II

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 442

To improve and strengthen the child support collection system, and for other

purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

FEBRUARY 16 (legislative day, JANUARY 30), 1995

Ms. SNOWE (for herself and Mr. DOLE) introduced the following bill; which

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

A BILL

To improve and strengthen the child support collection

system, and for other purposes.

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

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

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

6 ‘‘Child Support Responsibility Act of 1995’’.

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

8 as otherwise specifically provided, wherever 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.

TITLE I—IMPROVEMENTS TO THE CHILD SUPPORT COLLECTION

SYSTEM

Subtitle A—Eligibility and Other Matters Concerning Title IV–D Program

Clients

Sec. 101. State obligation to provide paternity establishment and child support

enforcement services.

Sec. 102. Distribution of payments.

Sec. 103. Due process rights.

Sec. 104. Privacy safeguards.

Subtitle B—Program Administration and Funding

Sec. 111. Federal matching payments.

Sec. 112. Performance-based incentives and penalties.

Sec. 113. Federal and State reviews and audits.

Sec. 114. Required reporting procedures.

Sec. 115. Automated data processing requirements.

Sec. 116. Director of CSE program; staffing study.

Sec. 117. Funding for secretarial assistance to State programs.

Sec. 118. Data collection and reports by the Secretary.

Subtitle C—Locate and Case Tracking

Sec. 121. Central State and case registry.

Sec. 122. Centralized collection and disbursement of support payments.

Sec. 123. Amendments concerning income withholding.

Sec. 124. Locator information from interstate networks.

Sec. 125. Expanded Federal Parent Locator Service.

Sec. 126. Use of Social Security numbers.

Subtitle D—Streamlining and Uniformity of Procedures

Sec. 131. Adoption of uniform State laws.

Sec. 132. Improvements to full faith and credit for child support orders.

Sec. 133. State laws providing expedited procedures.

Subtitle E—Paternity Establishment

Sec. 141. State laws concerning paternity establishment.

Sec. 142. Outreach for voluntary paternity establishment.

Subtitle F—Establishment and Modification of Support Orders

Sec. 151. National Child Support Guidelines Commission.

Sec. 152. Simplified process for review and adjustment of child support orders.
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Subtitle G—Enforcement of Support Orders

Sec. 161. Federal income tax refund offset.

Sec. 162. Internal Revenue Service collection of arrearages.

Sec. 163. Authority to collect support from Federal employees.

Sec. 164. Enforcement of child support obligations of members of the Armed

Forces.

Sec. 165. Motor vehicle liens.

Sec. 166. Voiding of fraudulent transfers.

Sec. 167. State law authorizing suspension of licenses.

Sec. 168. Reporting arrearages to credit bureaus.

Sec. 169. Extended statute of limitation for collection of arrearages.

Sec. 170. Charges for arrearages.

Sec. 171. Denial of passports for nonpayment of child support.

Sec. 172. International child support enforcement.

Subtitle H—Medical Support

Sec. 181. Technical correction to ERISA definition of medical child support

order.

TITLE II—INCREASED ACCESS TO FINANCIAL INFORMATION OF

NONCUSTODIAL PARENTS AND ADDITIONAL IMPROVEMENTS IN

ENFORCEMENT

Sec. 201. Nonliability for depository institutions providing financial records to

State child support enforcement agencies in child support

cases.

Sec. 202. Access to and use of consumer reports by State child support enforcement agencies in child support cases.

Sec. 203. Health care support.

Sec. 204. Annual reports on State compliance with time limits within which

State must provide certain child support assistance.

Sec. 205. Wages withheld by employers to pay child support obligations required to be paid to State within 10 days; late payment penalty

imposed on employers.

Sec. 206. National Parent Locator Network.

TITLE III—EFFECTIVE DATES

Sec. 301. Effective dates.
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1 TITLE I—IMPROVEMENTS TO

2 THE CHILD SUPPORT COL3 LECTION SYSTEM

4 Subtitle A—Eligibility and Other

5 Matters Concerning Title IV–D

6 Program Clients

7 SEC. 101. STATE OBLIGATION TO PROVIDE PATERNITY ES8 TABLISHMENT AND CHILD SUPPORT EN9 FORCEMENT SERVICES.

10 (a) STATE LAW REQUIREMENTS.—Section 466(a)

11 (42 U.S.C. 666(a)) is amended by adding at the end the

12 following new paragraph:

13 ‘‘(12) Procedures under which—

14 ‘‘(A) every child support order established

15 or modified in the State on or after October 1,

16 1998, is recorded in the central case registry

17 established in accordance with section 454A(e);

18 ‘‘(B) child support payments are collected

19 through the centralized collections unit estab20 lished in accordance with section 454B—

21 ‘‘(i) on and after October 1, 1998,

22 under each order subject to wage withhold23 ing under section 466(b); and

24 ‘‘(ii) on and after October 1, 1999,

25 under each other order required to be re-
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1 corded in such central case registry under

2 this paragraph or section 454A(e), except

3 as provided in subparagraph (C); and

4 ‘‘(C)(i) parties subject to a child support

5 order described in subparagraph (B)(ii) may

6 opt out of the procedure for payment of support

7 through the centralized collections unit (but not

8 the procedure for inclusion in the central case

9 registry) by filing with the State agency a writ10 ten agreement, signed by both parties, to an al11 ternative payment procedure; and

12 ‘‘(ii) an agreement described in clause (i)

13 becomes void whenever either party advises the

14 State agency of an intent to vacate the agree15 ment.’’.

16 (b) STATE PLAN REQUIREMENTS.—Section 454 (42

17 U.S.C. 654) is amended—

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

19 following new paragraph:

20 ‘‘(4) provide that such State will undertake—

21 ‘‘(A) to provide appropriate services under

22 this part to—

23 ‘‘(i) each child with respect to whom

24 an assignment is effective under section

25 402(a)(26), 471(a)(17), or 1912 (except in
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1 cases in which the State agency deter2 mines, in accordance with paragraph (25),

3 that it is against the best interests of the

4 child to do so); and

5 ‘‘(ii) each child not described in clause

6 (i)—

7 ‘‘(I) with respect to whom an in8 dividual applies for such services; and

9 ‘‘(II) on and after October 1,

10 1998, with respect to whom a support

11 order is recorded in the central State

12 case registry established under section

13 454A, regardless of whether applica14 tion is made for services under this

15 part; and

16 ‘‘(B) to enforce the support obligation es17 tablished with respect to the custodial parent of

18 a child described in subparagraph (A) unless

19 the parties to the order which establishes the

20 support obligation have opted, in accordance

21 with section 466(a)(12)(C), for an alternative

22 payment procedure.’’; and

23 (2) in paragraph (6)—
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1 (A) by striking ‘‘provide that’’ and all that

2 follows through subparagraph (A) and inserting

3 the following:

4 ‘‘provide that—

5 ‘‘(A) services under the State plan shall be

6 made available to nonresidents on the same

7 terms as to residents;’’;

8 (B) in subparagraph (B)—

9 (i) by inserting ‘‘on individuals not re10 ceiving assistance under part A’’ after

11 ‘‘such services shall be imposed’’; and

12 (ii) by inserting ‘‘but no fees or costs

13 shall be imposed on any absent or custo14 dial parent or other individual for inclusion

15 in the central State registry maintained

16 pursuant to section 454A(e);’’;

17 (C) in each of subparagraphs (B), (C), and

18 (D), by indenting such subparagraph and align19 ing its left margin with the left margin of sub20 paragraph (A); and

21 (D) in each of subparagraphs (B) and (C),

22 by striking the final comma and inserting a

23 semicolon.

24 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—
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1 (1) PATERNITY ESTABLISHMENT PERCENT2 AGE.—Section 452(g)(2)(A) (42 U.S.C.

3 652(g)(2)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘454(6)’’ each

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

5 (2) STATE PLAN.—Section 454(23) (42 U.S.C.

6 654(23)) is amended, effective October 1, 1998, by

7 striking ‘‘information as to any application fees for

8 such services and’’.

9 (3) PROCEDURES TO IMPROVE ENFORCE10 MENT.—Section 466(a)(3)(B) (42 U.S.C.

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

12 overdue support which a State has agreed to collect

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

14 case’’.

15 (4) DEFINITION OF OVERDUE SUPPORT.—Sec16 tion 466(e) (42 U.S.C. 666(e)) is amended by strik17 ing ‘‘or (6)’’.

18 SEC. 102. DISTRIBUTION OF PAYMENTS.

19 (a) DISTRIBUTIONS THROUGH STATE CHILD SUP20 PORT ENFORCEMENT AGENCY TO FORMER ASSISTANCE

21 RECIPIENTS.—Section 454(5) (42 U.S.C. 654(5)) is

22 amended—

23 (1) in subparagraph (A)—
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1 (A) by inserting ‘‘except as otherwise spe2 cifically provided in section 464 or 466(a)(3),’’

3 after ‘‘is effective,’’; and

4 (B) by striking ‘‘except that’’ and all that

5 follows through the semicolon; and

6 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘, except’’

7 and all that follows through ‘‘medical assistance’’.

8 (b) DISTRIBUTION TO A FAMILY CURRENTLY RE9 CEIVING AFDC.—Section 457 (42 U.S.C. 657) is amend10 ed—

11 (1) by striking subsection (a) and redesignating

12 subsection (b) as subsection (a);

13 (2) in subsection (a), as redesignated—

14 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (2),

15 to read as follows:

16 ‘‘(a) IN THE CASE OF A FAMILY RECEIVING

17 AFDC.—Amounts collected under this part during any

18 month as support of a child who is receiving assistance

19 under part A (or a parent or caretaker relative of such

20 a child) shall (except in the case of a State exercising the

21 option under subsection (b)) be distributed as follows:

22 ‘‘(1) an amount equal to the amount that will

23 be disregarded pursuant to section 402(a)(8)(A)(vi)

24 shall be taken from each of the—
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1 ‘‘(A) amounts received in a month which

2 represent payments for that month; and

3 ‘‘(B) amounts received in a month which

4 represent payments for a prior month which

5 were made by the absent parent;

6 and shall be paid to the family without affecting its

7 eligibility for assistance or decreasing any amount

8 otherwise payable as assistance to such family dur9 ing such month;’’; and

10 (B) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘or (B)’’

11 and all that follows through the period and in12 serting ‘‘; then (B) from any remainder,

13 amounts equal to arrearages of such support

14 obligations assigned, pursuant to part A, to any

15 other State or States shall be paid to such

16 other State or States and used to pay any such

17 arrearages (with appropriate reimbursement of

18 the Federal Government to the extent of its

19 participation in the financing); and then (C)

20 any remainder shall be paid to the family.’’; and

21 (3) by inserting after subsection (a), as redesig22 nated, the following new subsection:

23 ‘‘(b) ALTERNATIVE DISTRIBUTION IN CASE OF FAM24 ILY RECEIVING AFDC.—In the case of a State electing
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1 the option under this subsection, amounts collected as de2 scribed in subsection (a) shall be distributed as follows:

3 ‘‘(1) an amount equal to the amount that will

4 be disregarded pursuant to section 402(a)(8)(A)(vi)

5 shall be taken from each of the—

6 ‘‘(A) amounts received in a month which

7 represent payments for that month; and

8 ‘‘(B) amounts received in a month which

9 represent payments for a prior month which

10 were made by the absent parent;

11 and shall be paid to the family without affecting its

12 eligibility for assistance or decreasing any amount

13 otherwise payable as assistance to such family dur14 ing such month;

15 ‘‘(2) second, from any remainder, amounts

16 equal to the balance of support owed for the current

17 month shall be paid to the family;

18 ‘‘(3) third, from any remainder, amounts equal

19 to arrearages of such support obligations assigned,

20 pursuant to part A, to the State making the collec21 tion shall be retained and used by such State to pay

22 any such arrearages (with appropriate reimburse23 ment of the Federal Government to the extent of its

24 participation in the financing); and
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1 ‘‘(4) fourth, from any remainder, amounts

2 equal to arrearages of such support obligations as3 signed, pursuant to part A, to any other State or

4 States shall be paid to such other State or States

5 and used to pay any such arrearages (with appro6 priate reimbursement of the Federal Government to

7 the extent of its participation in the financing); and

8 ‘‘(5) fifth, any remainder shall be paid to the

9 family.’’.

10 (c) DISTRIBUTION TO A FAMILY NOT RECEIVING

11 AFDC.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 457(c) (42 U.S.C.

13 657(c)) is amended to read as follows:

14 ‘‘(c) DISTRIBUTION IN CASE OF FAMILY NOT RE15 CEIVING AFDC.—Amounts collected by a State agency

16 under this part during any month as support of a child

17 who is not receiving assistance under part A (or of a par18 ent or caretaker relative of such a child) shall (subject to

19 the remaining provisions of this section) be distributed as

20 follows:

21 ‘‘(1) first, amounts equal to the total of such

22 support owed for such month shall be paid to the

23 family;

24 ‘‘(2) second, from any remainder, amounts

25 equal to arrearages of such support obligations for
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1 months during which such child did not receive as2 sistance under part A shall be paid to the family;

3 ‘‘(3) third, from any remainder, amounts equal

4 to arrearages of such support obligations assigned to

5 the State making the collection pursuant to part A

6 shall be retained and used by such State to pay any

7 such arrearages (with appropriate reimbursement of

8 the Federal Government to the extent of its partici9 pation in the financing); and

10 ‘‘(4) fourth, from any remainder, amounts

11 equal to arrearages of such support obligations as12 signed to any other State pursuant to part A shall

13 be paid to such other State or States, and used to

14 pay such arrearages, in the order in which such ar15 rearages accrued (with appropriate reimbursement

16 of the Federal Government to the extent of its par17 ticipation in the financing).’’.

18 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made

19 by paragraph (1) shall become effective on October

20 1, 1999.

21 (d) DISTRIBUTION TO A CHILD RECEIVING ASSIST22 ANCE UNDER TITLE IV–E.—Section 457(d) (42 U.S.C.

23 657(d)) is amended, in the matter preceding paragraph

24 (1), by striking ‘‘Notwithstanding the preceding provisions

25 of this section, amounts’’ and inserting the following:
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1 ‘‘(d) IN CASE OF A CHILD RECEIVING ASSISTANCE

2 UNDER TITLE IV–E.—Amounts’’.

3 (e) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Health and

4 Human Services shall promulgate regulations—

5 (1) under part D of title IV of the Social Secu6 rity Act, establishing a uniform nationwide standard

7 for allocation of child support collections from an ob8 ligor owing support to more than 1 family; and

9 (2) under part A of such title, establishing

10 standards applicable to States electing the alter11 native formula under section 457(b) of such Act for

12 distribution of collections on behalf of families re13 ceiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children,

14 designed to minimize irregular monthly payments to

15 such families.

16 (f) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—Section 454 (42

17 U.S.C. 654) is amended—

18 (1) in paragraph (11)—

19 (A) by striking ‘‘(11)’’ and inserting

20 ‘‘(11)(A)’’; and

21 (B) by inserting after the semicolon ‘‘and’’;

22 and

23 (2) by redesignating paragraph (12) as sub24 paragraph (B) of paragraph (11).

25 (g) MANDATORY CHILD SUPPORT PASS-THROUGH.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 402(a)(8)(A)(vi) (42

2 U.S.C. 602(a)(8)(A)(vi)) is amended—

3 (A) by striking ‘‘$50’’ each place it ap4 pears and inserting ‘‘$50, or, if greater, $50

5 adjusted by the CPI (as prescribed in section

6 406(i));’’; and

7 (B) by striking the semicolon at the end

8 and inserting ‘‘or, in lieu of each dollar amount

9 specified in this clause, such greater amount as

10 the State may choose (and provide for in its

11 State plan);’’.

12 (2) CPI ADJUSTMENT.—Section 406 (42

13 U.S.C. 606) is amended by adding at the end the

14 following new subsection:

15 ‘‘(i) For purposes of this part, an amount is ‘adjusted

16 by the CPI’ for any month in a calendar year by multiply17 ing the amount involved by the ratio of—

18 ‘‘(1) the Consumer Price Index (as prepared by

19 the Department of Labor) for the third quarter of

20 the preceding calendar year, to

21 ‘‘(2) such Consumer Price Index for the third

22 quarter of calendar year 1996,

23 and rounding the product, if not a multiple of $10, to the

24 nearest multiple of $10.’’.
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1 SEC. 103. DUE PROCESS RIGHTS.

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

3 amended by section 102(f), is amended by inserting after

4 paragraph (11) the following new paragraph:

5 ‘‘(12) provide for procedures to ensure that—

6 ‘‘(A) individuals who are applying for or

7 receiving services under this part, or are parties

8 to cases in which services are being provided

9 under this part—

10 ‘‘(i) receive notice of all proceedings in

11 which support obligations might be estab12 lished or modified; and

13 ‘‘(ii) receive a copy of any order estab14 lishing or modifying a child support obliga15 tion, or (in the case of a petition for modi16 fication) a notice of determination that

17 there should be no change in the amount

18 of the child support award, within 14 days

19 after issuance of such order or determina20 tion;

21 ‘‘(B) individuals applying for or receiving

22 services under this part have access to a fair

23 hearing that meets standards established by the

24 Secretary and ensures prompt consideration

25 and resolution of complaints (but the resort to
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1 such procedure shall not stay the enforcement

2 of any support order); and

3 ‘‘(C)(i) individuals adversely affected by

4 the establishment or modification of (or, in the

5 case of a petition for modification, the deter6 mination that there should be no change in) a

7 child support order shall be afforded not less

8 than 30 days after the receipt of the order or

9 determination to initiate proceedings to chal10 lenge such order or determination; and

11 ‘‘(ii) the State may not provide to any

12 noncustodial parent of a child representation re13 lating to the establishment or modification of

14 an order for the payment of child support with

15 respect to that child, unless the State makes

16 provision for such representation outside the

17 State agency;’’.

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

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

20 SEC. 104. PRIVACY SAFEGUARDS.

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

22 U.S.C. 454) is amended—

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

24 (23);
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1 (2) by striking the period at the end of para2 graph (24) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

3 (3) by adding after paragraph (24) the follow4 ing:

5 ‘‘(25) provide that the State will have in effect

6 safeguards applicable to all sensitive and confidential

7 information handled by the State agency designed to

8 protect the privacy rights of the parties, including—

9 ‘‘(A) safeguards against unauthorized use

10 or disclosure of information relating to proceed11 ings or actions to establish paternity, or to es12 tablish or enforce support;

13 ‘‘(B) prohibitions on the release of infor14 mation on the whereabouts of 1 party to an15 other party against whom a protective order

16 with respect to the former party has been en17 tered; and

18 ‘‘(C) prohibitions on the release of infor19 mation on the whereabouts of 1 party to an20 other party if the State has reason to believe

21 that the release of the information may result

22 in physical or emotional harm to the former

23 party.’’.

