redesignating subparagraphs (H) and (I)

20 of paragraph (10) as subparagraphs (I) and (J) of

21 such paragraph, respectively, and by inserting after

22 subparagraph (G) of such paragraph the following

23 new subparagraph:
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1 ‘‘(H) the budgetary allocation of the $50

2 pass through equally between part A and this

3 part;’’; and

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

5 (13), by striking the period at the end of paragraph

6 (14) and inserting ‘‘; and’’, and by inserting after

7 paragraph (14) the following new paragraph:

8 ‘‘(15) initiate and actively pursue with other

9 Federal agencies, coordinated efforts on Federal leg10 islation.’’.

11 SEC. 602. TRAINING.

12 (a) FEDERAL TRAINING ASSISTANCE.—Section

13 452(a)(7) (42 U.S.C. 652(a)(7)) is amended by inserting

14 ‘‘and training’’ after ‘‘technical assistance’’.

15 (b) STATE TRAINING PROGRAM.—Section 454 (42

16 U.S.C. 654), as amended by section 504, is amended by

17 striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph (26), by striking

18 the period at the end of paragraph (27) and inserting ‘‘;

19 and’’, and by inserting after paragraph (27) the following

20 new paragraph:

21 ‘‘(28) provide that the State will develop and

22 implement a training program which provides train23 ing no less than annually to all personnel providing

24 functions under the State plan.’’.
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1 (c) REPORT.—Section 452(a)(10) (42 U.S.C.

2 652(a)(10)), as amended by section 601, is amended by

3 redesignating subparagraphs (I) and (J) as subpara4 graphs (J) and (K), respectively, and by inserting after

5 subparagraph (H) the following new subparagraph:

6 ‘‘(I) the training activities at the Federal

7 and State levels, the training audit, and the

8 amount of funds expended on training;’’.

9 SEC. 603. STAFFING.

10 Section 452(a) (42 U.S.C. 652(a)), as amended by

11 section 601, is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of

12 paragraph (14), by striking the period at the end of para13 graph (15) and inserting ‘‘; and’’, and by inserting after

14 paragraph (15) the following new paragraph:

15 ‘‘(16) conduct staffing studies for each State

16 child support enforcement program, including each

17 agency and court involved in the child support proc18 ess, and report such results to the Congress and

19 State officials.’’.

20 SEC. 604. FUNDING AND INCENTIVES FOR CHILD SUPPORT

21 AGENCIES.

22 (a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the United

23 States shall study the incentive formula under section 458

24 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 458) and investigate

25 the feasibility, costs, and benefits of the following:
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1 (1) Encouraging States to centralize functions

2 at the State level.

3 (2) Abolishing minimum incentives to States as

4 well as the requirement that incentive funds be

5 passed to local child support enforcement agencies.

6 (3) Exploring incentive formula that are based

7 on increases in FFP for States that exceed perform8 ance criteria instead of the present percentage of

9 collections formula.

10 (4) Promoting quality control.

11 (5) Providing financial incentives for the en12 forcement of health-care expenses.

13 (6) Providing for a Federal incentive formula

14 that would include tying incentive amounts to per15 formance criteria that include total collections as a

16 denominator (not solely the amount of AFDC collec17 tions) and which are not solely based on cost-benefit

18 criteria alone.

19 (b) REPORT.—The Comptroller General of the Unit20 ed States shall report the results of the study described

21 in subsection (a) to the Congress not later than December

22 31, 1996.
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1 SEC. 605. CHILD SUPPORT DEFINITION.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 452 (42 U.S.C. 652) is

3 amended by adding at the end the following new sub4 section:

5 ‘‘(j) For purposes of this part, the term ‘child sup6 port’ includes periodic and lump sum payments for current

7 and past due economic support, payments of premiums for

8 health insurance for children, payments for or provision

9 of child care, and payments for educational expenses.’’.