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

25 subsection (a) shall become effective on October 1, 1997.
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1 Subtitle B—Program

2 Administration and Funding

3 SEC. 111. FEDERAL MATCHING PAYMENTS.

4 (a) INCREASED BASE MATCHING RATE.—Section

5 455(a)(2) (42 U.S.C. 655(a)(2)) is amended to read as

6 follows:

7 ‘‘(2) The applicable percent for a quarter for pur8 poses of paragraph (1)(A) is—

9 ‘‘(A) for fiscal year 1997, 69 percent;

10 ‘‘(B) for fiscal year 1998, 72 percent; and

11 ‘‘(C) for fiscal year 1999 and succeeding fiscal

12 years, 75 percent.’’.

13 (b) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—Section 455 (42

14 U.S.C. 655) is amended—

15 (1) in subsection (a)(1), in the matter preced16 ing subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘From’’ and in17 serting ‘‘Subject to subsection (c), from’’; and

18 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the follow19 ing new subsection:

20 ‘‘(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a),

21 total expenditures for the State program under this part

22 for fiscal year 1997 and each succeeding fiscal year, re23 duced by the percentage specified for such fiscal year

24 under subsection (a)(2), shall not be less than such total

25 expenditures for fiscal year 1996, reduced by 66 percent.’’.
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1 SEC. 112. PERFORMANCE-BASED INCENTIVES AND PEN2 ALTIES.

3 (a) INCENTIVE ADJUSTMENTS TO FEDERAL MATCH4 ING RATE.—Section 458 (42 U.S.C. 658) is amended to

5 read as follows:

6 ‘‘INCENTIVE ADJUSTMENTS TO MATCHING RATE

7 ‘‘SEC. 458. (a) INCENTIVE ADJUSTMENT.—

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In order to encourage and

9 reward State child support enforcement programs

10 which perform in an effective manner, the Federal

11 matching rate for payments to a State under section

12 455(a)(1)(A), for each fiscal year beginning on or

13 after October 1, 1996, shall be increased by a factor

14 reflecting the sum of the applicable incentive adjust15 ments (if any) determined in accordance with regu16 lations under this section with respect to Statewide

17 paternity establishment and to overall performance

18 in child support enforcement.

19 ‘‘(2) STANDARDS.—

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

21 specify in regulations—

22 ‘‘(i) the levels of accomplishment, and

23 rates of improvement as alternatives to

24 such levels, which States must attain to

25 qualify for incentive adjustments under

26 this section; and
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1 ‘‘(ii) the amounts of incentive adjust2 ment that shall be awarded to States

3 achieving specified accomplishment or im4 provement levels, which amounts shall be

5 graduated, ranging up to—

6 ‘‘(I) 5 percentage points, in con7 nection with Statewide paternity es8 tablishment; and

9 ‘‘(II) 10 percentage points, in

10 connection with overall performance in

11 child support enforcement.

12 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—In setting performance

13 standards pursuant to subparagraph (A)(i) and

14 adjustment amounts pursuant to subparagraph

15 (A)(ii), the Secretary shall ensure that the ag16 gregate number of percentage point increases as

17 incentive adjustments to all States do not ex18 ceed such aggregate increases as assumed by

19 the Secretary in estimates of the cost of this

20 section as of June 1995, unless the aggregate

21 performance of all States exceeds the projected

22 aggregate performance of all States in such cost

23 estimates.

24 ‘‘(3) DETERMINATION OF INCENTIVE ADJUST25 MENT.—The Secretary shall determine the amount
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1 (if any) of incentive adjustment due each State on

2 the basis of the data submitted by the State pursu3 ant to section 454(15)(B) concerning the levels of

4 accomplishment (and rates of improvement) with re5 spect to performance indicators specified by the Sec6 retary pursuant to this section.

7 ‘‘(4) FISCAL YEAR SUBJECT TO INCENTIVE AD8 JUSTMENT.—The total percentage point increase de9 termined pursuant to this section with respect to a

10 State program in a fiscal year shall apply as an ad11 justment to the applicable percent under section

12 455(a)(2) for payments to such State for the suc13 ceeding fiscal year.

14 ‘‘(5) RECYCLING OF INCENTIVE ADJUST15 MENT.—A State shall expend in the State program

16 under this part all funds paid to the State by the

17 Federal Government as a result of an incentive ad18 justment under this section.

19 ‘‘(b) MEANING OF TERMS.—For purposes of this sec20 tion—

21 ‘‘(1) the term ‘Statewide paternity establish22 ment percentage’ means, with respect to a fiscal

23 year, the ratio (expressed as a percentage) of—

24 ‘‘(A) the total number of out-of-wedlock

25 children in the State under 1 year of age for
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1 whom paternity is established or acknowledged

2 during the fiscal year, to

3 ‘‘(B) the total number of children born out

4 of wedlock in the State during such fiscal year;

5 and

6 ‘‘(2) the term ‘overall performance in child sup7 port enforcement’ means a measure or measures of

8 the effectiveness of the State agency in a fiscal year

9 which takes into account factors including—

10 ‘‘(A) the percentage of cases requiring a

11 child support order in which such an order was

12 established;

13 ‘‘(B) the percentage of cases in which child

14 support is being paid;

15 ‘‘(C) the ratio of child support collected to

16 child support due; and

17 ‘‘(D) the cost-effectiveness of the State

18 program, as determined in accordance with

19 standards established by the Secretary in regu20 lations.’’.

21 (b) ADJUSTMENT OF PAYMENTS UNDER PART D OF

22 TITLE IV.—Section 455(a)(2) (42 U.S.C. 655(a)(2)), as

23 amended by section 111(a), is amended—

24 (1) by striking the period at the end of sub25 paragraph (C) and inserting a comma; and
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1 (2) by adding after subparagraph (C), flush

2 with the left margin of the paragraph, the following:

3 ‘‘increased by the incentive adjustment factor (if any) de4 termined by the Secretary pursuant to section 458.’’.

5 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 454(22)

6 (42 U.S.C. 654(22)) is amended—

7 (1) by striking ‘‘incentive payments’’ the first

8 place it appears and inserting ‘‘incentive adjust9 ments’’; and

10 (2) by striking ‘‘any such incentive payments

11 made to the State for such period’’ and inserting

12 ‘‘any increases in Federal payments to the State re13 sulting from such incentive adjustments’’.

14 (d) CALCULATION OF IV–D PATERNITY ESTABLISH15 MENT PERCENTAGE.—

16 (1) OVERALL PERFORMANCE.—Section

17 452(g)(1) (42 U.S.C. 652(g)(1)) is amended in the

18 matter preceding subparagraph (A) by inserting ‘‘its

19 overall performance in child support enforcement is

20 satisfactory (as determined under regulations pro21 mulgated by the Secretary), and’’ after ‘‘1994,’’.

22 (2) DEFINITION.—Section 452(g)(2) (42

23 U.S.C. 652(g)(2)) is amended in subparagraph (A),

24 in the matter preceding clause (i)—
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1 (i) by striking ‘‘paternity establish2 ment percentage’’ and inserting ‘‘IV–D pa3 ternity establishment percentage’’; and

4 (ii) by striking ‘‘(or all States, as the

5 case may be)’’.

6 (3) MODIFICATION OF REQUIREMENTS.—Sec7 tion 452(g)(3) (42 U.S.C. 652(g)(3)) is amended—

8 (A) by striking subparagraph (A) and re9 designating subparagraphs (B) and (C) as sub10 paragraphs (A) and (B), respectively;

11 (B) in subparagraph (A), as redesignated,

12 by striking ‘‘the percentage of children born

13 out-of-wedlock in the State’’ and inserting ‘‘the

14 percentage of children in the State who are

15 born out of wedlock or for whom support has

16 not been established’’; and

17 (C) in subparagraph (B), as redesig18 nated—

19 (i) by inserting ‘‘and overall perform20 ance in child support enforcement’’ after

21 ‘‘paternity establishment percentages’’; and

22 (ii) by inserting ‘‘and securing sup23 port’’ before the period.

24 (4) OVERALL PERFORMANCE IN CHILD SUP25 PORT ENFORCEMENT.—Section 452(g) (42 U.S.C.
26

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1 652(g)) is amended by adding at the end the follow2 ing new paragraph:

3 ‘‘(4) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘over4 all performance in child support enforcement’ shall have

5 the same meaning given such term by section 458(b).’’.

6 (e) REDUCTION OF PAYMENTS UNDER PART D OF

7 TITLE IV.—

8 (1) NEW REQUIREMENTS.—Section 455 (42

9 U.S.C. 655) is amended—

10 (A) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub11 section (f); and

12 (B) by inserting after subsection (d) the

13 following new subsection:

14 ‘‘(e)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law,

15 if the Secretary finds, with respect to a State program

16 under this part in a fiscal year beginning on or after Octo17 ber 1, 1997—

18 ‘‘(A)(i) on the basis of data submitted by a

19 State pursuant to section 454(15)(B), that the State

20 program in such fiscal year failed to achieve the IV–

21 D paternity establishment percentage (as defined in

22 section 452(g)(2)(A)) or the appropriate level of

23 overall performance in child support enforcement (as

24 defined in section 458(b)(2)), or to meet other per-
27

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1 formance measures that may be established by the

2 Secretary; or

3 ‘‘(ii) on the basis of an audit or audits of such

4 State data conducted pursuant to section

5 452(a)(4)(C), that the State data submitted pursu6 ant to section 454(15)(B) is incomplete or unreli7 able; and

8 ‘‘(B) that, with respect to the succeeding fiscal

9 year—

10 ‘‘(i) the State failed to take sufficient cor11 rective action to achieve the appropriate per12 formance levels as described in subparagraph

13 (A)(i) of this paragraph; or

14 ‘‘(ii) the data submitted by the State pur15 suant to section 454(15)(B) is incomplete or

16 unreliable,

17 the amounts otherwise payable to the State under this

18 part for quarters following the end of such succeeding fis19 cal year, prior to quarters following the end of the first

20 quarter throughout which the State program is in compli21 ance with such performance requirement, shall be reduced

22 by the percentage specified in paragraph (2).

23 ‘‘(2) The reductions required under paragraph (1)

24 shall be—
28

•S 442 IS

1 ‘‘(A) not less than 6 nor more than 8 percent;

2 or

3 ‘‘(B) not less than 8 nor more than 12 percent,

4 if the finding is the second consecutive finding made

5 pursuant to paragraph (1); or

6 ‘‘(C) not less than 12 nor more than 15 per7 cent, if the finding is the third or a subsequent con8 secutive such finding.

9 ‘‘(3) For purposes of this subsection, section

10 402(a)(27), and section 452(a)(4), a State which is deter11 mined as a result of an audit to have submitted incomplete

12 or unreliable data pursuant to section 454(15)(B), shall

13 be determined to have submitted adequate data if the Sec14 retary determines that the extent of the incompleteness

15 or unreliability of the data is of a technical nature which

16 does not adversely affect the determination of the level of

17 the State’s performance.’’.

18 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

19 (A) PAYMENTS TO STATES.—Section 403

20 (42 U.S.C. 603) is amended by striking sub21 section (h).

22 (B) DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY.—Sub23 sections (d)(3)(A), (g)(1), and (g)(3)(A) of sec24 tion 452 (42 U.S.C. 652) are each amended by

25 striking ‘‘403(h)’’ and inserting ‘‘455(e)’’.
29

•S 442 IS

1 (f) EFFECTIVE DATES.—

2 (1) INCENTIVE ADJUSTMENTS.—The amend3 ments made by subsections (a), (b), and (c) shall be4 come effective on October 1, 1996.

5 (2) PENALTY REDUCTIONS.—

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made

7 by subsection (d) shall become effective with re8 spect to calendar quarters beginning on and

9 after the date of the enactment of this Act.

10 (B) REDUCTIONS.—The amendments

11 made by subsection (e) shall become effective

12 with respect to calendar quarters beginning on

13 and after the date 1 year after the date of the

14 enactment of this Act.

15 SEC. 113. FEDERAL AND STATE REVIEWS AND AUDITS.

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

17 U.S.C. 654) is amended—

18 (1) in paragraph (14)—

19 (A) by striking ‘‘(14)’’ and inserting

20 ‘‘(14)(A)’’; and

21 (B) by inserting after the semicolon ‘‘and’’;

22 (2) by redesignating paragraph (15) as sub23 paragraph (B) of paragraph (14); and

24 (3) by inserting after paragraph (14) the fol25 lowing new paragraph:
30

•S 442 IS

1 ‘‘(15) provide for—

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

3 reports to the Secretary on the State program

4 under this part—

5 ‘‘(i) which shall include such informa6 tion as may be necessary to measure State

7 compliance with Federal requirements for

8 expedited procedures and timely case proc9 essing, using such standards and proce10 dures as are required by the Secretary;

11 and

12 ‘‘(ii) under which the State agency

13 will determine the extent to which such

14 program is in conformity with applicable

15 requirements with respect to the operation

16 of State programs under this part (includ17 ing the status of complaints filed under the

18 procedure required under paragraph

19 (12)(B)); and

20 ‘‘(B) a process of extracting from the

21 State automated data processing system and

22 transmitting to the Secretary data and calcula23 tions concerning the levels of accomplishment

24 (and rates of improvement) with respect to ap25 plicable performance indicators (including IV–D
31

•S 442 IS

1 paternity establishment percentages and overall

2 performance in child support enforcement) to

3 the extent necessary for purposes of sections

4 452(g) and 458.’’.

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

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

7 ‘‘(4)(A) review data and calculations transmit8 ted by State agencies pursuant to section

9 454(15)(B) on State program accomplishments with

10 respect to performance indicators for purposes of

11 section 452(g) and 458, and determine the amount

12 (if any) of penalty reductions pursuant to section

13 455(e) to be applied to the State;

14 ‘‘(B) review annual reports by State agencies

15 pursuant to section 454(15)(A) on State program

16 conformity with Federal requirements, evaluate any

17 elements of a State program in which significant de18 ficiencies are indicated by such report on the status

19 of complaints under the State procedure under sec20 tion 454(12)(B), and, as appropriate, provide to the

21 State agency comments, recommendations for addi22 tional or alternative corrective actions, and technical

23 assistance; and
32

•S 442 IS

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

2 government auditing standards of the United States

3 Comptroller General—

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

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

6 meet requirements of this part, or of regula7 tions implementing such requirements, concern8 ing performance standards and reliability of

9 program data) to assess the completeness, reli10 ability, and security of the data, and the accu11 racy of the reporting systems, used for the cal12 culations of performance indicators specified in

13 subsection (g) and section 458;

14 ‘‘(ii) of the adequacy of financial manage15 ment of the State program, including assess16 ments of—

17 ‘‘(I) whether Federal and other funds

18 made available to carry out the State pro19 gram under this part are being appro20 priately expended, and are properly and

21 fully accounted for; and

22 ‘‘(II) whether collections and disburse23 ments of support payments and program

24 income are carried out correctly and are

25 properly and fully accounted for; and
33

•S 442 IS

1 ‘‘(iii) for such other purposes as the Sec2 retary may find necessary;’’.

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

4 this section shall be effective with respect to calendar

5 quarters beginning on or after the date which is 1 year

6 after the date of the enactment of this section.

7 SEC. 114. REQUIRED REPORTING PROCEDURES.

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

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

11 information required to be provided under this part, and

12 establish uniform definitions (including those necessary to

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

15 timely case processing) to be applied in following such pro16 cedures’’ before the semicolon.

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

18 U.S.C. 654), as amended by section 104(a), is amended—

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

20 (24);

21 (2) by striking the period at the end of para22 graph (25) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

23 (3) by adding after paragraph (25) the follow24 ing new paragraph:
34

•S 442 IS

1 ‘‘(26) provide that the State shall use the defi2 nitions established under section 452(a)(5) in col3 lecting and reporting information as required under

4 this part.’’.

5 SEC. 115. AUTOMATED DATA PROCESSING REQUIREMENTS.

6 (a) REVISED REQUIREMENTS.—

7 (1) STATE PLAN.—Section 454(16) (42 U.S.C.

8 654(16)) is amended—

9 (A) by striking ‘‘, at the option of the

10 State,’’;

11 (B) by inserting ‘‘and operation by the

12 State agency’’ after ‘‘for the establishment’’;

13 (C) by inserting ‘‘meeting the requirements

14 of section 454A’’ after ‘‘information retrieval

15 system’’;

16 (D) by striking ‘‘in the State and localities

17 thereof, so as (A)’’ and inserting ‘‘so as’’;

18 (E) by striking ‘‘(i)’’; and

19 (F) by striking ‘‘(including, but not limited

20 to,’’ and all that follows through the semicolon

21 and inserting a semicolon.

22 (2) AUTOMATED DATA PROCESSING.—Part D of

23 title IV (42 U.S.C. 651–669) is amended by insert24 ing after section 454 the following new section:
35

•S 442 IS

1 ‘‘AUTOMATED DATA PROCESSING

2 ‘‘SEC. 454A. (a) IN GENERAL.—In order to meet the

3 requirements of this section, for purposes of the require4 ment of section 454(16), a State agency shall have in op5 eration a single statewide automated data processing and

6 information retrieval system which has the capability to

7 perform the tasks specified in this section, and performs

8 such tasks with the frequency and in the manner specified

9 in this part or in regulations or guidelines of the Sec10 retary.

11 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM MANAGEMENT.—The automated sys12 tem required under this section shall perform such func13 tions as the Secretary may specify relating to management

14 of the program under this part, including—

15 ‘‘(1) controlling and accounting for use of Fed16 eral, State, and local funds to carry out such pro17 gram; and

18 ‘‘(2) maintaining the data necessary to meet

19 Federal reporting requirements on a timely basis.

20 ‘‘(c) CALCULATION OF PERFORMANCE INDICA21 TORS.—In order to enable the Secretary to determine the

22 incentive and penalty adjustments required by sections

23 452(g) and 458, the State agency shall—

24 ‘‘(1) use the automated system—
36

•S 442 IS

1 ‘‘(A) to maintain the requisite data on

2 State performance with respect to paternity es3 tablishment and child support enforcement in

4 the State; and

5 ‘‘(B) to calculate the IV–D paternity es6 tablishment percentage and overall performance

7 in child support enforcement for the State for

8 each fiscal year; and

9 ‘‘(2) have in place systems controls to ensure

10 the completeness, and reliability of, and ready access

11 to, the data described in paragraph (1)(A), and the

12 accuracy of the calculations described in paragraph

13 (1)(B).

14 ‘‘(d) INFORMATION INTEGRITY AND SECURITY.—The

15 State agency shall have in effect safeguards on the integ16 rity, accuracy, and completeness of, access to, and use of

17 data in the automated system required under this section,

18 which shall include the following (in addition to such other

19 safeguards as the Secretary specifies in regulations):

20 ‘‘(1) POLICIES RESTRICTING ACCESS.—Written

21 policies concerning access to data by State agency

22 personnel, and sharing of data with other persons,

23 which—
37

•S 442 IS

1 ‘‘(A) permit access to and use of data only

2 to the extent necessary to carry out program re3 sponsibilities;

4 ‘‘(B) specify the data which may be used

5 for particular program purposes, and the per6 sonnel permitted access to such data; and

7 ‘‘(C) ensure that data obtained or disclosed

8 for a limited program purpose is not used or

9 redisclosed for another, impermissible purpose.

10 ‘‘(2) SYSTEMS CONTROLS.—Systems controls

11 (such as passwords or blocking of fields) to ensure

12 strict adherence to the policies specified under para13 graph (1).

14 ‘‘(3) MONITORING OF ACCESS.—Routine mon15 itoring of access to and use of the automated sys16 tem, through methods such as audit trails and feed17 back mechanisms, to guard against and promptly

18 identify unauthorized access or use.

19 ‘‘(4) TRAINING AND INFORMATION.—The State

20 agency shall have in effect procedures to ensure that

21 all personnel (including State and local agency staff

22 and contractors) who may have access to or be re23 quired to use sensitive or confidential program data

24 are fully informed of applicable requirements and
38

•S 442 IS

1 penalties, and are adequately trained in security pro2 cedures.

3 ‘‘(5) PENALTIES.—The State agency shall have

4 in effect administrative penalties (up to and includ5 ing dismissal from employment) for unauthorized ac6 cess to, or disclosure or use of, confidential data.’’.

7 (3) REGULATIONS.—Section 452 (42 U.S.C.

8 652) is amended by adding at the end the following

9 new subsection:

10 ‘‘(j) The Secretary shall prescribe final regulations

11 for implementation of the requirements of section 454A

12 not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of

13 this subsection.’’.

14 (4) IMPLEMENTATION TIMETABLE.—Section

15 454(24) (42 U.S.C. 654(24)), as amended by sec16 tions 104(a)(2) and 114(b)(1), is amended to read

17 as follows:

18 ‘‘(24) provide that the State will have in effect

19 an automated data processing and information re20 trieval system—

21 ‘‘(A) by October 1, 1995, meeting all re22 quirements of this part which were enacted on

23 or before the date of the enactment of the Fam24 ily Support Act of 1988; and
39

•S 442 IS

1 ‘‘(B) by October 1, 1999, meeting all re2 quirements of this part enacted on or before the

3 date of the enactment of the Child Support Re4 sponsibility Act of 1995 (but this provision

5 shall not be construed to alter earlier deadlines

6 specified for elements of such system), except

7 that such deadline shall be extended by 1 day

8 for each day (if any) by which the Secretary

9 fails to meet the deadline imposed by section

10 452(j);’’.

11 (b) SPECIAL FEDERAL MATCHING RATE FOR DE12 VELOPMENT COSTS OF AUTOMATED SYSTEMS.—Section

13 455(a) (42 U.S.C. 655(a)) is amended—

14 (1) in paragraph (1)(B)—

15 (A) by striking ‘‘90 percent’’ and inserting

16 ‘‘the percent specified in paragraph (3)’’;

17 (B) by striking ‘‘so much of’’; and

18 (C) by striking ‘‘which the Secretary’’ and

19 all that follows through ‘‘thereof’’; and

20 (2) by adding at the end the following new

21 paragraph:

22 ‘‘(3)(A) The Secretary shall pay to each State, for

23 each quarter in fiscal year 1996, 90 percent of so much

24 of State expenditures described in paragraph (1)(B) as the

25 Secretary finds are for a system meeting the requirements
40

•S 442 IS

1 specified in section 454(16), or meeting such requirements

2 without regard to subparagraph (D) thereof.

3 ‘‘(B)(i) The Secretary shall pay to each State, for

4 each quarter in fiscal years 1997 through 2001, the per5 centage specified in clause (ii) of so much of State expend6 itures described in paragraph (1)(B) as the Secretary

7 finds are for a system meeting the requirements specified

8 in section 454(16) and 454A, subject to clause (iii).

9 ‘‘(ii) The percentage specified in this clause, for pur10 poses of clause (i), is the higher of—

11 ‘‘(I) 80 percent; or

12 ‘‘(II) the percentage otherwise applicable to

13 Federal payments to the State under subparagraph

14 (A) (as adjusted pursuant to section 458).’’.

15 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 123(c) of

16 the Family Support Act of 1988 (102 Stat. 2352; Public

17 Law 100–485) is repealed.

18 SEC. 116. DIRECTOR OF CSE PROGRAM; STAFFING STUDY.

19 (a) REPORTING TO SECRETARY.—Section 452(a) (42

20 U.S.C. 652(a)) is amended in the matter preceding para21 graph (1) by striking ‘‘directly’’.

22 (b) STAFFING STUDIES.—

23 (1) SCOPE.—The Secretary of Health and

24 Human Services (in this subsection referred to as

25 the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall, directly or by contract, con-
41

•S 442 IS

1 duct studies of the staffing of each State child sup2 port enforcement program under part D of title IV

3 of the Social Security Act. Such studies shall—

4 (A) include a review of the staffing needs

5 created by requirements for automated data

6 processing, maintenance of a central case reg7 istry, and centralized collections of child sup8 port, and of changes in these needs resulting

9 from changes in such requirements; and

10 (B) examine and report on effective staff11 ing practices used by the States and on rec12 ommended staffing procedures.

13 (2) FREQUENCY OF STUDIES.—The Secretary

14 shall complete the first staffing study required under

15 paragraph (1) not later than October 1, 1997, and

16 may conduct additional studies subsequently at ap17 propriate intervals.

18 (3) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary

19 shall submit a report to the Congress stating the

20 findings and conclusions of each study conducted

21 under this subsection.
42

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1 SEC. 117. FUNDING FOR SECRETARIAL ASSISTANCE TO

2 STATE PROGRAMS.

3 Section 452 (42 U.S.C. 652), as amended by section

4 115(a)(3), is amended by adding at the end the following

5 new subsection:

6 ‘‘(k)(1) There shall be available to the Secretary,

7 from amounts appropriated for fiscal year 1996 and each

8 succeeding fiscal year for payments to States under this

9 part, the amount specified in paragraph (2) for the costs

10 to the Secretary for—

11 ‘‘(A) information dissemination and technical

12 assistance to States, training of State and Federal

13 staff, staffing studies, and related activities needed

14 to improve programs (including technical assistance

15 concerning State automated systems);

16 ‘‘(B) research, demonstration, and special

17 projects of regional or national significance relating

18 to the operation of State programs under this part;

19 and

20 ‘‘(C) operation of the Federal Parent Locator

21 Service under section 453, to the extent such costs

22 are not recovered through user fees.

23 ‘‘(2) The amount specified in this paragraph for a

24 fiscal year is the amount equal to a percentage of the re25 duction in Federal payments to States under part A on

26 account of child support (including arrearages) collected
43

•S 442 IS

1 in the preceding fiscal year on behalf of children receiving

2 aid under such part A in such preceding fiscal year (as

3 determined on the basis of the most recent reliable data

4 available to the Secretary as of the end of the third cal5 endar quarter following the end of such preceding fiscal

6 year), equal to—

7 ‘‘(A) 1 percent, for the activities specified in

8 subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1); and

9 ‘‘(B) 2 percent, for the activities specified in

10 subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1).’’.

11 SEC. 118. DATA COLLECTION AND REPORTS BY THE SEC12 RETARY.

13 (a) ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.—

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 452(a)(10)(A) (42

15 U.S.C. 652(a)(10)(A)) is amended—

16 (A) by striking ‘‘this part;’’ and inserting

17 ‘‘this part, including—’’; and

18 (B) by adding at the end the following in19 dented clauses:

20 ‘‘(i) the total amount of child support

21 payments collected as a result of services

22 furnished during such fiscal year to indi23 viduals receiving services under this part;
44

•S 442 IS

1 ‘‘(ii) the cost to the States and to the

2 Federal Government of furnishing such

3 services to those individuals; and

4 ‘‘(iii) the number of cases involving

5 families—

6 ‘‘(I) who became ineligible for aid

7 under part A during a month in such

8 fiscal year; and

9 ‘‘(II) with respect to whom a

10 child support payment was received in

11 the same month;’’.

12 (2) CERTAIN DATA.—Section 452(a)(10)(C) (42

13 U.S.C. 652(a)(10)(C)) is amended—

14 (A) in the matter preceding clause (i), by

15 striking ‘‘with the data required under each

16 clause being separately stated for cases’’ and all

17 that follows through ‘‘part:’’ and inserting ‘‘sep18 arately stated for cases where the child is re19 ceiving aid to families with dependent children

20 (or foster care maintenance payments under

21 part E), or formerly received such aid or pay22 ments and the State is continuing to collect

23 support assigned to it under section 402(a)(26),

24 471(a)(17), or 1912, and all other cases under

25 this part—’’;
45

•S 442 IS

1 (B) in each of clauses (i) and (ii), by strik2 ing ‘‘, and the total amount of such obliga3 tions’’;

4 (C) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘described

5 in’’ and all that follows through the semicolon

6 and inserting ‘‘in which support was collected

7 during the fiscal year;’’;

8 (D) by striking clause (iv);

9 (E) by redesignating clause (v) as clause

10 (vii), and inserting after clause (iii) the follow11 ing new clauses:

12 ‘‘(iv) the total amount of support col13 lected during such fiscal year and distrib14 uted as current support;

15 ‘‘(v) the total amount of support col16 lected during such fiscal year and distrib17 uted as arrearages;

18 ‘‘(vi) the total amount of support due

19 and unpaid for all fiscal years; and’’.

20 (3) USE OF FEDERAL COURTS.—Section

21 452(a)(10)(G) (42 U.S.C. 652(a)(10)(G)) is amend22 ed by striking ‘‘on the use of Federal courts and’’.

23 (4) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION NOT NEC24 ESSARY.—Section 452(a)(10) (42 U.S.C.
46

•S 442 IS

1 652(a)(10)) is amended by striking the matter fol2 lowing subparagraph (I).

3 (b) DATA COLLECTION AND REPORTING.—Section

4 469 (42 U.S.C. 669) is amended—

5 (1) by striking subsections (a) and (b) and in6 serting the following:

7 ‘‘(a) The Secretary shall collect and maintain for each

8 State for each fiscal year the data specified in subsection

9 (b) with respect to services to establish paternity and serv10 ices to establish child support obligations. The data with

11 respect to each such service shall be up-to-date and shall

12 be separately stated for families (or dependent children)

13 receiving aid under plans approved under part A or E and

14 for other families (or dependent children).

15 ‘‘(b) The data referred to in subsection (a) are—

16 ‘‘(1) the number of cases in the caseload of the

17 State agency administering the plan under this part

18 in which each service described in subsection (a) is

19 needed; and

20 ‘‘(2) the number of such cases in which the

21 service has been provided.’’; and

22 (2) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘(a)(2)’’ and

23 inserting ‘‘(b)(2)’’.
47

•S 442 IS

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

2 this section shall be effective with respect to fiscal year

3 1996 and succeeding fiscal years.

4 Subtitle C—Locate and Case

5 Tracking

6 SEC. 121. CENTRAL STATE AND CASE REGISTRY.

7 Section 454A, as added by section 115(a)(2), is

8 amended by adding at the end the following new sub9 sections:

10 ‘‘(e) CENTRAL CASE REGISTRY.—

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The automated system re12 quired under this section shall perform the func13 tions, in accordance with the provisions of this sub14 section, of a single central registry containing

15 records with respect to each case in which services

16 are being provided by the State agency (including,

17 on and after October 1, 1998, each order specified

18 in section 466(a)(12)), using such standardized data

19 elements (such as names, Social Security numbers or

20 other uniform identification numbers, dates of birth,

21 and case identification numbers), and containing

22 such other information (such as information on case

23 status) as the Secretary may require.

24 ‘‘(2) PAYMENT RECORDS.—Each case record in

25 the central registry shall include a record of—
48

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1 ‘‘(A) the amount of monthly (or other peri2 odic) support owed under the support order,

3 and other amounts due or overdue (including

4 arrears, interest or late payment penalties, and

5 fees);

6 ‘‘(B) the date on which or circumstances

7 under which the support obligation will termi8 nate under such order;

9 ‘‘(C) all child support and related amounts

10 collected (including such amounts as fees, late

11 payment penalties, and interest on arrearages);

12 ‘‘(D) the distribution of such amounts col13 lected; and

14 ‘‘(E) the birth date of the child for whom

15 the child support order is entered.

16 ‘‘(3) UPDATING AND MONITORING.—The State

17 agency shall promptly establish and maintain, and

18 regularly monitor, case records in the registry re19 quired by this subsection, on the basis of—

20 ‘‘(A) information on administrative actions

21 and administrative and judicial proceedings and

22 orders relating to paternity and support;

23 ‘‘(B) information obtained from matches

24 with Federal, State, or local data sources;
49

•S 442 IS

1 ‘‘(C) information on support collections

2 and distributions; and

3 ‘‘(D) any other relevant information.

4 ‘‘(f) DATA MATCHES AND OTHER DISCLOSURES OF

5 INFORMATION.—In order to obtain (or provide) informa6 tion necessary to enable the State agency (or other State

7 or Federal agencies) to carry out responsibilities under

8 this part, the automated system required under this sec9 tion shall have the capacity, and be used by the State

10 agency to extract data at such times, and in such stand11 ardized format or formats, as may be required by the Sec12 retary, and to share and match data with, and receive data

13 from, other data bases and data matching services. Data

14 matching activities of the State agency shall include at

15 least the following:

16 ‘‘(1) DATA BANK OF CHILD SUPPORT OR17 DERS.—Furnishing to the Data Bank of Child Sup18 port Orders established under section 453(h) mini19 mal information (as specified by the Secretary) on

20 each child support case in the central case registry,

21 and updating such information as necessary (includ22 ing notice of expiration of orders).

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

24 Exchanging data with the Federal Parent Locator

25 Service for the purposes specified in section 453.
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1 ‘‘(3) AFDC AND MEDICAID AGENCIES.—Ex2 changing data with State agencies (of the State and

3 of other States) administering the programs under

4 part A and title XIX, as necessary for the perform5 ance of State agency responsibilities under this part

6 and under such programs.

7 ‘‘(4) INTRA- AND INTERSTATE DATA

8 MATCHES.—Exchanging data with other agencies of

9 the State, agencies of other States, and interstate

10 information networks, as necessary and appropriate

11 to carry out (or assist other States to carry out) the

12 purposes of this part.’’.

13 SEC. 122. CENTRALIZED COLLECTION AND DISBURSEMENT

14 OF SUPPORT PAYMENTS.

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

16 U.S.C. 654), as amended by sections 104(a) and 114(b),

17 is amended—

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

19 (25);

20 (2) by striking the period at the end of para21 graph (26) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

22 (3) by adding after paragraph (26) the follow23 ing new paragraph:

24 ‘‘(27) provide that the State agency, on and

25 after October 1, 1998—
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1 ‘‘(A) will operate a centralized, automated

2 unit for the collection and disbursement of child

3 support under orders being enforced under this

4 part, in accordance with section 454B; and

5 ‘‘(B) will have sufficient State staff (con6 sisting of State employees, and, at State option,

7 contractors reporting directly to the State agen8 cy) to monitor and enforce support collections

9 through such centralized unit, including carry10 ing out the automated data processing respon11 sibilities specified in section 454A(g) and to im12 pose, as appropriate in particular cases, the ad13 ministrative enforcement remedies specified in

14 section 466(c)(1).’’.

15 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF CENTRALIZED COLLECTION

16 UNIT.—Part D of title IV (42 U.S.C. 651–669) is amend17 ed by adding after section 454A the following new section:

18 ‘‘CENTRALIZED COLLECTION AND DISBURSEMENT OF

19 SUPPORT PAYMENTS

20 ‘‘SEC. 454B. (a) IN GENERAL.—In order to meet the

21 requirement of section 454(27), the State agency must op22 erate a single, centralized, automated unit for the collec23 tion and disbursement of support payments, coordinated

24 with the automated data system required under section

25 454A, in accordance with the provisions of this section,

26 which shall be—
52

•S 442 IS

1 ‘‘(1) operated directly by the State agency (or

2 by 2 or more State agencies under a regional cooper3 ative agreement), or by a single contractor respon4 sible directly to the State agency; and

5 ‘‘(2) used for the collection and disbursement

6 (including interstate collection and disbursement) of

7 payments under support orders in all cases being en8 forced by the State pursuant to section 454(4).

9 ‘‘(b) REQUIRED PROCEDURES.—The centralized col10 lections unit shall use automated procedures, electronic

11 processes, and computer-driven technology to the maxi12 mum extent feasible, efficient, and economical, for the col13 lection and disbursement of support payments, including

14 procedures—

15 ‘‘(1) for receipt of payments from parents, em16 ployers, and other States, and for disbursements to

17 custodial parents and other obligees, the State agen18 cy, and the State agencies of other States;

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

20 ‘‘(3) to ensure prompt disbursement of the cus21 todial parent’s share of any payment; and

22 ‘‘(4) to furnish to either parent, upon request,

23 timely information on the current status of support

24 payments.’’.
53

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

2 added by section 115(a)(2) and as amended by section

3 121, is amended by adding at the end the following new

4 subsection:

5 ‘‘(g) CENTRALIZED COLLECTION AND DISTRIBUTION

6 OF SUPPORT PAYMENTS.—The automated system re7 quired under this section shall be used, to the maximum

8 extent feasible, to assist and facilitate collections and dis9 bursement of support payments through the centralized

10 collections unit operated pursuant to section 454B,

11 through the performance of functions including at a mini12 mum—

13 ‘‘(1) generation of orders and notices to em14 ployers (and other debtors) for the withholding of

15 wages (and other income)—

16 ‘‘(A) within 2 working days after receipt

17 (from the directory of New Hires established

18 under section 453(i) or any other source) of no19 tice of and the income source subject to such

20 withholding; and

21 ‘‘(B) using uniform formats directed by

22 the Secretary;

23 ‘‘(2) ongoing monitoring to promptly identify

24 failures to make timely payment; and
54

•S 442 IS

1 ‘‘(3) automatic use of enforcement mechanisms

2 (including mechanisms authorized pursuant to sec3 tion 466(c)) where payments are not timely made.’’.