10 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 462(b) (42

11 U.S.C. 662(b)) is amended—

12 (1) by inserting ‘‘and lump sum’’ after ‘‘peri13 odic’’, and

14 (2) by inserting ‘‘child care,’’ after ‘‘clothing,’’.

15 SEC. 606. AUDITS.

16 (a) STUDY.—The Secretary of Health and Human

17 Services shall contract for a study of the audit process

18 of the Office of Child Support Enforcement to develop cri19 teria and methodology for auditing State child support en20 forcement agencies established under part D of title IV

21 of the Social Security Act. The study shall be designed

22 to result in improvements to the auditing process that in23 clude—

24 (1) reduction in the resources required to per25 form the audit,
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1 (2) simplified procedures for States to follow in

2 obtaining samples,

3 (3) the feasibility of sampling cases for needed

4 action as opposed to the present audit methods that

5 require sampling plans for each audit criteria, and

6 (4) a more timely audit period of review.

7 The study shall also be designed to determine a penalty

8 process that focuses on improving the delivery of child

9 support services and not harming families, specifically a

10 penalty that is not tied to the reduction of funds available

11 to the States to provide payments under the Aid to Fami12 lies with Dependent Children program. Such a plan should

13 include the escrowing of funds withheld as penalties for

14 use by States in a federally approved program improve15 ment.

16 (b) REPORT.—The Secretary of Health and Human

17 Services shall report the results of the study described in

18 subsection (a) to the Congress not later than 90 days after

19 completion of the study.

20 (c) CONTINUATION OF OCSE’S AUDIT REVIEW.—

21 From the date of the report described in subsection (b),

22 the audit review of the Office of Child Support Enforce23 ment shall be limited to cases open on such date and cases

24 closed within 180 days before such date, unless there is

25 a specific need for a longitudinal review of State agency
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1 case handling that includes cases that have been closed

2 for more than 180 days. The criteria for longitudinal re3 views shall be established by regulation by the Secretary

4 of Health and Human Services. The Office of Child Sup5 port Enforcement shall continue to impose timeframes for

6 implementation and audit standards for each mandated

7 function under part D of title IV of the Social Security

8 Act.

9 SEC. 607. CHILD SUPPORT ASSURANCE DEMONSTRATION

10 PROJECTS.

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—In order to encourage States to

12 provide a guaranteed minimum level of child support for

13 every child not receiving such support, the Secretary of

14 Health and Human Services (hereafter in this section re15 ferred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall make grants to not less

16 than 6 States to conduct demonstration projects for the

17 purpose of establishing or improving a system of assured

18 minimum child support payments in accordance with this

19 section.

20 (b) CONTENTS OF APPLICATION.—An application for

21 grants under this section shall be submitted by the Gov22 ernor of a State and shall—

23 (1) contain a description of the proposed child

24 support assurance project to be established, imple25 mented, or enhanced using amounts provided under
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1 this section, including the specific activities to be un2 dertaken and the agencies that will be involved;

3 (2) specify whether the project will be carried

4 out throughout the State or in limited areas of the

5 State;

6 (3) estimate the number of children who will be

7 eligible for assured minimum child support payments

8 under the project, and the amounts to which such

9 children will be entitled on average as individuals

10 and in the aggregate;

11 (4) describe the child support guidelines and re12 view procedures which are in use in the State and

13 any expected modifications;

14 (5) contain a commitment by the State to carry

15 out the project during a period of not less than 3

16 fiscal years beginning with fiscal year 1996;

17 (6) specify the extent to which the State has

18 implemented (or will implement during the duration

19 of the project) major enforcement initiatives, such as

20 central registries, centralized administration, auto21 mated computer systems, administrative law sys22 tems, universal wage withholding, updating of or23 ders, access to State data bases, legal procedures for

24 paternity establishment (including in-hospital pater25 nity establishment), and enforcement tools;
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1 (7) specify the current relative quality of the

2 State enforcement system as compared to other

3 States, including the ratio of collections to accounts

4 receivables for the immediate past year, the ratio of

5 collections to accounts receivables for all past years,

6 the ratio of collections to administrative expendi7 tures, and the paternity establishment rate;

8 (8) provide assurances that the State perform9 ance meets or exceeds the national median paternity

10 establishment rate (as defined in section 452(g)(2)

11 of the Social Security Act) and provide assurances

12 the State will continue to improve its performance in

13 the number of cases in which—

14 (A) paternity is established,

15 (B) child support orders are collected, and

16 (C) child support collections are made; and

17 (9) contain such other information as the Sec18 retary may require by regulation.