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

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

6 SEC. 123. AMENDMENTS CONCERNING INCOME WITHHOLD7 ING.

8 (a) MANDATORY INCOME WITHHOLDING.—

9 (1) FROM WAGES.—Section 466(a)(1) (42

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

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

12 for the withholding from income of amounts payable

13 as support in cases subject to enforcement under the

14 State plan.

15 ‘‘(B) Procedures under which all child support

16 orders issued (or modified) before October 1, 1996,

17 and which are not otherwise subject to withholding

18 under subsection (b), shall become subject to with19 holding from wages as provided in subsection (b) if

20 arrearages occur, without the need for a judicial or

21 administrative hearing.’’.

22 (2) REPEAL OF CERTAIN PROVISIONS CONCERN23 ING ARREARAGES.—Section 466(a)(8) (42 U.S.C.

24 666(a)(8)) is repealed.
55

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1 (3) PROCEDURES DESCRIBED.—Section 466(b)

2 (42 U.S.C. 666(b)) is amended—

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

4 by striking ‘‘subsection (a)(1)’’ and inserting

5 ‘‘subsection (a)(1)(A)’’;

6 (B) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘a public

7 agency’’ and all that follows through the period

8 and inserting ‘‘the State through the central9 ized collections unit established pursuant to sec10 tion 454B, in accordance with the requirements

11 of such section 454B.’’;

12 (C) in paragraph (6)(A)(i)—

13 (i) by inserting ‘‘, in accordance with

14 timetables established by the Secretary,’’

15 after ‘‘must be required’’; and

16 (ii) by striking ‘‘to the appropriate

17 agency’’ and all that follows through the

18 period and inserting ‘‘to the State central19 ized collections unit within 5 working days

20 after the date such amount would (but for

21 this subsection) have been paid or credited

22 to the employee, for distribution in accord23 ance with this part.’’;
56

•S 442 IS

1 (D) in paragraph (6)(A)(ii), by inserting

2 ‘‘be in a standard format prescribed by the Sec3 retary, and’’ after ‘‘shall’’; and

4 (E) in paragraph (6)(D) to read as follows:

5 ‘‘(D) Provision must be made for the imposition

6 of a fine against any employer who—

7 ‘‘(i) discharges from employment, refuses

8 to employ, or takes disciplinary action against

9 any absent parent subject to wage withholding

10 required by this subsection because of the exist11 ence of such withholding and the obligations or

12 additional obligations which it imposes upon the

13 employer; or

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

15 or to pay such amounts to the State centralized

16 collections unit in accordance with this sub17 section.’’.

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

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

20 (c) DEFINITION OF TERMS.—The Secretary of

21 Health and Human Services shall promulgate regulations

22 providing definitions, for purposes of part D of title IV

23 of the Social Security Act, for the term ‘‘income’’ and for

24 such other terms relating to income withholding under sec-
57

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1 tion 466(b) of such Act as the Secretary may find it nec2 essary or advisable to define.

3 SEC. 124. LOCATOR INFORMATION FROM INTERSTATE NET4 WORKS.

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

6 section 123(a)(2), is amended by inserting after para7 graph (7) the following new paragraph:

8 ‘‘(8) Procedures ensuring that the State will

9 neither provide funding for, nor use for any purpose

10 (including any purpose unrelated to the purposes of

11 this part), any automated interstate network or sys12 tem used to locate individuals—

13 ‘‘(A) for purposes relating to the use of

14 motor vehicles; or

15 ‘‘(B) providing information for law en16 forcement purposes (where child support en17 forcement agencies are otherwise allowed access

18 by State and Federal law),

19 unless all Federal and State agencies administering

20 programs under this part (including the entities es21 tablished under section 453) have access to informa22 tion in such system or network to the same extent

23 as any other user of such system or network.’’.
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1 SEC. 125. EXPANDED FEDERAL PARENT LOCATOR SERVICE.

2 (a) EXPANDED AUTHORITY TO LOCATE INDIVID3 UALS AND ASSETS.—Section 453 (42 U.S.C. 653) is

4 amended—

5 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘information

6 as to the whereabouts’’ and all that follows through

7 the period and inserting ‘‘, for the purpose of estab8 lishing parentage, or establishing, setting the

9 amount of, modifying, or enforcing child support ob10 ligations—

11 ‘‘(1) information on, or facilitating the discov12 ery of, the location of any individual—

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

14 child support;

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

16 sought; or

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

18 including such individual’s Social Security num19 ber (or numbers), most recent residential ad20 dress, and the name, address, and employer

21 identification number of such individual’s em22 ployer;

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

24 other income) from, and benefits of, employment (in25 cluding rights to or enrollment in group health care

26 coverage); and
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1 ‘‘(3) information on the type, status, location,

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

3 to, any such individual.’’;

4 (2) in subsection (b)—

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

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

7 through ‘‘absent parent’’ and inserting ‘‘infor8 mation specified in subsection (a)’’; and

9 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting before

10 the period ‘‘, or from any consumer reporting

11 agency (as defined in section 603(f) of the Fair

12 Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a(f))’’;

13 and

14 (3) in subsection (e)(1), by inserting before the

15 period ‘‘, or by consumer reporting agencies’’.

16 (b) REIMBURSEMENT FOR DATA FROM FEDERAL

17 AGENCIES.—Section 453(e)(2) (42 U.S.C. 653(e)(2)) is

18 amended in the fourth sentence by inserting before the

19 period ‘‘in an amount which the Secretary determines to

20 be reasonable payment for the data exchange (which

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

23 (c) ACCESS TO CONSUMER REPORTS UNDER FAIR

24 CREDIT REPORTING ACT.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 608 of the Fair

2 Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681f) is amend3 ed—

4 (A) by striking ‘‘, limited to’’ and inserting

5 ‘‘to a governmental agency (including the entire

6 consumer report, in the case of a Federal,

7 State, or local agency administering a program

8 under part D of title IV of the Social Security

9 Act, and limited to’’; and

10 (B) by striking ‘‘employment, to a govern11 mental agency’’ and inserting ‘‘employment, in

12 the case of any other governmental agency)’’.

13 (2) REIMBURSEMENT FOR REPORTS BY STATE

14 AGENCIES AND CREDIT BUREAUS.—Section 453 (42

15 U.S.C. 653) is amended by adding at the end the

16 following new subsection:

17 ‘‘(g) The Secretary is authorized to reimburse to

18 State agencies and consumer credit reporting agencies the

19 costs incurred by such entities in furnishing information

20 requested by the Secretary pursuant to this section in an

21 amount which the Secretary determines to be reasonable

22 payment for the data exchange (which amount shall not

23 include payment for the costs of obtaining, compiling, or

24 maintaining the data).’’.

25 (d) DISCLOSURE OF TAX RETURN INFORMATION.—
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1 (1) BY THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY.—

2 Section 6103(l)(6)(A)(ii) of the Internal Revenue

3 Code of 1986 (relating to disclosure of return infor4 mation to Federal, State, and local child support en5 forcement agencies) is amended by striking ‘‘, but

6 only if’’ and all that follows through the period and

7 inserting a period.

8 (2) BY THE SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRA9 TION.—Section 6103(l)(8)(A) of the Internal Reve10 nue Code of 1986 (relating to disclosure of certain

11 return information by Social Security Administra12 tion to State and local child support enforcement

13 agencies) is amended by striking ‘‘State or local’’

14 and inserting ‘‘Federal, State, or local’’.

15 (e) REFERENCES TO PARENT LOCATOR SERVICE.—

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Sections 452(a)(9), 453(a),

17 453(b), 463(a), and 463(e) (42 U.S.C. 652(a)(9),

18 653(a), 653(b), 663(a), and 663(e)) are each

19 amended by inserting ‘‘Federal’’ before ‘‘Parent’’

20 each place it appears.

21 (2) IN HEADING OF SECTION 453.—Section 453

22 (42 U.S.C. 653) is amended in the heading by in23 serting ‘‘FEDERAL’’ before ‘‘PARENT’’.
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1 (f) NEW COMPONENTS.—Section 453 (42 U.S.C.

2 653), as amended by subsection (c)(2), is amended by add3 ing at the end the following new subsections:

4 ‘‘(h) DATA BANK OF CHILD SUPPORT ORDERS.—

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

6 1998, in order to assist States in administering their

7 State plans under this part and parts A, F, and G,

8 and for the other purposes specified in this section,

9 the Secretary shall establish and maintain in the

10 Federal Parent Locator Service an automated reg11 istry to be known as the Data Bank of Child Sup12 port Orders, which shall contain abstracts of child

13 support orders and other information described in

14 paragraph (2) on each case in each State central

15 case registry maintained pursuant to section

16 454A(e), as furnished (and regularly updated), pur17 suant to section 454A(f), by State agencies admin18 istering programs under this part.

19 ‘‘(2) CASE INFORMATION.—The information re20 ferred to in paragraph (1), as specified by the Sec21 retary, shall include sufficient information (including

22 names, social security numbers or other uniform

23 identification numbers, and State case identification

24 numbers) to identify the individuals who owe or are

25 owed support (or with respect to or on behalf of
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1 whom support obligations are sought to be estab2 lished), and the State or States which have estab3 lished or modified, or are enforcing or seeking to es4 tablish, such an order.

5 ‘‘(i) DIRECTORY OF NEW HIRES.—

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

7 1998, in order to assist States in administering their

8 State plans under this part and parts A, F, and G,

9 and for the other purposes specified in this section,

10 the Secretary shall establish and maintain in the

11 Federal Parent Locator Service an automated direc12 tory to be known as the directory of New Hires, con13 taining—

14 ‘‘(A) information supplied by employers on

15 each newly hired individual, in accordance with

16 paragraph (2); and

17 ‘‘(B) information supplied by State agen18 cies administering State unemployment com19 pensation laws, in accordance with paragraph

20 (3).

21 ‘‘(2) EMPLOYER INFORMATION.—

22 ‘‘(A) INFORMATION REQUIRED.—Subject

23 to subparagraph (D), each employer shall fur24 nish to the Secretary, for inclusion in the direc25 tory under this subsection, not later than 10
64

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1 days after the date (on or after October 1,

2 1998) on which the employer hires a new em3 ployee (as defined in subparagraph (C)), a re4 port containing the name, date of birth, and so5 cial security number of such employee, and the

6 employer identification number of the employer.

7 ‘‘(B) REPORTING METHOD AND FOR8 MAT.—The Secretary shall provide for trans9 mission of the reports required under subpara10 graph (A) using formats and methods which

11 minimize the burden on employers, which shall

12 include—

13 ‘‘(i) automated or electronic trans14 mission of such reports;

15 ‘‘(ii) transmission by regular mail;

16 and

17 ‘‘(iii) transmission of a copy of the

18 form required for purposes of compliance

19 with section 3402 of the Internal Revenue

20 Code of 1986.

21 ‘‘(C) EMPLOYEE DEFINED.—For purposes

22 of this paragraph, the term ‘employee’ means

23 any individual subject to the requirement of

24 section 3402(f)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code

25 of 1986.
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1 ‘‘(D) PAPERWORK REDUCTION REQUIRE2 MENT.—As required by the information re3 sources management policies published by the

4 Director of the Office of Management and

5 Budget pursuant to section 3504(b)(1) of title

6 44, United States Code, the Secretary, in order

7 to minimize the cost and reporting burden on

8 employers, shall not require reporting pursuant

9 to this paragraph if an alternative reporting

10 mechanism can be developed that either relies

11 on existing Federal or State reporting or en12 ables the Secretary to collect the needed infor13 mation in a more cost-effective and equally ex14 peditious manner, taking into account the re15 porting costs on employers.

16 ‘‘(E) CIVIL MONEY PENALTY ON NON17 COMPLYING EMPLOYERS.—

18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Any employer who

19 fails to make a timely report in accordance

20 with this paragraph with respect to an in21 dividual shall be subject to a civil money

22 penalty, for each calendar year in which

23 the failure occurs, of the lesser of $500 or

24 1 percent of the wages or other compensa-
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1 tion paid by such employer to such individ2 ual during such calendar year.

3 ‘‘(ii) APPLICATION OF SECTION

4 1128A.—Subject to clause (iii), the provi5 sions of section 1128A (other than sub6 sections (a) and (b) thereof) shall apply to

7 a civil money penalty under clause (i) in

8 the same manner as they apply to a civil

9 money penalty or proceeding under section

10 1128A(a).

11 ‘‘(iii) COSTS TO SECRETARY.—Any

12 employer with respect to whom a penalty

13 under this subparagraph is upheld after an

14 administrative hearing shall be liable to

15 pay all costs of the Secretary with respect

16 to such hearing.

17 ‘‘(3) EMPLOYMENT SECURITY INFORMATION.—

18 ‘‘(A) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Each

19 State agency administering a State unemploy20 ment compensation law approved by the Sec21 retary of Labor under the Federal Unemploy22 ment Tax Act shall furnish to the Secretary ex23 tracts of the reports to the Secretary of Labor

24 concerning the wages and unemployment com25 pensation paid to individuals required under
67

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1 section 303(a)(6), in accordance with subpara2 graph (B).

3 ‘‘(B) MANNER OF COMPLIANCE.—The ex4 tracts required under subparagraph (A) shall be

5 furnished to the Secretary on a quarterly basis,

6 with respect to calendar quarters beginning on

7 and after October 1, 1996, by such dates, in

8 such format, and containing such information

9 as required by the Secretary in regulations.

10 ‘‘(j) DATA MATCHES AND OTHER DISCLOSURES.—

11 ‘‘(1) VERIFICATION BY SOCIAL SECURITY AD12 MINISTRATION.—

13 ‘‘(A) TRANSMISSION OF DATA.—The Sec14 retary shall transmit data on individuals and

15 employers in the registries maintained under

16 this section to the Social Security Administra17 tion to the extent necessary for verification in

18 accordance with subparagraph (B).

19 ‘‘(B) VERIFICATION.—The Commissioner

20 of Social Security shall verify the accuracy of,

21 correct or supply to the extent necessary and

22 feasible, and report to the Secretary, the follow23 ing information on data supplied by the Sec24 retary pursuant to subparagraph (A):
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1 ‘‘(i) the name, social security number,

2 and birth date of each individual; and

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

5 ‘‘(2) CHILD SUPPORT LOCATOR MATCHES.—For

6 the purpose of locating individuals for purposes of

7 paternity establishment and establishment and en8 forcement of child support, the Secretary shall—

9 ‘‘(A) match data in the directory of New

10 Hires against the child support order abstracts

11 in the Data Bank of Child Support Orders not

12 less than every 2 working days; and

13 ‘‘(B) report information obtained from a

14 match established under subparagraph (A) to

15 concerned State agencies operating programs

16 under this part not later than 2 working days

17 after such match.

18 ‘‘(3) DATA MATCHES AND DISCLOSURES OF

19 DATA IN ALL REGISTRIES FOR TITLE IV PROGRAM

20 PURPOSES.—The Secretary shall—

21 ‘‘(A) perform matches of data in each com22 ponent of the Federal Parent Locator Service

23 maintained under this section against data in

24 each other such component (other than the

25 matches required pursuant to paragraph (1)),
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•S 442 IS

1 and report information resulting from such

2 matches to State agencies operating programs

3 under this part and parts A, F, and (G); and

4 ‘‘(B) disclose data in such registries to

5 such State agencies,

6 to the extent, and with the frequency, that the Sec7 retary determines to be effective in assisting such

8 States to carry out their responsibilities under such

9 programs.

10 ‘‘(k) FEES.—

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

12 shall reimburse the Commissioner of Social Security,

13 at a rate negotiated between the Secretary and the

14 Commissioner, for the costs incurred by the Com15 missioner in performing the verification services

16 specified in subsection (j).

17 ‘‘(2) FOR INFORMATION FROM SESAS.—The

18 Secretary shall reimburse costs incurred by State

19 employment security agencies in furnishing data as

20 required by subsection (i)(3), at rates which the Sec21 retary determines to be reasonable (which rates shall

22 not include payment for the costs of obtaining, com23 piling, or maintaining such data).

24 ‘‘(3) FOR INFORMATION FURNISHED TO STATE

25 AND FEDERAL AGENCIES.—State and Federal agen-
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•S 442 IS

1 cies receiving data or information from the Secretary

2 pursuant to this section shall reimburse the costs in3 curred by the Secretary in furnishing such data or

4 information, at rates which the Secretary determines

5 to be reasonable (which rates shall include payment

6 for the costs of obtaining, verifying, maintaining,

7 and matching such data or information).

8 ‘‘(l) RESTRICTION ON DISCLOSURE AND USE.—Data

9 in the Federal Parent Locator Service, and information

10 resulting from matches using data, shall not be used or

11 disclosed except as specifically provided in this section.

12 ‘‘(m) RETENTION OF DATA.—Data in the Federal

13 Parent Locator Service, and data resulting from matches

14 performed pursuant to this section, shall be retained for

15 such period (determined by the Secretary) as appropriate

16 for the data uses specified in this section.

17 ‘‘(n) INFORMATION INTEGRITY AND SECURITY.—The

18 Secretary shall establish and implement safeguards with

19 respect to the entities established under this section de20 signed to—

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

22 information in the Federal Parent Locator Service;

23 and

24 ‘‘(2) restrict access to confidential information

25 in the Federal Parent Locator Service to authorized
71

•S 442 IS

1 persons, and restrict use of such information to au2 thorized purposes.

3 ‘‘(o) LIMIT ON LIABILITY.—The Secretary shall not

4 be liable to either a State or an individual for inaccurate

5 information provided to a component of the Federal Par6 ent Locator Service and disclosed by the Secretary in ac7 cordance with this section.’’.

8 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

9 (1) TO PART D OF TITLE IV OF THE SOCIAL SE10 CURITY ACT.—Section 454(8)(B) (42 U.S.C.

11 654(8)(B)) is amended to read as follows:

12 ‘‘(B) the Federal Parent Locator Service

13 established under section 453;’’.

14 (2) TO FEDERAL UNEMPLOYMENT TAX ACT.—

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

16 1986 (relating to approval of State laws) is amend17 ed—

18 (A) by striking ‘‘Secretary of Health, Edu19 cation, and Welfare’’ each place it appears and

20 inserting ‘‘Secretary of Health and Human

21 Services’’;

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

23 ‘‘such information’’ and all that follows through

24 the semicolon and inserting ‘‘information fur25 nished under subparagraph (A) or (B) is used
72

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1 only for the purposes authorized under such

2 subparagraph,’’;

3 (C) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub4 paragraph (A);

5 (D) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as

6 subparagraph (C); and

7 (E) by inserting after subparagraph (A)

8 the following new subparagraph:

9 ‘‘(B) wage and unemployment compensa10 tion information contained in the records of

11 such agency shall be furnished to the Secretary

12 of Health and Human Services (in accordance

13 with regulations promulgated by such Sec14 retary) as necessary for the purposes of the di15 rectory of New Hires established under section

16 453(i) of the Social Security Act, and’’.

17 (3) TO STATE GRANT PROGRAM UNDER TITLE

18 III OF THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACT.—Section 303(a)

19 (42 U.S.C. 503(a)) is amended—

20 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para21 graph (8);

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

23 paragraph (9) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

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

25 paragraph:
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1 ‘‘(10) The making of quarterly electronic re2 ports, at such dates, in such format, and containing

3 such information, as required by the Secretary under

4 section 453(i)(3), and compliance with such provi5 sions as the Secretary may find necessary to ensure

6 the correctness and verification of such reports.’’.

7 SEC. 126. USE OF SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS.

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

9 U.S.C. 666(a)), as amended by section 101(a), is amended

10 by adding at the end the following new paragraph:

11 ‘‘(13) Procedures requiring the recording of so12 cial security numbers—

13 ‘‘(A) of both parties on marriage licenses

14 and divorce decrees; and

15 ‘‘(B) of both parents, on birth records and

16 child support and paternity orders.’’.

17 (b) CLARIFICATION OF FEDERAL POLICY.—Section

18 205(c)(2)(C)(ii) (42 U.S.C. 405(c)(2)(C)(ii)) is amended

19 by striking the third sentence and inserting ‘‘This clause

20 shall not be considered to authorize disclosure of such

21 numbers except as provided in the preceding sentence.’’.
74

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1 Subtitle D—Streamlining and

2 Uniformity of Procedures

3 SEC. 131. ADOPTION OF UNIFORM STATE LAWS.

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

5 sections 101(a) and 126(a), is amended by adding at the

6 end the following new paragraph:

7 ‘‘(14)(A) Procedures under which the State

8 adopts in its entirety (with the modifications and ad9 ditions specified in this paragraph) not later than

10 January 1, 1997, and uses on and after such date,

11 the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, as ap12 proved by the National Conference of Commissioners

13 on Uniform State Laws in August 1992.

14 ‘‘(B) The State law adopted pursuant to sub15 paragraph (A) shall be applied to any case—

16 ‘‘(i) involving an order established or modi17 fied in one State and for which a subsequent

18 modification is sought in another State; or

19 ‘‘(ii) in which interstate activity is required

20 to enforce an order.

21 ‘‘(C) The State law adopted pursuant to sub22 paragraph (A) of this paragraph shall contain the

23 following provision in lieu of section 611(a)(1) of the

24 Uniform Interstate Family Support Act described in

25 such subparagraph (A):
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1 ‘‘ ‘(1) the following requirements are met:

2 ‘‘ ‘(i) the child, the individual obligee, and

3 the obligor—

4 ‘‘ ‘(I) do not reside in the issuing

5 State; and

6 ‘‘ ‘(II) either reside in this State or

7 are subject to the jurisdiction of this State

8 pursuant to section 201; and

9 ‘‘ ‘(ii) in any case where another State is

10 exercising or seeks to exercise jurisdiction to

11 modify the order, the conditions of section 204

12 are met to the same extent as required for pro13 ceedings to establish orders; or’.

14 ‘‘(D) The State law adopted pursuant to sub15 paragraph (A) shall recognize as valid, for purposes

16 of any proceeding subject to such State law, service

17 of process upon persons in the State (and proof of

18 such service) by any means acceptable in another

19 State which is the initiating or responding State in

20 such proceeding.

21 ‘‘(E) The State law adopted pursuant to sub22 paragraph (A) shall provide for the use of proce23 dures (including sanctions for noncompliance) under

24 which all entities in the State (including for-profit,

25 nonprofit, and governmental employers) are required
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1 to provide promptly, in response to a request by the

2 State agency of that or any other State administer3 ing a program under this part, information on the

4 employment, compensation, and benefits of any indi5 vidual employed by such entity as an employee or

6 contractor.’’.

7 SEC. 132. IMPROVEMENTS TO FULL FAITH AND CREDIT

8 FOR CHILD SUPPORT ORDERS.

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

10 amended—

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

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

13 (2) in subsection (b), by inserting after the first

14 undesignated paragraph the following:

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

16 a child lived with a parent or a person acting as par17 ent for at least 6 consecutive months immediately

18 preceding the time of filing of a petition or com19 parable pleading for support and, if a child is less

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

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

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

23 month period.’’;

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

25 of a State’’ before ‘‘is made’’;
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•S 442 IS

1 (4) in subsection (c)(1), by inserting ‘‘, and

2 subsections (e), (f), and (g)’’ after ‘‘located’’;

3 (5) in subsection (d)—

4 (A) by inserting ‘‘individual’’ before ‘‘con5 testant’’; and

6 (B) by striking ‘‘subsection (e)’’ and in7 serting ‘‘subsections (e) and (f)’’;

8 (6) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘make a modi9 fication of a child support order with respect to a

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

11 support order issued’’;

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

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

14 (8) in subsection (e)(2)—

15 (A) by inserting ‘‘individual’’ before ‘‘con16 testant’’ each place such term appears; and

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

18 modification and assuming’’ and inserting ‘‘with

19 the State of continuing, exclusive jurisdiction

20 for a court of another State to modify the order

21 and assume’’;

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

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

24 (10) by inserting after subsection (e) the follow25 ing new subsection:
78

•S 442 IS

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

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

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

4 a court shall apply the following rules in determining

5 which order to recognize for purposes of continuing, exclu6 sive jurisdiction and enforcement:

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

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

9 ‘‘(2) If 2 or more courts have issued child sup10 port orders for the same obligor and child, and only

11 1 of the courts would have continuing, exclusive ju12 risdiction under this section, the order of that court

13 must be recognized.

14 ‘‘(3) If 2 or more courts have issued child sup15 port orders for the same obligor and child, and only

16 1 of the courts would have continuing, exclusive ju17 risdiction under this section, an order issued by a

18 court in the current home State of the child must

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

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

21 most recently issued must be recognized.

22 ‘‘(4) If 2 or more courts have issued child sup23 port orders for the same obligor and child, and none

24 of the courts would have continuing, exclusive juris-
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1 diction under this section, a court may issue a child

2 support order, which must be recognized.

3 ‘‘(5) The court that has issued an order recog4 nized under this subsection is the court having con5 tinuing, exclusive jurisdiction.’’;

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

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

8 ‘‘MODIFIED’’; and

9 (B) by striking ‘‘subsection (e)’’ and in10 serting ‘‘subsections (e) and (f)’’;

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

12 (A) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘includ13 ing the duration of current payments and other

14 obligations of support’’ before the comma; and

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

16 under’’ after ‘‘enforce’’; and

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

18 subsection:

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

20 no individual contestant or child residing in the issuing

21 State, the party or support enforcement agency seeking

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

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

24 with jurisdiction over the nonmovant for the purpose of

25 modification.’’.
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1 SEC. 133. STATE LAWS PROVIDING EXPEDITED PROCE2 DURES.

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

4 U.S.C. 666), as amended by section 123(b), is amended—

5 (1) in subsection (a)(2), in the first sentence, to

6 read as follows: ‘‘Expedited administrative and judi7 cial procedures (including the procedures specified in

8 subsection (c)) for establishing paternity and for es9 tablishing, modifying, and enforcing support obliga10 tions.’’; and

11 (2) by adding after subsection (b) the following

12 new subsection:

13 ‘‘(c) The procedures specified in this subsection are

14 the following:

15 ‘‘(1) Procedures which give the State agency

16 the authority (and recognize and enforce the author17 ity of State agencies of other States), without the

18 necessity of obtaining an order from any other judi19 cial or administrative tribunal to take the following

20 actions relating to establishment or enforcement of

21 orders:

22 ‘‘(A) To order genetic testing for the pur23 pose of paternity establishment as provided in

24 section 466(a)(5).
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1 ‘‘(B) To enter a default order, upon a

2 showing of service of process and any additional

3 showing required by State law—

4 ‘‘(i) establishing paternity, in the case

5 of any putative father who refuses to sub6 mit to genetic testing; and

7 ‘‘(ii) establishing a support obligation

8 (or modifying a support obligation issued

9 by the agency), in the case of a parent (or

10 other obligor or obligee) who fails to re11 spond to notice to appear at a proceeding

12 for such purpose.

13 ‘‘(C) To subpoena any financial or other

14 information needed to establish, modify, or en15 force an order, and to sanction failure to re16 spond to any such subpoena.

17 ‘‘(D) To provide access, subject to safe18 guards on privacy and information security, to

19 the following records (including automated ac20 cess, in the case of records maintained in auto21 mated data bases):

22 ‘‘(i) Records of the State and local

23 government agencies, including—
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•S 442 IS

1 ‘‘(I) vital statistics (including

2 records of marriage, birth, and di3 vorce);

4 ‘‘(II) state and local tax and rev5 enue records (including information

6 on residence address, employer, in7 come and assets);

8 ‘‘(III) records concerning real

9 and titled personal property;

10 ‘‘(IV) records of occupational and

11 professional licenses, and records con12 cerning the ownership and control of

13 corporations, partnerships, and other

14 business entities;

15 ‘‘(V) employment security

16 records;

17 ‘‘(VI) records of agencies admin18 istering public assistance programs;

19 ‘‘(VII) records of the motor vehi20 cle department; and

21 ‘‘(VIII) corrections records.

22 ‘‘(ii) Certain records held by private

23 entities, including—
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•S 442 IS

1 ‘‘(I) customer records of public

2 utilities and cable television compa3 nies; and

4 ‘‘(II) information (including in5 formation on assets and liabilities) on

6 individuals who owe or are owed sup7 port (or against or with respect to

8 whom a support obligation is sought)

9 held by financial institutions (subject

10 to limitations on liability of such enti11 ties arising from affording such ac12 cess).

13 ‘‘(E) To order income withholding in ac14 cordance with subsection (a)(1) and (b) of sec15 tion 466.

16 ‘‘(F) In cases where support is subject to

17 an assignment under section 402(a)(26),

18 471(a)(17), or 1912, or to a requirement to pay

19 through the centralized collections unit under

20 section 454B, upon providing notice to obligor

21 and obligee, to direct the obligor or other payor

22 to change the payee to the appropriate govern23 ment entity.

24 ‘‘(G) For the purpose of securing overdue

25 support—
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•S 442 IS

1 ‘‘(i) to intercept and seize any peri2 odic or lump-sum payment to the obligor

3 by or through a State or local government

4 agency, including—

5 ‘‘(I) unemployment compensa6 tion, workers’ compensation, and

7 other benefits;

8 ‘‘(II) judgments and settlements

9 in cases under the jurisdiction of the

10 State or local government; and

11 ‘‘(III) lottery winnings;

12 ‘‘(ii) to attach and seize assets of the

13 obligor held by financial institutions;

14 ‘‘(iii) to attach public and private re15 tirement funds in appropriate cases, as de16 termined by the Secretary; and

17 ‘‘(iv) to impose liens in accordance

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

19 cases, to force sale of property and dis20 tribution of proceeds.

21 ‘‘(H) For the purpose of securing overdue

22 support, to increase the amount of monthly

23 support payments to include amounts for ar24 rearages (subject to such conditions or restric25 tions as the State may provide).
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•S 442 IS

1 ‘‘(I) To suspend drivers’ licenses of individ2 uals owing past-due support, in accordance with

3 subsection (a)(16).

4 ‘‘(2) The procedures required under paragraph

5 (1) shall be subject to due process safeguards, in6 cluding (as appropriate) requirements for notice, op7 portunity to contest the action, and opportunity for

8 an appeal on the record to an independent adminis9 trative or judicial tribunal.

10 ‘‘(3) The expedited procedures required under

11 subsection (a)(2) shall include the following rules

12 and authority, applicable with respect to all proceed13 ings to establish paternity or to establish, modify, or

14 enforce support orders:

15 ‘‘(A) Procedures under which—

16 ‘‘(i) the parties to any paternity or

17 child support proceedings are required

18 (subject to privacy safeguards) to file with

19 the tribunal before entry of an order, and

20 to update as appropriate, information on

21 location and identity (including social secu22 rity number, residential and mailing ad23 dresses, telephone number, driver’s license

24 number, and name, address, and telephone

25 number of employer); and
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•S 442 IS

1 ‘‘(ii) in any subsequent child support

2 enforcement action between the same par3 ties, the tribunal shall be authorized, upon

4 sufficient showing that diligent effort has

5 been made to ascertain such a party’s cur6 rent location, to deem due process require7 ments for notice and service of process to

8 be met, with respect to such party, by de9 livery to the most recent residential or em10 ployer address so filed pursuant to clause

11 (i).

12 ‘‘(B) Procedures under which—

13 ‘‘(i) the State agency and any admin14 istrative or judicial tribunal with authority

15 to hear child support and paternity cases

16 exerts statewide jurisdiction over the par17 ties, and orders issued in such cases have

18 statewide effect; and

19 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a State in which

20 orders in such cases are issued by local ju21 risdictions, a case may be transferred be22 tween jurisdictions in the State without

23 need for any additional filing by the peti24 tioner, or service of process upon the re-
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•S 442 IS

1 spondent, to retain jurisdiction over the

2 parties.’’.

3 (b) EXCEPTIONS FROM STATE LAW REQUIRE4 MENTS.—Section 466(d) (42 U.S.C. 666(d)) is amend5 ed—

6 (1) by striking ‘‘(d) If’’ and inserting ‘‘(d)(1)

7 Subject to paragraph (2), if’’; and

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

9 paragraph:

10 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall not grant an exemption

11 from the requirements of—

12 ‘‘(A) subsection (a)(5) (concerning procedures

13 for paternity establishment);

14 ‘‘(B) subsection (a)(10) (concerning modifica15 tion of orders);

16 ‘‘(C) subsection (a)(12) (concerning recording

17 of orders in the central State case registry);

18 ‘‘(D) subsection (a)(13) (concerning recording

19 of social security numbers);

20 ‘‘(E) subsection (a)(14) (concerning interstate

21 enforcement); or

22 ‘‘(F) subsection (c) (concerning expedited pro23 cedures), other than paragraph (1)(A) thereof (con24 cerning establishment or modification of support

25 amount).’’.
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1 (c) AUTOMATION OF STATE AGENCY FUNCTIONS.—

2 Section 454A, as added by section 115(a)(2) and as

3 amended by sections 121 and 122(c), is amended by add4 ing at the end the following new subsection:

5 ‘‘(h) EXPEDITED ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES.—

6 The automated system required under this section shall

7 be used, to the maximum extent feasible, to implement any

8 expedited administrative procedures required under sec9 tion 466(c).’’.

10 Subtitle E—Paternity

11 Establishment

12 SEC. 141. STATE LAWS CONCERNING PATERNITY ESTAB13 LISHMENT.

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

15 U.S.C. 666(a)(5)) is amended—

16 (1) in subparagraph (B)—

17 (A) by striking ‘‘(B)’’ and inserting

18 ‘‘(B)(i)’’;

19 (B) in clause (i), as redesignated, by in20 serting before the period ‘‘, where such request

21 is supported by a sworn statement—

22 ‘‘(I) by such party alleging paternity setting

23 forth facts establishing a reasonable possibility of

24 the requisite sexual contact of the parties; or
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•S 442 IS

1 ‘‘(II) by such party denying paternity setting

2 forth facts establishing a reasonable possibility of

3 the nonexistence of sexual contact of the parties;’’;

4 and

5 (C) by inserting after clause (i) (as redes6 ignated) the following new clause:

7 ‘‘(ii) Procedures which require the State agen8 cy, in any case in which such agency orders genetic

9 testing—

10 ‘‘(I) to pay the costs of such tests, subject

11 to recoupment (where the State so elects) from

12 the putative father if paternity is established;

13 and

14 ‘‘(II) to obtain additional testing in any

15 case where an original test result is disputed,

16 upon request and advance payment by the dis17 puting party.’’;

18 (2) by striking subparagraphs (C), (D), (E),

19 and (F) and inserting the following new subpara20 graphs:

21 ‘‘(C)(i) Procedures for a simple civil process for

22 voluntarily acknowledging paternity under which the

23 State must provide that, before a mother and a pu24 tative father can sign an acknowledgment of pater25 nity, the putative father and the mother must be
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•S 442 IS

1 given notice, orally, in writing, and in a language

2 that each can understand, of the alternatives to, the

3 legal consequences of, and the rights (including, if 1

4 parent is a minor, any rights afforded due to minor5 ity status) and responsibilities that arise from, sign6 ing the acknowledgment.

7 ‘‘(ii) Such procedures must include a hospital8 based program for the voluntary acknowledgment of

9 paternity focusing on the period immediately before

10 or after the birth of a child.

11 ‘‘(iii) Such procedures must require the State

12 agency responsible for maintaining birth records to

13 offer voluntary paternity establishment services.

14 ‘‘(iv) The Secretary shall prescribe regulations

15 governing voluntary paternity establishment services

16 offered by hospitals and birth record agencies. The

17 Secretary shall prescribe regulations specifying the

18 types of other entities that may offer voluntary pa19 ternity establishment services, and governing the

20 provision of such services, which shall include a re21 quirement that such an entity must use the same

22 notice provisions used by, the same materials used

23 by, provide the personnel providing such services

24 with the same training provided by, and evaluate the

25 provision of such services in the same manner as,
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•S 442 IS

1 voluntary paternity establishment programs of hos2 pitals and birth record agencies.

3 ‘‘(v) Such procedures must require the State

4 and those required to establish paternity to use only

5 the affidavit developed under section 452(a)(7) for

6 the voluntary acknowledgment of paternity, and to

7 give full faith and credit to such an affidavit signed

8 in any other State.

9 ‘‘(D)(i) Procedures under which a signed ac10 knowledgment of paternity is considered a legal find11 ing of paternity, subject to the right of any signa12 tory to rescind the acknowledgment within 60 days.

13 ‘‘(ii)(I) Procedures under which, after the 60-

14 day period referred to in clause (i), a signed ac15 knowledgment of paternity may be challenged in

16 court only on the basis of fraud, duress, or material

17 mistake of fact, with the burden of proof upon the

18 challenger, and under which the legal responsibilities

19 (including child support obligations) of any signatory

20 arising from the acknowledgment may not be sus21 pended during the challenge, except for good cause

22 shown.

23 ‘‘(II) Procedures under which, after the 60-day

24 period referred to in clause (i), a minor who signs

25 an acknowledgment of paternity other than in the
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•S 442 IS

1 presence of a parent or court-appointed guardian ad

2 litem may rescind the acknowledgment in a judicial

3 or administrative proceeding, until the earlier of—

4 ‘‘(aa) attaining the age of majority; or

5 ‘‘(bb) the date of the first judicial or ad6 ministrative proceeding brought (after the sign7 ing) to establish a child support obligation, visi8 tation rights, or custody rights with respect to

9 the child whose paternity is the subject of the

10 acknowledgment, and at which the minor is rep11 resented by a parent, guardian ad litem, or at12 torney.