19 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—A State shall use amounts pro20 vided under a grant awarded under this section to carry

21 out a child support assurance project designed to provide

22 a minimum monthly child support benefit for each child

23 in the State to the extent that such minimum child sup24 port is not paid in a month by the noncustodial parent.
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1 (d) REQUIREMENTS.—(1) A child support assurance

2 project funded under this section shall provide that—

3 (A) the custodial parent is eligible for the as4 sured child support benefit if—

5 (i) such parent establishes paternity and

6 has a child support order established;

7 (ii) more than 1 year has passed since

8 such parent applied, in writing to the State for

9 the establishment of paternity and a child sup10 port order and has complied with the require11 ments of paragraph (3), but neither paternity

12 nor a child support order has been established

13 due to circumstances beyond the control of the

14 parent; or

15 (iii) with respect to the custodial parent,

16 the danger of physical abuse of such parent is

17 shown;

18 (B) the assured child support benefit shall be

19 paid promptly to the custodial parent at least once

20 a month and shall be offset and reduced to the ex21 tent that the custodial parent receives child support

22 in a month from the noncustodial parent; and

23 (C) in the event that the family as a whole be24 comes ineligible for Aid to Families With Dependent

25 Children under part A of title IV of the Social Secu-
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1 rity Act due to consideration of assured child sup2 port benefits, the continuing eligibility of the care3 taker for Aid to Families With Dependent Children

4 under such title shall be calculated without consider5 ation of the assured child support benefit.

6 (2) For purposes of this section, the term ‘‘child’’

7 means an individual who is of such an age, disability, or

8 educational status as to be eligible for child support as

9 provided by the law of the State in which such individual

10 resides.

11 (3) The requirements of this paragraph are as fol12 lows:

13 (A) Provide the name of the alleged father.

14 (B) Provide sufficient information to verify the

15 identity of the person named, including the present

16 address of the person, the past or present place of

17 employment of the person, the past or present school

18 attended by the person, the name and address of the

19 person’s parents, friends or relatives that can pro20 vide location information for the person, the tele21 phone number of the person, the social security

22 number of the person, the date of birth of the per23 son, or other information that, if reasonable efforts

24 were made by the State, could lead to identify a par25 ticular person to be served with process.
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1 (C) Continue to provide all other relevant infor2 mation that the applicant has that may be requested

3 by the State.

4 (D) Appear at required interviews, conference

5 hearings or legal proceedings, if notified in advance

6 and an illness or emergency does not prevent attend7 ance.

8 (E) Submit (along with the child) to genetic

9 tests.

10 (4) For purposes of this section, the term ‘‘cir11 cumstances beyond the control of the parent’’ includes—

12 (A) failure of the State to make reasonable and

13 timely efforts to locate the noncustodial parent,

14 (B) instances in which the noncustodial parent

15 cannot be located despite the State’s reasonable ef16 forts because the noncustodial parent has dis17 appeared or moved out of the country,

18 (C) instances in which the noncustodial parent

19 has been located but the State has failed to serve

20 such parent with the legal papers,

21 (D) cases in which the State or courts have

22 failed to complete the legal process to establish pa23 ternity or set an award, and
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1 (E) other cases in which the State’s or court’s

2 action or inaction has resulted in the failure to es3 tablish paternity or set an award.