13 ‘‘(E) Procedures under which no judicial or ad14 ministrative proceedings are required or permitted to

15 ratify an unchallenged acknowledgment of paternity.

16 ‘‘(F) Procedures requiring—

17 ‘‘(i) that the State admit into evidence, for

18 purposes of establishing paternity, results of

19 any genetic test that is—

20 ‘‘(I) of a type generally acknowledged,

21 by accreditation bodies designated by the

22 Secretary, as reliable evidence of paternity;

23 and

24 ‘‘(II) performed by a laboratory ap25 proved by such an accreditation body;
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•S 442 IS

1 ‘‘(ii) that any objection to genetic testing

2 results must be made in writing not later than

3 a specified number of days before any hearing

4 at which such results may be introduced into

5 evidence (or, at State option, not later than a

6 specified number of days after receipt of such

7 results); and

8 ‘‘(iii) that, if no objection is made, the test

9 results are admissible as evidence of paternity

10 without the need for foundation testimony or

11 other proof of authenticity or accuracy.’’; and

12 (3) by adding after subparagraph (H) the fol13 lowing new subparagraphs:

14 ‘‘(I) Procedures providing that the parties to an

15 action to establish paternity are not entitled to a

16 jury trial.

17 ‘‘(J) Procedures which require that a temporary

18 order be issued, upon motion by a party, requiring

19 the provision of child support pending an adminis20 trative or judicial determination of parentage, where

21 there is clear and convincing evidence of paternity

22 (on the basis of genetic tests or other evidence).

23 ‘‘(K) Procedures under which bills for preg24 nancy, childbirth, and genetic testing are admissible

25 as evidence without requiring third-party foundation
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•S 442 IS

1 testimony, and shall constitute prima facie evidence

2 of amounts incurred for such services and testing on

3 behalf of the child.

4 ‘‘(L) At the option of the State, procedures

5 under which the tribunal establishing paternity and

6 support has discretion to waive rights to all or part

7 of amounts owed to the State (but not to the moth8 er) for costs related to pregnancy, childbirth, and

9 genetic testing and for public assistance paid to the

10 family where the father cooperates or acknowledges

11 paternity before or after genetic testing.

12 ‘‘(M) Procedures ensuring that the putative fa13 ther has a reasonable opportunity to initiate a pater14 nity action.’’.

15 (b) NATIONAL PATERNITY ACKNOWLEDGMENT AFFI16 DAVIT.—Section 452(a)(7) (42 U.S.C. 652(a)(7)) is

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

18 used for the voluntary acknowledgment of paternity which

19 shall include the social security number of each parent’’

20 before the semicolon.

21 (c) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 468 (42

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

23 for voluntarily acknowledging paternity and’’.
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1 SEC. 142. OUTREACH FOR VOLUNTARY PATERNITY ESTAB2 LISHMENT.

3 (a) STATE PLAN REQUIREMENT.—Section 454(23)

4 (42 U.S.C. 654(23)) is amended—

5 (1) by striking ‘‘(23)’’ and inserting ‘‘(23)(A)’’;

6 (2) by inserting ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; and

7 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub8 paragraph:

9 ‘‘(B) publicize the availability and encourage

10 the use of procedures for voluntary establishment of

11 paternity and child support through a variety of

12 means, which—

13 ‘‘(i) include distribution of written mate14 rials at health care facilities (including hospitals

15 and clinics), and other locations such as

16 schools;

17 ‘‘(ii) may include prenatal programs to

18 educate expectant couples on individual and

19 joint rights and responsibilities with respect to

20 paternity (and may require all expectant recipi21 ents of assistance under part A to participate in

22 such prenatal programs, as an element of co23 operation with efforts to establish paternity and

24 child support); and

25 ‘‘(iii) include, with respect to each child

26 discharged from a hospital after birth for whom
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•S 442 IS

1 paternity or child support has not been estab2 lished, reasonable followup efforts (including at

3 least one contact of each parent whose where4 abouts are known, except where there is reason

5 to believe such followup efforts would put moth6 er or child at risk), providing—

7 ‘‘(I) in the case of a child for whom

8 paternity has not been established, infor9 mation on the benefits of and procedures

10 for establishing paternity; and

11 ‘‘(II) in the case of a child for whom

12 paternity has been established but child

13 support has not been established, informa14 tion on the benefits of and procedures for

15 establishing a child support order, and an

16 application for child support services;’’.

17 (b) ENHANCED FEDERAL MATCHING.—Section

18 455(a)(1)(C) (42 U.S.C. 655(a)(1)(C)) is amended—

19 (1) by inserting ‘‘(i)’’ before ‘‘laboratory costs’’,

20 and

21 (2) by inserting before the semicolon ‘‘, and (ii)

22 costs of outreach programs designed to encourage

23 voluntary acknowledgment of paternity’’.

24 (c) EFFECTIVE DATES.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by

2 subsection (a) shall become effective October 1,

3 1997.

4 (2) EXCEPTION.—The amendments made by

5 subsection (b) shall be effective with respect to cal6 endar quarters beginning on and after October 1,

7 1996.

8 Subtitle F—Establishment and

9 Modification of Support Orders

10 SEC. 151. NATIONAL CHILD SUPPORT GUIDELINES COMMIS11 SION.

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

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

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

15 ‘‘Commission’’).

16 (b) GENERAL DUTIES.—The Commission shall de17 velop a national child support guideline for consideration

18 by the Congress that is based on a study of various guide19 line models, the benefits and deficiencies of such models,

20 and any needed improvements.

21 (c) MEMBERSHIP.—

22 (1) NUMBER; APPOINTMENT.—

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall

24 be composed of 12 individuals appointed jointly

25 by the Secretary of Health and Human Services
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•S 442 IS

1 and the Congress, not later than January 15,

2 1997, of which—

3 (i) 2 shall be appointed by the Chair4 man of the Committee on Finance of the

5 Senate, and 1 shall be appointed by the

6 ranking minority member of such Commit7 tee;

8 (ii) 2 shall be appointed by the Chair9 man of the Committee on Ways and Means

10 of the House of Representatives, and 1

11 shall be appointed by the ranking minority

12 member of such Committee; and

13 (iii) 6 shall be appointed by the Sec14 retary of Health and Human Services.

15 (B) QUALIFICATIONS OF MEMBERS.—

16 Members of the Commission shall have exper17 tise and experience in the evaluation and devel18 opment of child support guidelines. At least 1

19 member shall represent advocacy groups for

20 custodial parents, at least 1 member shall rep21 resent advocacy groups for noncustodial par22 ents, and at least 1 member shall be the direc23 tor of a State program under part D of title IV

24 of the Social Security Act.
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1 (2) TERMS OF OFFICE.—Each member shall be

2 appointed for a term of 2 years. A vacancy in the

3 Commission shall be filled in the manner in which

4 the original appointment was made.

5 (d) COMMISSION POWERS, COMPENSATION, ACCESS

6 TO INFORMATION, AND SUPERVISION.—The first sentence

7 of subparagraph (C), the first and third sentences of sub8 paragraph (D), subparagraph (F) (except with respect to

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

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

11 1886(e)(6) of the Social Security Act shall apply to the

12 Commission in the same manner in which such provisions

13 apply to the Prospective Payment Assessment Commis14 sion.

15 (e) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the ap16 pointment of members, the Commission shall submit to

17 the President, the Committee on Ways and Means of the

18 House of Representatives, and the Committee on Finance

19 of the Senate, a recommended national child support

20 guideline and a final assessment of issues relating to such

21 a proposed national child support guideline.

22 (f) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall terminate

23 6 months after the submission of the report described in

24 subsection (e).
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•S 442 IS

1 SEC. 152. SIMPLIFIED PROCESS FOR REVIEW AND ADJUST2 MENT OF CHILD SUPPORT ORDERS.

3 Section 466(a)(10) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)(10)) is amend4 ed to read as follows:

5 ‘‘(10)(A)(i) Procedures under which—

6 ‘‘(I) every 3 years, at the request of either

7 parent subject to a child support order, the

8 State shall review and, as appropriate, adjust

9 the order in accordance with the guidelines es10 tablished under section 467(a) if the amount of

11 the child support award under the order differs

12 from the amount that would be awarded in ac13 cordance with such guidelines, without a re14 quirement for any other change in cir15 cumstances; and

16 ‘‘(II) upon request at any time of either

17 parent subject to a child support order, the

18 State shall review and, as appropriate, adjust

19 the order in accordance with the guidelines es20 tablished under section 467(a) based on a sub21 stantial change in the circumstances of either

22 such parent.

23 ‘‘(ii) Such procedures shall require both parents

24 subject to a child support order to be notified of

25 their rights and responsibilities provided for under

26 clause (i) at the time the order is issued and in the
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1 annual information exchange form provided under

2 subparagraph (B).

3 ‘‘(B) Procedures under which each child sup4 port order issued or modified in the State after the

5 effective date of this subparagraph shall require the

6 parents subject to the order to provide each other

7 with a complete statement of their respective finan8 cial condition annually on a form which shall be es9 tablished by the Secretary and provided by the

10 State. The Secretary shall establish regulations for

11 the enforcement of such exchange of information.’’.

12 Subtitle G—Enforcement of

13 Support Orders

14 SEC. 161. FEDERAL INCOME TAX REFUND OFFSET.

15 (a) CHANGED ORDER OF REFUND DISTRIBUTION

16 UNDER INTERNAL REVENUE CODE.—Section 6402(c) of

17 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to offset of

18 past-due support against overpayments) is amended—

19 (1) by striking ‘‘has been assigned’’ and insert20 ing ‘‘has not been assigned’’; and

21 (2) by striking ‘‘and shall be applied’’ and all

22 that follows through the period and inserting ‘‘and

23 shall thereafter be applied to satisfy any past-due

24 support that has been so assigned.’’.
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1 (b) ELIMINATION OF DISPARITIES IN TREATMENT

2 OF ASSIGNED AND NONASSIGNED ARREARAGES.—

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 464(a) (42 U.S.C.

4 664(a)) is amended—

5 (A) in paragraph (1)—

6 (i) in the first sentence, by striking

7 ‘‘which has been assigned to such State

8 pursuant to section 402(a)(26) or section

9 471(a)(17)’’; and

10 (ii) in the second sentence, by striking

11 ‘‘in accordance with section 457(b)(4) or

12 (d)(3)’’ and inserting ‘‘as provided in para13 graph (2)’’;

14 (B) in paragraph (2), to read as follows:

15 ‘‘(2) The State agency shall distribute amounts paid

16 by the Secretary of the Treasury pursuant to paragraph

17 (1)—

18 ‘‘(A) in accordance with subsection (a)(4) or

19 (d)(3) of section 457, in the case of past-due sup20 port assigned to a State pursuant to section

21 402(a)(26) or section 471(a)(17);

22 ‘‘(B) to or on behalf of the child to whom the

23 support was owed, in the case of past-due support

24 not so assigned.’’; and

25 (C) in paragraph (3)—
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1 (i) by striking ‘‘or (2)’’ each place it

2 appears; and

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

4 ‘‘under paragraph (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘on

5 account of past-due support described in

6 paragraph (2)(B)’’.

7 (2) NOTICES OF PAST-DUE SUPPORT.—Section

8 464(b) (42 U.S.C. 664(b)) is amended—

9 (A) by striking ‘‘(b)(1)’’ and inserting

10 ‘‘(b)’’; and

11 (B) by striking paragraph (2).

12 (3) DEFINITION OF PAST-DUE SUPPORT.—Sec13 tion 464(c) (42 U.S.C. 664(c)) is amended—

14 (A) by striking ‘‘(c)(1) Except as provided

15 in paragraph (2), as’’ and inserting ‘‘(c) As’’;

16 and

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

18 (c) TREATMENT OF LUMP-SUM TAX REFUND

19 UNDER AFDC.—

20 (1) EXEMPTION FROM LUMP-SUM RULE.—Sec21 tion 402(a)(17) (42 U.S.C. 602(a)(17)) is amended

22 by inserting before the semicolon at the end the fol23 lowing: ‘‘, but this paragraph shall not apply to in24 come received by a family that is attributable to a

25 child support obligation owed with respect to a mem-
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1 ber of the family and that is paid to the family from

2 amounts withheld from a Federal income tax refund

3 otherwise payable to the person owing such obliga4 tion, to the extent that such income is placed in a

5 qualified asset account (as defined in section 406(j))

6 the total amounts in which, after such placement,

7 does not exceed $10,000’’.

8 (2) QUALIFIED ASSET ACCOUNT DEFINED.—

9 Section 406 (42 U.S.C. 606), as amended by section

10 102(g)(2), is amended by adding at the end the fol11 lowing new subsection:

12 ‘‘(j)(1) The term ‘qualified asset account’ means a

13 mechanism approved by the State (such as individual re14 tirement accounts, escrow accounts, or savings bonds) that

15 allows savings of a family receiving aid to families with

16 dependent children to be used for qualified distributions.

17 ‘‘(2) The term ‘qualified distribution’ means a dis18 tribution from a qualified asset account for expenses di19 rectly related to 1 or more of the following purposes:

20 ‘‘(A) The attendance of a member of the family

21 at any education or training program.

22 ‘‘(B) The improvement of the employability (in23 cluding self-employment) of a member of the family

24 (such as through the purchase of an automobile).

25 ‘‘(C) The purchase of a home for the family.
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1 ‘‘(D) A change of the family residence.’’.

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

3 this section shall become effective October 1, 1999.

4 SEC. 162. INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE COLLECTION OF

5 ARREARAGES.

6 (a) AMENDMENT TO INTERNAL REVENUE CODE.—

7 Section 6305(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (re8 lating to collection of certain liability) is amended—

9 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘except as

10 provided in paragraph (5)’’ after ‘‘collected’’;

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

12 (3);

13 (3) by striking the period at the end of para14 graph (4) and inserting ‘‘, and’’;

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

16 paragraph:

17 ‘‘(5) no additional fee may be assessed for ad18 justments to an amount previously certified pursu19 ant to such section 452(b) with respect to the same

20 obligor.’’; and

21 (5) by striking ‘‘Secretary of Health, Edu22 cation, and Welfare’’ each place it appears and in23 serting ‘‘Secretary of Health and Human Services’’.

24 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

25 this section shall become effective October 1, 1997.
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1 SEC. 163. AUTHORITY TO COLLECT SUPPORT FROM FED2 ERAL EMPLOYEES.

3 (a) CONSOLIDATION AND STREAMLINING OF AU4 THORITIES.—Section 459 (42 U.S.C. 659) is amended—

5 (1) in the heading, by inserting ‘‘INCOME WITH6 HOLDING,’’ before ‘‘GARNISHMENT’’;

7 (2) in subsection (a)—

8 (A) by striking ‘‘section 207’’ and insert9 ing ‘‘section 207 and section 5301 of title 38,

10 United States Code’’; and

11 (B) by striking ‘‘to legal process’’ and all

12 that follows through the period and inserting

13 ‘‘to withholding in accordance with State law

14 pursuant to subsections (a)(1) and (b) of sec15 tion 466 and regulations of the Secretary there16 under, and to any other legal process brought,

17 by a State agency administering a program

18 under this part or by an individual obligee, to

19 enforce the legal obligation of such individual to

20 provide child support or alimony.’’;

21 (3) in subsection (b), to read as follows:

22 ‘‘(b) Except as otherwise provided herein, each entity

23 specified in subsection (a) shall be subject, with respect

24 to notice to withhold income pursuant to subsection (a)(1)

25 or (b) of section 466, or to any other order or process

26 to enforce support obligations against an individual (if
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1 such order or process contains or is accompanied by suffi2 cient data to permit prompt identification of the individual

3 and the moneys involved), to the same requirements as

4 would apply if such entity were a private person.’’;

5 (4) by striking subsections (c) and (d) and in6 serting the following new subsections:

7 ‘‘(c)(1) The head of each agency subject to the re8 quirements of this section shall—

9 ‘‘(A) designate an agent or agents to receive or10 ders and accept service of process; and

11 ‘‘(B) publish—

12 ‘‘(i) in the appendix of such regulations;

13 ‘‘(ii) in each subsequent republication of

14 such regulations; and

15 ‘‘(iii) annually in the Federal Register,

16 the designation of such agent or agents, identified

17 by title of position, mailing address, and telephone

18 number.

19 ‘‘(2) Whenever an agent designated pursuant to para20 graph (1) receives notice pursuant to subsection (a)(1) or

21 (b) of section 466, or is effectively served with any order,

22 process, or interrogatories, with respect to an individual’s

23 child support or alimony payment obligations, such agent

24 shall—
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1 ‘‘(A) as soon as possible (but not later than 15

2 days) thereafter, send written notice of such notice

3 or service (together with a copy thereof) to such in4 dividual at his duty station or last-known home ad5 dress;

6 ‘‘(B) not later than 30 days (or such longer pe7 riod as may be prescribed by applicable State law)

8 after receipt of a notice pursuant to subsection

9 (a)(1) or (b) of section 466, comply with all applica10 ble provisions of such section 466; and

11 ‘‘(C) not later than 30 days (or such longer pe12 riod as may be prescribed by applicable State law)

13 after effective service of any other such order, proc14 ess, or interrogatories, respond thereto.