4 (e) CONSIDERATION AND PRIORITY OF APPLICA5 TIONS.—The Secretary shall consider all applications re6 ceived from States desiring to conduct demonstration

7 projects under this section and shall approve the 6 applica8 tions which appear likely to contribute significantly to the

9 achievement of the purpose of this section. In selecting

10 States to conduct demonstration projects under this sec11 tion, the Secretary shall consider geographic diversity, va12 riety in types of support guideline models used, and vari13 ation in population of the applicants.

14 (f) EVALUATION AND REPORTS.—(1) Each State

15 that conducts a demonstration project under this section

16 shall, as a part of such demonstration project, conduct an

17 interim and a final evaluation of the effectiveness of the

18 demonstration project and shall submit an interim and

19 final report to the Secretary concerning the results of the

20 evaluation and any improvements in child support enforce21 ment.

22 (2) The evaluation and report submitted by a State

23 to the Secretary shall analyze and describe (in such a

24 manner as prescribed by the Secretary)—
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1 (A) the impact of the child support assurance

2 project on the economic and noneconomic well-being

3 of children and adults in both custodial and

4 noncustodial households;

5 (B) the work force participation rates of both

6 custodial and noncustodial parents as a result of

7 participation in the child support assurance project;

8 (C) the impact of the child support assurance

9 project on Aid to Families With Dependent Children

10 participation rates, grants, and funding levels;

11 (D) the impact of the child support assurance

12 project on paternity establishment;

13 (E) a comparison of enforcement effectiveness

14 in intrastate and interstate cases;

15 (F) administrative policies and laws of the Fed16 eral Government and the State or a political subdivi17 sion of the State, identified by the State as impedi18 ments to the implementation of child support assur19 ance;

20 (G) the measures that the State has taken to

21 implement the project and the lessons learned there22 from by the State; and

23 (H) any other relevant items as the Secretary

24 may require.
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1 (g) DURATION.—A demonstration project conducted

2 under this section shall be commenced not later than fiscal

3 year 1996 and shall be conducted for not less than 3 and

4 not more than 5 consecutive fiscal years, except that the

5 Secretary may terminate a project before the end of such

6 period if the Secretary determines that the State conduct7 ing the project is not in substantial compliance with the

8 terms of the application approved by the Secretary under

9 this section.

10 (h) COST SAVINGS RECOVERY.—The Secretary shall

11 develop a methodology to identify any State cost savings

12 realized in connection with the implementation of a child

13 support assurance project conducted under this section.

14 Any such savings realized as a result of the implementa15 tion of a child support assurance project shall be utilized

16 for child support enforcement improvements or expansions

17 and improvements in the Aid to Families With Dependent

18 Children Program conducted under part A of title IV of

19 the Social Security Act within the participating State, and

20 Federal expenditures for such project within the State

21 shall be reduced in proportion to any such savings.

22 (i) EVALUATION AND REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Three

23 and 5 years after commencement of the first State child

24 support assurance project, the Secretary shall conduct an

25 evaluation of each such project and submit a report to the
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1 Committee on Finance and the Committee on Labor and

2 Human Resources of the Senate, and the Committee on

3 Ways and Means and the Committee on Economic and

4 Educational Opportunities of the House of Representa5 tives concerning the effectiveness of the child support as6 surance projects funded under this section. Such report

7 shall analyze the reports received by the Secretary under

8 subsection (f) from each participating State and shall

9 compare the effects of different types of child support

10 guidelines.

11 (j) RESTRICTIONS ON MATCHING AND USE OF

12 FUNDS.—(1) A State conducting a demonstration project

13 under this section shall be required—

14 (A) except as provided in paragraph (2), to pro15 vide not less than 15 percent of the total amounts

16 expended in each calendar year of the project to pay

17 the costs associated with the project funded under

18 this section; and

19 (B) to maintain its level of expenditures for

20 child support collection, enforcement, and payment

21 at the same level, or at a higher level, than such ex22 penditures were prior to such State’s participation in

23 a demonstration project provided by this section.