15 ‘‘(d) In the event that a governmental entity receives

16 notice or is served with process, as provided in this section,

17 concerning amounts owed by an individual to more than

18 1 person—

19 ‘‘(1) support collection under section 466(b)

20 must be given priority over any other process, as

21 provided in section 466(b)(7);

22 ‘‘(2) allocation of moneys due or payable to an

23 individual among claimants under section 466(b)

24 shall be governed by the provisions of such section

25 466(b) and regulations thereunder; and
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1 ‘‘(3) such moneys as remain after compliance

2 with subparagraphs (A) and (B) shall be available to

3 satisfy any other such processes on a first-come,

4 first-served basis, with any such process being satis5 fied out of such moneys as remain after the satisfac6 tion of all such processes which have been previously

7 served.’’;

8 (5) in subsection (f)—

9 (A) by striking ‘‘(f)’’ and inserting

10 ‘‘(f)(1)’’; and

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

12 paragraph:

13 ‘‘(2) No Federal employee whose duties include tak14 ing actions necessary to comply with the requirements of

15 subsection (a) with regard to any individual shall be sub16 ject under any law to any disciplinary action or civil or

17 criminal liability or penalty for, or on account of, any dis18 closure of information made by him in connection with the

19 carrying out of such duties.’’; and

20 (6) by adding at the end the following new sub21 section:

22 ‘‘(g) Authority to promulgate regulations for the im23 plementation of the provisions of this section shall, insofar

24 as the provisions of this section are applicable to moneys

25 due from (or payable by)—
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1 ‘‘(1) the executive branch of the Federal Gov2 ernment (including in such branch, for the purposes

3 of this subsection, the territories and possessions of

4 the United States, the United States Postal Service,

5 the Postal Rate Commission, any wholly owned Fed6 eral corporation created by an Act of Congress, and

7 the government of the District of Columbia), be

8 vested in the President (or the President’s designee);

9 ‘‘(2) the legislative branch of the Federal Gov10 ernment, be vested jointly in the President pro tem11 pore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of

12 Representatives (or their designees); and

13 ‘‘(3) the judicial branch of the Federal Govern14 ment, be vested in the Chief Justice of the United

15 States (or the Chief Justice’s designee).

16 ‘‘(h) Subject to subsection (i), moneys paid or payable

17 to an individual which are considered to be based upon

18 remuneration for employment, for purposes of this sec19 tion—

20 ‘‘(1) consist of—

21 ‘‘(A) compensation paid or payable for per22 sonal services of such individual, whether such

23 compensation is denominated as wages, salary,

24 commission, bonus, pay, allowances, or other-
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1 wise (including severance pay, sick pay, and in2 centive pay);

3 ‘‘(B) periodic benefits (including a periodic

4 benefit as defined in section 228(h)(3)) or other

5 payments—

6 ‘‘(i) under the insurance system estab7 lished by title II;

8 ‘‘(ii) under any other system or fund

9 established by the United States which

10 provides for the payment of pensions, re11 tirement or retired pay, annuities, depend12 ents’ or survivors’ benefits, or similar

13 amounts payable on account of personal

14 services performed by the individual or any

15 other individual;

16 ‘‘(iii) as compensation for death under

17 any Federal program;

18 ‘‘(iv) under any Federal program es19 tablished to provide ‘black lung’ benefits;

20 or

21 ‘‘(v) by the Secretary of Veterans Af22 fairs as pension, or as compensation for a

23 service-connected disability or death (ex24 cept any compensation paid by such Sec25 retary to a former member of the Armed
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1 Forces who is in receipt of retired or re2 tainer pay if such former member has

3 waived a portion of his retired pay in order

4 to receive such compensation); and

5 ‘‘(C) worker’s compensation benefits paid

6 under Federal or State law; but

7 ‘‘(2) do not include any payment—

8 ‘‘(A) by way of reimbursement or other9 wise, to defray expenses incurred by such indi10 vidual in carrying out duties associated with his

11 employment; or

12 ‘‘(B) as allowances for members of the uni13 formed services payable pursuant to chapter 7

14 of title 37, United States Code, as prescribed

15 by the Secretaries concerned (defined by section

16 101(5) of such title) as necessary for the effi17 cient performance of duty.

18 ‘‘(i) In determining the amount of any moneys due

19 from, or payable by, the United States to any individual,

20 there shall be excluded amounts which—

21 ‘‘(1) are owed by such individual to the United

22 States;

23 ‘‘(2) are required by law to be, and are, de24 ducted from the remuneration or other payment in-
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1 volved, including Federal employment taxes, and

2 fines and forfeitures ordered by court-martial;

3 ‘‘(3) are properly withheld for Federal, State,

4 or local income tax purposes, if the withholding of

5 such amounts is authorized or required by law and

6 if amounts withheld are not greater than would be

7 the case if such individual claimed all the depend8 ents that the individual was entitled to (the with9 holding of additional amounts pursuant to section

10 3402(i) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 may

11 be permitted only when such individual presents evi12 dence of a tax obligation which supports the addi13 tional withholding);

14 ‘‘(4) are deducted as health insurance pre15 miums;

16 ‘‘(5) are deducted as normal retirement con17 tributions (not including amounts deducted for sup18 plementary coverage); or

19 ‘‘(6) are deducted as normal life insurance pre20 miums from salary or other remuneration for em21 ployment (not including amounts deducted for sup22 plementary coverage).

23 ‘‘(j) For purposes of this section—’’.

24 (b) TRANSFER OF SUBSECTIONS.—Subsections (a)

25 through (e) of section 462 (42 U.S.C. 662), are trans-
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1 ferred and redesignated as paragraphs (1) through (4),

2 respectively of section 459(j) (as added by subsection

3 (a)(6)), and the left margin of each of such paragraphs

4 (1) through (4) is indented 2 ems to the right of the left

5 margin of subsection (j) (as added by subsection (a)(6)).

6 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

7 (1) TO PART D OF TITLE IV.—Sections 461 and

8 462 (42 U.S.C. 661, 662) are repealed.

9 (2) TO TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE.—Sec10 tion 5520a of title 5, United States Code, is amend11 ed, in subsections (h)(2) and (i), by striking ‘‘sec12 tions 459, 461, and 462 of the Social Security Act

13 (42 U.S.C. 659, 661, and 662)’’ each place it ap14 pears and inserting ‘‘section 459 of the Social Secu15 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 659)’’.

16 (d) MILITARY RETIRED AND RETAINER PAY.—Sec17 tion 1408(a) of title 10, United States Code, is amended—

18 (1) in paragraph (1)—

19 (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking

20 ‘‘and’’;

21 (B) in subparagraph (C), by striking the

22 period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

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

24 subparagraph:
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1 ‘‘(D) any administrative or judicial tribu2 nal of a State competent to enter orders for

3 support or maintenance (including a State

4 agency administering a State program under

5 part D of title IV of the Social Security Act).’’;

6 (2) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘or a court

7 order for the payment of child support not included

8 in or accompanied by such a decree or settlement,’’

9 before ‘‘which—’’;

10 (3) in subsection (d)—

11 (A) in the heading, by inserting ‘‘(OR FOR

12 BENEFIT OF)’’ after ‘‘CONCERNED’’; and

13 (B) in paragraph (1), in the first sentence,

14 by inserting ‘‘(or for the benefit of such spouse

15 or former spouse to a State central collections

16 unit or other public payee designated by a

17 State, in accordance with part D of title IV of

18 the Social Security Act, as directed by court

19 order, or as otherwise directed in accordance

20 with such part D)’’ before ‘‘in an amount suffi21 cient’’; and

22 (4) by adding at the end the following new sub23 section:

24 ‘‘(j) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS.—In any case

25 involving a child support order against a member who has
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1 never been married to the other parent of the child, the

2 provisions of this section shall not apply, and the case

3 shall be subject to the provisions of section 459 of the

4 Social Security Act.’’.

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

6 this section shall become effective 6 months after the date

7 of the enactment of this Act.

8 SEC. 164. ENFORCEMENT OF CHILD SUPPORT OBLIGA9 TIONS OF MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES.

10 (a) AVAILABILITY OF LOCATOR INFORMATION.—

11 (1) MAINTENANCE OF ADDRESS INFORMA12 TION.—The Secretary of Defense shall establish a

13 centralized personnel locator service that includes

14 the address of each member of the Armed Forces

15 under the jurisdiction of the Secretary. Upon re16 quest of the Secretary of Transportation, addresses

17 for members of the Coast Guard shall be included in

18 the centralized personnel locator service.

19 (2) TYPE OF ADDRESS.—

20 (A) RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS.—Except as

21 provided in subparagraph (B), the address for

22 a member of the Armed Forces shown in the lo23 cator service shall be the residential address of

24 that member.
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1 (B) DUTY ADDRESS.—The address for a

2 member of the Armed Forces shown in the loca3 tor service shall be the duty address of that

4 member in the case of a member—

5 (i) who is permanently assigned over6 seas, to a vessel, or to a routinely

7 deployable unit; or

8 (ii) with respect to whom the Sec9 retary concerned makes a determination

10 that the member’s residential address

11 should not be disclosed due to national se12 curity or safety concerns.

13 (3) UPDATING OF LOCATOR INFORMATION.—

14 Not later than 30 days after a member listed in the

15 locator service establishes a new residential address

16 (or a new duty address, in the case of a member cov17 ered by paragraph (2)(B)), the Secretary concerned

18 shall update the locator service to indicate the new

19 address of the member.

20 (4) AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.—The Sec21 retary of Defense shall make information regarding

22 the address of a member of the Armed Forces listed

23 in the locator service available, on request, to the

24 Federal Parent Locator Service.
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1 (b) FACILITATING GRANTING OF LEAVE FOR AT2 TENDANCE AT HEARINGS.—

3 (1) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of each

4 military department, and the Secretary of Transpor5 tation with respect to the Coast Guard when it is

6 not operating as a service in the Navy, shall pre7 scribe regulations to facilitate the granting of leave

8 to a member of the Armed Forces under the juris9 diction of that Secretary in a case in which—

10 (A) the leave is needed for the member to

11 attend a hearing described in paragraph (2);

12 (B) the member is not serving in or with

13 a unit deployed in a contingency operation (as

14 defined in section 101 of title 10, United States

15 Code); and

16 (C) the exigencies of military service (as

17 determined by the Secretary concerned) do not

18 otherwise require that such leave not be grant19 ed.

20 (2) COVERED HEARINGS.—Paragraph (1) ap21 plies to a hearing that is conducted by a court or

22 pursuant to an administrative process established

23 under State law, in connection with a civil action—

24 (A) to determine whether a member of the

25 Armed Forces is a natural parent of a child; or
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•S 442 IS

1 (B) to determine an obligation of a mem2 ber of the Armed Forces to provide child sup3 port.

4 (3) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub5 section:

6 (A) The term ‘‘court’’ has the meaning

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

8 United States Code.

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

10 meaning given such term in section 462 of the

11 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 662).

12 (c) PAYMENT OF MILITARY RETIRED PAY IN COM13 PLIANCE WITH CHILD SUPPORT ORDERS.—Section 1408

14 of title 10, United States Code, as amended by section

15 163(d)(4), is amended—

16 (1) by redesignating subsections (i) and (j) as

17 subsections (j) and (k), respectively;

18 (2) by inserting after subsection (h) the follow19 ing new subsection:

20 ‘‘(i) CERTIFICATION DATE.—It is not necessary that

21 the date of a certification of the authenticity or complete22 ness of a copy of a court order or an order of an adminis23 trative process established under State law for child sup24 port received by the Secretary concerned for the purposes
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1 of this section be recent in relation to the date of receipt

2 by the Secretary.’’; and

3 (3) in subsection (d)—

4 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting after

5 the first sentence the following: ‘‘In the case of

6 a spouse or former spouse who, pursuant to

7 section 402(a)(26) of the Social Security Act

8 (42 U.S.C. 602(26)), assigns to a State the

9 rights of the spouse or former spouse to receive

10 support, the Secretary concerned may make the

11 child support payments referred to in the pre12 ceding sentence to that State in amounts con13 sistent with that assignment of rights.’’; and

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

15 paragraph:

16 ‘‘(6) In the case of a court order or an order of an

17 administrative process established under State law for

18 which effective service is made on the Secretary concerned

19 on or after the date of the enactment of this paragraph

20 and which provides for payments from the disposable re21 tired pay of a member to satisfy the amount of child sup22 port set forth in the order, the authority provided in para23 graph (1) to make payments from the disposable retired

24 pay of a member to satisfy the amount of child support

25 set forth in a court order or an order of an administrative
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1 process established under State law shall apply to payment

2 of any amount of child support arrearages set forth in that

3 order as well as to amounts of child support that currently

4 become due.’’.

5 SEC. 165. MOTOR VEHICLE LIENS.

6 Section 466(a)(4) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)(4)) is amend7 ed—

8 (1) by striking ‘‘(4)’’ and inserting ‘‘(4)(A)’’;

9 and

10 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub11 paragraph:

12 ‘‘(B) Procedures for placing liens for arrears of

13 child support on motor vehicle titles of individuals

14 owing such arrearages equal to or exceeding 2

15 months of support, under which—

16 ‘‘(i) any person owed such arrears may

17 place such a lien;

18 ‘‘(ii) the State agency administering the

19 program under this part shall systematically

20 place such liens;

21 ‘‘(iii) expedited methods are provided for—

22 ‘‘(I) ascertaining the amount of ar23 rears; and

24 ‘‘(II) affording the person owing the

25 arrearages or other titleholder to contest
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1 the amount of arrearages or to obtain a

2 release upon fulfilling the support obliga3 tion;

4 ‘‘(iv) such a lien has precedence over all

5 other encumbrances on a vehicle title other than

6 a purchase money security interest; and

7 ‘‘(v) the individual or State agency owed

8 the arrears may execute on, seize, and sell the

9 property in accordance with State law.’’.

10 SEC. 166. VOIDING OF FRAUDULENT TRANSFERS.

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

12 sections 101(a), 126(a), and 131, is amended by adding

13 at the end the following new paragraph:

14 ‘‘(15) Procedures under which—

15 ‘‘(A) the State has in effect—

16 ‘‘(i) the Uniform Fraudulent Convey17 ance Act of 1981;

18 ‘‘(ii) the Uniform Fraudulent Trans19 fer Act of 1984; or

20 ‘‘(iii) another law, specifying indicia of

21 fraud which create a prima facie case that

22 a debtor transferred income or property to

23 avoid payment to a child support creditor,

24 which the Secretary finds affords com-
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1 parable rights to child support creditors;

2 and

3 ‘‘(B) in any case in which the State knows

4 of a transfer by a child support debtor with re5 spect to which such a prima facie case is estab6 lished, the State must—

7 ‘‘(i) seek to void such transfer; or

8 ‘‘(ii) obtain a settlement in the best

9 interests of the child support creditor.’’.

10 SEC. 167. STATE LAW AUTHORIZING SUSPENSION OF LI11 CENSES.

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

13 sections 101(a), 126(a), 131, and 166, is amended by add14 ing at the end the following new paragraph:

15 ‘‘(16) Procedures under which the State has

16 (and uses in appropriate cases) authority (subject to

17 appropriate due process safeguards) to withhold or

18 suspend, or to restrict the use of driver’s licenses,

19 professional and occupational licenses, and rec20 reational licenses of individuals owing overdue child

21 support or failing, after receiving appropriate notice,

22 to comply with subpoenas or warrants relating to

23 paternity or child support proceedings.’’.
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1 SEC. 168. REPORTING ARREARAGES TO CREDIT BUREAUS.

2 Section 466(a)(7) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)(7)) is amended

3 to read as follows:

4 ‘‘(7)(A) Procedures (subject to safeguards pur5 suant to subparagraph (B)) requiring the State to

6 report periodically to consumer reporting agencies

7 (as defined in section 603(f) of the Fair Credit Re8 porting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a(f)) the name of any

9 absent parent who is delinquent by 90 days or more

10 in the payment of support, and the amount of over11 due support owed by such parent.

12 ‘‘(B) Procedures ensuring that, in carrying out

13 subparagraph (A), information with respect to an

14 absent parent is reported—

15 ‘‘(i) only after such parent has been af16 forded all due process required under State law,

17 including notice and a reasonable opportunity

18 to contest the accuracy of such information;

19 and

20 ‘‘(ii) only to an entity that has furnished

21 evidence satisfactory to the State that the en22 tity is a consumer reporting agency.’’.

23 SEC. 169. EXTENDED STATUTE OF LIMITATION FOR COL24 LECTION OF ARREARAGES.

25 (a) AMENDMENTS.—Section 466(a)(9) (42 U.S.C.

26 666(a)(9)) is amended—
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1 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (A), (B),

2 and (C) as clauses (i), (ii), and (iii), respectively;

3 (2) by striking ‘‘(9)’’ and inserting ‘‘(9)(A)’’;

4 and

5 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub6 paragraph:

7 ‘‘(B) Procedures under which the statute of

8 limitations on any arrearages of child support ex9 tends at least until the child owed such support is

10 30 years of age.’’.

11 (b) APPLICATION OF REQUIREMENT.—The amend12 ment made by this section shall not be interpreted to re13 quire any State law to revive any payment obligation

14 which had lapsed prior to the effective date of such State

15 law.

16 SEC. 170. CHARGES FOR ARREARAGES.

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

18 U.S.C. 666(a)), as amended by sections 101(a), 126(a),

19 131, 166, and 167, is amended by adding at the end the

20 following new paragraph:

21 ‘‘(17) Procedures providing for the calculation

22 and collection of interest or penalties for arrearages

23 of child support, and for distribution of such interest

24 or penalties collected for the benefit of the child (ex-
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1 cept where the right to support has been assigned to

2 the State).’’.

3 (b) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Health and

4 Human Services shall establish by regulation a rule to re5 solve choice of law conflicts arising in the implementation

6 of the amendment made by subsection (a).

7 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 454(21)

8 (42 U.S.C. 654(21)) is repealed.

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

10 this section shall be effective with respect to arrearages

11 accruing on or after October 1, 1998.

12 SEC. 171. DENIAL OF PASSPORTS FOR NONPAYMENT OF

13 CHILD SUPPORT.

14 (a) HHS CERTIFICATION PROCEDURE.—

15 (1) SECRETARIAL RESPONSIBILITY.—Section

16 452 (42 U.S.C. 652), as amended by sections

17 115(a)(3) and 117, is amended by adding at the end

18 the following new subsection:

19 ‘‘(l)(1) If the Secretary receives a certification by a

20 State agency in accordance with the requirements of sec21 tion 454(28) that an individual owes arrearages of child

22 support in an amount exceeding $5,000 or in an amount

23 exceeding 24 months worth of child support, the Secretary

24 shall transmit such certification to the Secretary of State

25 for action (with respect to denial, revocation, or limitation
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1 of passports) pursuant to section 171(b) of the Child Sup2 port Responsibility Act of 1995.

3 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall not be liable to an individual

4 for any action with respect to a certification by a State

5 agency under this section.’’.

6 (2) STATE CSE AGENCY RESPONSIBILITY.—Sec7 tion 454 (42 U.S.C. 654), as amended by sections

8 104(a), 114(b), and 122(a), is amended—

9 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para10 graph (26);

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

12 paragraph (27) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

13 (C) by adding after paragraph (27) the fol14 lowing new paragraph:

15 ‘‘(28) provide that the State agency will have in

16 effect a procedure (which may be combined with the

17 procedure for tax refund offset under section 464)

18 for certifying to the Secretary, for purposes of the

19 procedure under section 452(l) (concerning denial of

20 passports) determinations that individuals owe ar21 rearages of child support in an amount exceeding

22 $5,000 or in an amount exceeding 24 months worth

23 of child support, under which procedure—

24 ‘‘(A) each individual concerned is afforded

25 notice of such determination and the con-
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1 sequences thereof, and an opportunity to con2 test the determination; and

3 ‘‘(B) the certification by the State agency

4 is furnished to the Secretary in such format,

5 and accompanied by such supporting docu6 mentation, as the Secretary may require.’’.

7 (b) STATE DEPARTMENT PROCEDURE FOR DENIAL

8 OF PASSPORTS.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State,

10 upon certification by the Secretary of Health and

11 Human Services, in accordance with section 452(l)

12 of the Social Security Act, that an individual owes

13 arrearages of child support in excess of $5,000, shall

14 refuse to issue a passport to such individual, and

15 may revoke, restrict, or limit a passport issued pre16 viously to such individual.