24 (2) A State participating in a demonstration project

25 under this section may provide no less than 10 percent
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1 of the total amounts expended to pay the costs associated

2 with the project funded under this section in years after

3 the first year such project is conducted in a State if the

4 State meets the improvements specified in subsection

5 (b)(6).

6 (k) TREATMENT OF CHILD SUPPORT BENEFIT.—

7 Any assured child support benefit received by an individ8 ual under this section shall be considered child support

9 for purposes of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

10 (l) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

11 are authorized to be appropriated and are appropriated

12 such sums as may be necessary in each of the fiscal years

13 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000, to carry out the pur14 poses of this section.

15 TITLE VII—STATE ROLE

16 SEC. 701. PROHIBITION OF RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT FOR

17 IV–D SERVICES.

18 Section 454 (42 U.S.C. 654), as amended by section

19 602, is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para20 graph (27), by striking the period at the end of paragraph

21 (28) and inserting ‘‘; and’’, and by inserting after para22 graph (28) the following new paragraph:

23 ‘‘(29) provide that an applicant may not be de24 nied services under the plan solely because of the ap25 plicant’s nonresidency in that State.’’.
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1 SEC. 702. ADVOCATING FOR CHILDREN’S ECONOMIC SECU2 RITY.

3 Section 454 (42 U.S.C. 654), as amended by section

4 701, is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para5 graph (28), by striking the period at the end of paragraph

6 (29) and inserting ‘‘; and’’, and by inserting after para7 graph (29) the following new paragraph:

8 ‘‘(30) provide that the State agency administer9 ing the plan shall advocate to promote the greatest

10 economic security possible for children, within the

11 ability of the individual who owes a child support ob12 ligation to pay such obligation.’’.

13 SEC. 703. DUTIES OF IV–D AGENCIES.

14 Section 454 (42 U.S.C. 654), as amended by section

15 702, is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para16 graph (29), by striking the period at the end of paragraph

17 (30) and inserting ‘‘; and’’, and by inserting after para18 graph (30) the following new paragraph:

19 ‘‘(31) provide that the State agency administer20 ing the plan shall provide to all custodial parents—

21 ‘‘(A) a written description of available

22 services and a statement articulating the prior23 ity of distribution and the degree of confiden24 tiality of information;

25 ‘‘(B) a statement that before the agency

26 consents to a dismissal with prejudice or a re-
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1 duction of arrearages, the agency shall provide

2 notice to the last known address at least 30

3 days before dismissal;

4 ‘‘(C) written quarterly reports on case sta5 tus;

6 ‘‘(D) a statement that services under this

7 part are mandatory if an individual is deter8 mined eligible under part A; and

9 ‘‘(E) a statement that while eligibility

10 under part A is being determined, an applicant

11 is eligible for services under this part and all

12 application fees are deferred pending such de13 termination.’’.

14 SEC. 704. BROADER ACCESS TO SERVICES.

15 It is the sense of the Congress that State and local

16 child support enforcement agencies should provide—

17 (1) offices in easily accessible locations near

18 public transportation,

19 (2) office hours that allow parents to meet with

20 attorneys and caseworkers without taking time off

21 from work, and

22 (3) office environments conducive to discussion

23 of legal and personal matters in privacy (e.g., indi24 vidual interview rooms and child care facilities).
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1 SEC. 705. PROCESS FOR CHANGE OF PAYEE IN IV–D CASES.

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

3 section 502, is amended by inserting after paragraph (33)

4 the following new paragraph:

5 ‘‘(34) Procedures under which a change in

6 payee may not require a court hearing or order to

7 take effect and may be done administratively, as

8 long as a statement by an agency official is included

9 in the court or administrative file documenting the

10 change.’’.

11 TITLE VIII—EFFECTIVE DATE

12 SEC. 801. EFFECTIVE DATE.

13 Except as otherwise provided in this Act, the amend14 ments made by this Act shall take effect on and after Jan15 uary 1, 1997.

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