17 (2) LIMIT ON LIABILITY.—The Secretary of

18 State shall not be liable to an individual for any ac19 tion with respect to a certification by a State agency

20 under this subsection.

21 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section and the amend22 ments made by this section shall become effective October

23 1, 1996.
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1 SEC. 172. INTERNATIONAL CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCE2 MENT.

3 (a) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS THAT THE UNITED

4 STATES SHOULD RATIFY THE UNITED NATIONS CON5 VENTION OF 1956.—It is the sense of the Congress that

6 the United States should ratify the United Nations Con7 vention of 1956.

8 (b) TREATMENT OF INTERNATIONAL CHILD SUP9 PORT CASES AS INTERSTATE CASES.—Section 454 (42

10 U.S.C. 654), as amended by sections 104(a), 114(b),

11 122(a), and 171(a)(2), is amended—

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

13 (27);

14 (2) by striking the period at the end of para15 graph (28) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

16 (3) by inserting after paragraph (28) the fol17 lowing new paragraph:

18 ‘‘(29) provide that the State must treat inter19 national child support cases in the same manner as

20 the State treats interstate child support cases.’’.

21 Subtitle H—Medical Support

22 SEC. 181. TECHNICAL CORRECTION TO ERISA DEFINITION

23 OF MEDICAL CHILD SUPPORT ORDER.

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 609(a)(2)(B) of the Em25 ployee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29

26 U.S.C. 1169(a)(2)(B)) is amended—
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1 (1) by striking ‘‘issued by a court of competent

2 jurisdiction’’;

3 (2) in clause (ii) by striking the period and in4 serting a comma; and

5 (3) by adding after clause (ii), the following

6 flush left language:

7 ‘‘if such judgment, decree, or order (I) is issued

8 by a court of competent jurisdiction or (II) is

9 issued by an administrative adjudicator and has

10 the force and effect of law under applicable

11 State law.’’.

12 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by

14 this section shall take effect on the date of the en15 actment of this Act.

16 (2) PLAN AMENDMENTS NOT REQUIRED UNTIL

17 JANUARY 1, 1996.—

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—Any amendment to a

19 plan required to be made by an amendment

20 made by this section shall not be required to be

21 made before the first plan year beginning on or

22 after January 1, 1996, if—

23 (i) during the period after the date

24 before the date of the enactment of this

25 Act and before such first plan year, the
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1 plan is operated in accordance with the re2 quirements of the amendments made by

3 this section; and

4 (ii) such plan amendment applies

5 retroactively to the period after the date

6 before the date of the enactment of this

7 Act and before such first plan year.

8 (B) NO FAILURE FOR COMPLIANCE WITH

9 THIS PARAGRAPH.—A plan shall not be treated

10 as failing to be operated in accordance with the

11 provisions of the plan merely because it oper12 ates in accordance with this paragraph.

13 TITLE II—INCREASED ACCESS

14 TO FINANCIAL INFORMATION

15 OF NONCUSTODIAL PARENTS

16 AND ADDITIONAL IMPROVE17 MENTS IN ENFORCEMENT

18 SEC. 201. NONLIABILITY FOR DEPOSITORY INSTITUTIONS

19 PROVIDING FINANCIAL RECORDS TO STATE

20 CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES

21 IN CHILD SUPPORT CASES.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi23 sion of Federal or State law, a depository institution shall

24 not be liable under any Federal or State law to any person

25 for disclosing any financial record of an individual to a
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1 State child support enforcement agency attempting to es2 tablish, modify, or enforce a child support obligation of

3 such individual.

4 (b) PROHIBITION OF DISCLOSURE OF FINANCIAL

5 RECORD OBTAINED BY STATE CHILD SUPPORT EN6 FORCEMENT AGENCY.—A State child support enforcement

7 agency which obtains a financial record of an individual

8 from a financial institution pursuant to subsection (a)

9 may disclose such financial record only for the purpose

10 of, and to the extent necessary in, establishing, modifying,

11 or enforcing a child support obligation of such individual.

12 (c) CIVIL DAMAGES FOR UNAUTHORIZED DISCLO13 SURE.—

14 (1) DISCLOSURE BY STATE OFFICER OR EM15 PLOYEE.—If any person knowingly, or by reason of

16 negligence, discloses a financial record of an individ17 ual in violation of subsection (b), such individual

18 may bring a civil action for damages against such

19 person in a district court of the United States.

20 (2) NO LIABILITY FOR GOOD FAITH BUT ERRO21 NEOUS INTERPRETATION.—No liability shall arise

22 under this subsection with respect to any disclosure

23 which results from a good faith, but erroneous, in24 terpretation of subsection (b).
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1 (3) DAMAGES.—In any action brought under

2 paragraph (1), upon a finding of liability on the part

3 of the defendant, the defendant shall be liable to the

4 plaintiff in an amount equal to the sum of—

5 (A) the greater of—

6 (i) $1,000 for each act of unauthor7 ized disclosure of a financial record with

8 respect to which such defendant is found

9 liable; or

10 (ii) the sum of—

11 (I) the actual damages sustained

12 by the plaintiff as a result of such un13 authorized disclosure; plus

14 (II) in the case of a willful disclo15 sure or a disclosure which is the re16 sult of gross negligence, punitive dam17 ages; plus

18 (B) the costs (including attorney’s fees) of

19 the action.

20 (d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section:

21 (1) The term ‘‘depository institution’’ means—

22 (A) a depository institution, as defined in

23 section 3(c) of the Federal Deposit Insurance

24 Act (12 U.S.C. 1813(c));
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1 (B) an institution-affiliated party, as de2 fined in section 3(u) of such Act (12 U.S.C.

3 1813(v)); and

4 (C) any Federal credit union or State cred5 it union, as defined in section 101 of the Fed6 eral Credit Union Act (12 U.S.C. 1752), includ7 ing an institution-affiliated party of such a

8 credit union, as defined in section 206(r) of

9 such Act (12 U.S.C. 1786(r)).

10 (2) The term ‘‘financial record’’ has the mean11 ing given such term in section 1101 of the Right to

12 Financial Privacy Act of 1978 (12 U.S.C. 3401).

13 (3) The term ‘‘State child support enforcement

14 agency’’ means a State agency which administers a

15 State program for establishing and enforcing child

16 support obligations.

17 SEC. 202. ACCESS TO AND USE OF CONSUMER REPORTS BY

18 STATE CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT

19 AGENCIES IN CHILD SUPPORT CASES.

20 Section 604 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15

21 U.S.C. 1681b) is amended by adding at the end the follow22 ing new paragraph:

23 ‘‘(4) To a State child support enforcement

24 agency that is seeking to establish, modify, or en-
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1 force a child support obligation against the

2 consumer, if—

3 ‘‘(A) the paternity of the consumer for the

4 child to which the obligation relates has been

5 established or acknowledged by the consumer in

6 accordance with State laws under which the ob7 ligation arises (if required by those laws); and

8 ‘‘(B) the State child support enforcement

9 agency—

10 ‘‘(i) before obtaining the consumer re11 port, provides written notice to the

12 consumer that the State agency intends to

13 obtain a consumer report on the consumer;

14 and

15 ‘‘(ii) certifies to the consumer report16 ing agency that—

17 ‘‘(I) the requirement in subpara18 graph (A) has been fulfilled (if appli19 cable); and

20 ‘‘(II) the notice required by

21 clause (i) has been provided.’’.

22 SEC. 203. HEALTH CARE SUPPORT.

23 (a) INCLUSION IN CHILD SUPPORT ORDERS.—

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

25 666(a)), as amended by sections 101(a), 126(a),
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1 131, 166, 167, and 170(a) is amended by inserting

2 after paragraph (17) the following new paragraph:

3 ‘‘(18) Not later than the beginning of the ninth

4 calendar month that begins after the date the Sec5 retary prescribes final regulations as provided for in

6 section 467(d)(2):

7 ‘‘(A) Procedures which require any child

8 support order, issued or modified by a court or

9 administrative agency of the State on or after

10 the effective date of guidelines established by

11 the State under section 467(d), to provide for

12 coverage of the health care costs of the child in

13 accordance with such guidelines.

14 ‘‘(B) Procedures which require the expe15 dited consideration and disposition of any alle16 gation of noncompliance with an obligation to

17 cover the health care costs of a child imposed

18 under a child support order issued or modified

19 in the State.’’.

20 (2) STATE GUIDELINES.—Section 467 (42

21 U.S.C. 667) is amended by adding at the end the

22 following new subsection:

23 ‘‘(d)(1) Not later than the beginning of the ninth cal24 endar month that begins after the date the Secretary pre25 scribes final regulations as provided for in paragraph (2),
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1 each State, as a condition for having its State plan ap2 proved under this part, must establish guidelines for the

3 coverage of the health care costs of children pursuant to

4 child support orders issued or modified in the State.

5 Guidelines established under this subsection shall create

6 a streamlined process that meets the minimum standards

7 established by the Secretary in final regulations promul8 gated under paragraph (2).

9 ‘‘(2)(A) The Secretary shall promulgate regulations

10 which set forth minimum standards that any set of guide11 lines established pursuant to paragraph (1) must meet in

12 providing for the coverage of the health care costs of chil13 dren pursuant to child support orders issued or modified

14 in the State, including—

15 ‘‘(i) the contents of such an order with respect

16 to the coverage of such costs;

17 ‘‘(ii) the distribution of responsibility for such

18 costs;

19 ‘‘(iii) to the extent that such costs are to be

20 covered through health insurance—

21 ‘‘(I) the provision of such insurance;

22 ‘‘(II) the payment of insurance claims; and

23 ‘‘(III) the rights of the noncustodial parent

24 and the custodial parent to insurance informa25 tion;
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1 ‘‘(iv) the circumstances under which a provider

2 of health insurance may or may not deny coverage

3 to a child who is the subject of such an order;

4 ‘‘(v) penalties to be imposed on providers of

5 health insurance who fail to comply with the guide6 lines; and

7 ‘‘(vi) how changes in the circumstances of the

8 noncustodial parent and the custodial parent are to

9 be taken into account with respect to the coverage

10 of such costs.

11 ‘‘(B) In developing such standards, the Secretary

12 shall ensure that, in establishing guidelines pursuant to

13 paragraph (1), the State consider the following matters

14 in the following order of importance:

15 ‘‘(i) The best interests of the child.

16 ‘‘(ii) The financial and other circumstances of

17 the parents of the child.

18 ‘‘(iii) Cost-effectiveness.

19 ‘‘(3) The preceding subsections of this section shall

20 apply in like manner to the guidelines established pursu21 ant to this subsection.’’.

22 (3) REGULATIONS.—

23 (A) PROPOSED REGULATIONS.—Not later

24 than 9 months after the date of the enactment

25 of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human
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1 Services shall issue proposed regulations to im2 plement the amendments made by this sub3 section.

4 (B) FINAL REGULATIONS.—Not later than

5 14 months after the date of the enactment of

6 this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human

7 Services shall issue final regulations to imple8 ment the amendments made by this subsection.

9 (b) INCENTIVE PAYMENTS FOR DEPENDENT

10 HEALTH INSURANCE PROVIDED DUE TO SUCCESSFUL

11 ENFORCEMENT.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 458(a)(2) (42

13 U.S.C. 658), as amended by section 112(a), is

14 amended by redesignating subparagraph (B) as sub15 paragraph (C) and by inserting after subparagraph

16 (A) the following new subparagraph:

17 ‘‘(B) INCENTIVE PAYMENTS FOR DEPEND18 ENT HEALTH INSURANCE.—

19 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In setting per20 formance standards pursuant to subpara21 graph (A)(i), the Secretary shall provide in

22 regulations promulgated pursuant to such

23 subparagraph, that the successful enforce24 ment by the State of a provision of a sup25 port order requiring an absent parent to
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1 obtain health insurance for 1 or more chil2 dren (in this subparagraph referred to as

3 the ‘‘health insurance support’’) shall be

4 considered the collection of support from

5 the absent parent, without regard to the

6 means by which such support is provided.

7 ‘‘(ii) VALUATION.—The Secretary

8 shall estimate the value of the health in9 surance support collected by a State and

10 shall include in the regulations promul11 gated pursuant to subparagraph (A) per12 formance standards and incentive adjust13 ments for the collection of such support.

14 (2) STUDY; REPORT.—

15 (A) STUDY.—The Secretary of Health and

16 Human Services shall conduct a study to deter17 mine the incentives that should be provided to

18 encourage States to enforce obligations of

19 noncustodial parents to pay (and obtain medical

20 insurance coverage with respect to) the reason21 able and necessary health and dental expenses

22 of the children to whom the noncustodial par23 ents owe such obligations.

24 (B) REPORT.—Not later than 12 months

25 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the
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1 Secretary of Health and Human Services shall

2 submit to the Committee on Ways and Means

3 of the House of Representatives and the Com4 mittee on Finance of the Senate the results of

5 the study required by subparagraph (A).

6 SEC. 204. ANNUAL REPORTS ON STATE COMPLIANCE WITH

7 TIME LIMITS WITHIN WHICH STATE MUST

8 PROVIDE CERTAIN CHILD SUPPORT ASSIST9 ANCE.

10 Section 452(a)(10) (42 U.S.C. 652(a)(10)) is amend11 ed—

12 (1) in subparagraph (H), by striking ‘‘and’’;

13 (2) in subparagraph (I), by striking the period

14 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

15 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (I) the fol16 lowing new subparagraph:

17 ‘‘(J) compliance, by State, with the stand18 ards established pursuant to subsections (h)

19 and (i).’’.

20 SEC. 205. WAGES WITHHELD BY EMPLOYERS TO PAY CHILD

21 SUPPORT OBLIGATIONS REQUIRED TO BE

22 PAID TO STATE WITHIN 10 DAYS; LATE PAY23 MENT PENALTY IMPOSED ON EMPLOYERS.

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 466(b)(6)(A) (42 U.S.C.

25 666(b)(6)(A)) is amended—
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1 (1) in clause (i), by inserting ‘‘within 10 days

2 after the payment of such wages’’ before ‘‘to the ap3 propriate agency’’; and

4 (2) by adding at the end the following new

5 clause:

6 ‘‘(iii) The State shall require any employer who

7 fails to make any payment required in accordance

8 with clause (i) within the 10-day period described

9 therein to pay the State a $1,000 penalty. The State

10 shall expend all penalties collected in accordance

11 with this clause for the operation of the State plan

12 approved under section 454, not later than the end

13 of the calendar quarter following the calendar quar14 ter in which collected.’’.

15 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para17 graph (2) of this subsection, the amendments made

18 by subsection (a) of this section shall take effect on

19 the date of the enactment of this Act and apply to—

20 (A) wages paid on or after such date; and

21 (B) payments under part D of title IV of

22 the Social Security Act for calendar quarters

23 beginning on or after such date.

24 (2) DELAY PERMITTED IF STATE LEGISLATION

25 REQUIRED.—In the case of a State plan approved
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1 under section 454 of the Social Security Act which

2 the Secretary of Health and Human Services deter3 mines requires State legislation (other than legisla4 tion appropriating funds) in order for the plan to

5 meet the additional requirements imposed by the

6 amendments made by subsection (a) of this section,

7 the State plan shall not be regarded as failing to

8 comply with the requirements of such section 454

9 solely on the basis of the failure of the plan to meet

10 such additional requirements before the 1st day of

11 the 1st calendar quarter beginning after the close of

12 the 1st regular session of the State legislature that

13 begins after the date of the enactment of this Act.

14 For purposes of the previous sentence, in the case

15 of a State that has a 2-year legislative session, each

16 year of such session shall be deemed to be a sepa17 rate regular session of the State legislature.

18 SEC. 206. NATIONAL PARENT LOCATOR NETWORK.

19 Section 453 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.

20 653), as amended by sections 125(c)(2) and 125(f), is

21 amended by adding at the end the following new sub22 section:

23 ‘‘(p) The Secretary shall expand the Federal Parent

24 Locator Service to establish a national network based on
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1 the comprehensive statewide child support enforcement

2 systems developed by the States, to—

3 ‘‘(1) allow each State to—

4 ‘‘(A) locate any absent parent who owes

5 child support, for whom a child support obliga6 tion is being established, or for whom an order

7 for visitation is being enforced, by—

8 ‘‘(i) accessing the records of other

9 State agencies and sources of locate infor10 mation directly from 1 computer system to

11 another; and

12 ‘‘(ii) accessing Federal sources of lo13 cate information in the same fashion;

14 ‘‘(B) access the files of other States to de15 termine whether there are other child support

16 orders involving the same absent parent, and

17 obtain the details of any such order;

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

19 processing of locate requests, with on-line ac20 cess restricted to cases in which the information

21 is needed immediately (for such reasons as

22 court appearances) and batch processing used

23 to ‘troll’ data bases to locate individuals or up24 date information periodically; and
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1 ‘‘(D) direct locate requests to individual

2 States or Federal agencies, broadcast requests

3 to selected States, or broadcast cases to all

4 States when there is no indication of the source

5 of needed information;

6 ‘‘(2) provide for a maximum of 48-hour turn7 around time for information to be broadcast and re8 turned to a requesting State; and

9 ‘‘(3) provide ready access to courts of the infor10 mation on the network by location of a computer

11 terminal in each court.’’.

12 TITLE III—EFFECTIVE DATES

13 SEC. 301. EFFECTIVE DATES.

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise specifically

15 provided (but subject to subsections (b) and (c))—

16 (1) provisions of this Act requiring enactment

17 or amendment of State laws under section 466 of

18 the Act, or revision of State plans under section 454

19 of the Act, shall be effective with respect to periods

20 beginning on and after October 1, 1996; and

21 (2) all other provisions of this Act shall become

22 effective upon the date of the enactment of this Act.

23 (b) GRACE PERIOD FOR STATE LAW CHANGES.—The

24 provisions of this Act shall become effective with respect

25 to a State on the later of—
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1 (1) any date specified in this Act; or

2 (2) the effective date of laws enacted by the leg3 islature of such State implementing such provisions,

4 but in no event later than the first day of the first cal5 endar quarter beginning after the close of the first regular

6 session of the State legislature that begins after the date

7 of the enactment of this Act. For purposes of the previous

8 sentence, in the case of a State that has a 2-year legisla9 tive session, each year of such session shall be deemed to

10 be a separate regular session of the State legislature.

11 (c) GRACE PERIOD FOR STATE CONSTITUTIONAL

12 AMENDMENT.—A State shall not be found out of compli13 ance with any requirement enacted by this Act if it is un14 able to comply without amending the State constitution

15 until the earlier of—

16 (1) the date which is 1 year after the effective

17 date of the necessary State constitutional amend18 ment; or

19 (2) the date which is 5 years after the date of

20 the enactment of this Act.

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