H. R. 4980—29 
SEC. 304. DATA EXCHANGE STANDARDIZATION FOR IMPROVED INTER-
OPERABILITY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 452 (42 U.S.C. 652), as amended 
by section 301(a)(1) of this Act, is amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
‘‘(o) DATA EXCHANGE STANDARDS FOR IMPROVED INTEROPER-
ABILITY.— 
‘‘(1) DESIGNATION.—The Secretary shall, in consultation 
with an interagency work group established by the Office of 
Management and Budget and considering State government 
perspectives, by rule, designate data exchange standards to 
govern, under this part— 
‘‘(A) necessary categories of information that State 
agencies operating programs under State plans approved 
under this part are required under applicable Federal law 
to electronically exchange with another State agency; and 
‘‘(B) Federal reporting and data exchange required 
under applicable Federal law. 
‘‘(2) 
REQUIREMENTS.—The 
data 
exchange 
standards 
required by paragraph (1) shall, to the extent practicable— 
‘‘(A) incorporate a widely accepted, non-proprietary, 
searchable, computer-readable format, such as the eXten-
sible Markup Language; 
‘‘(B) contain interoperable standards developed and 
maintained by intergovernmental partnerships, such as the 
National Information Exchange Model; 
‘‘(C) incorporate interoperable standards developed and 
maintained by Federal entities with authority over con-
tracting and financial assistance; 
‘‘(D) be consistent with and implement applicable 
accounting principles; 
‘‘(E) be implemented in a manner that is cost-effective 
and improves program efficiency and effectiveness; and 
‘‘(F) be capable of being continually upgraded as nec-
essary. 
‘‘(3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this subsection 
shall be construed to require a change to existing data exchange 
standards found to be effective and efficient.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The Secretary of Health and Human 
Services shall issue a proposed rule within 24 months after the 
date of the enactment of this section. The rule shall identify feder-
ally required data exchanges, include specification and timing of 
exchanges to be standardized, and address the factors used in 
determining whether and when to standardize data exchanges. 
It should also specify State implementation options and describe 
future milestones. 
SEC. 305. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 
The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall— 
(1) in conjunction with the strategic plan, review and pro-
vide recommendations for cost-effective improvements to the 
child support enforcement program under part D of title IV 
of the Social Security Act, and ensure that the plan addresses 
the effectiveness and performance of the program, analyzes 
program practices, identifies possible new collection tools and 
approaches, and identifies strategies for holding parents 
accountable for supporting their children and for building the
H. R. 4980—30 
capacity of parents to pay child support, with specific attention 
given to matters including front-end services, on-going case 
management, collections, Tribal-State partnerships, interstate 
and intergovernmental interactions, program performance, data 
analytics, and information technology; 
(2) in carrying out paragraph (1), consult with and include 
input from— 
(A) State, tribal, and county child support directors; 
(B) judges who preside over family courts or other 
State or local courts with responsibility for conducting or 
supervising proceedings relating to child support enforce-
ment, child welfare, or social services for children and 
their families, and organizations that represent the judges; 
(C) custodial parents and organizations that represent 
them; 
(D) noncustodial parents and organizations that rep-
resent them; and 
(E) organizations that represent fiduciary entities that 
are affected by child support enforcement policies; and 
(3) in developing the report required by paragraph (4), 
solicit public comment; 
(4) not later than June 30, 2015, submit to the Congress 
a report that sets forth policy options for improvements in 
child support enforcement, which report shall include the fol-
lowing: 
(A) A review of the effectiveness of State child support 
enforcement 
programs, 
and 
the 
collection 
practices 
employed by State agencies administering programs under 
such part, and an analysis of the extent to which the 
practices result in unintended consequences or performance 
issues associated with the programs and practices. 
(B) Recommendations for methods to enhance the 
effectiveness of child support enforcement programs and 
collection practices. 
(C) A review of State best practices in regards to estab-
lishing and operating State and multistate lien registries. 
(D) A compilation of State recovery and distribution 
policies. 
(E) Options, with analysis, for methods to engage non-
custodial parents in the lives of their children through 
consideration of parental time and visitation with children. 
(F) An analysis of the role of alternative dispute resolu-
tion in making child support determinations. 
(G) Identification of best practices for— 
(i) determining which services and support pro-
grams available to custodial and noncustodial parents 
are non-duplicative, evidence-based, and produce 
quality outcomes, and connecting custodial and non-
custodial parents to those services and support pro-
grams; 
(ii) providing employment support, job training, 
and job placement for custodial and noncustodial par-
ents; and 
(iii) establishing services, supports, and child sup-
port payment tracking for noncustodial parents,
H. R. 4980—31 
including options for the prevention of, and interven-
tion on, uncollectible arrearages, such as retroactive 
obligations. 
(H) Options, with analysis, for methods for States to 
use to collect child support payments from individuals who 
owe excessive arrearages as determined under section 
454(31) of such Act. 
(I) A review of State practices under 454(31) of such 
Act used to determine which individuals are excluded from 
the requirements of section 452(k) of such Act, including 
the extent to which individuals are able to successfully 
contest or appeal decisions. 
(J) Options, with analysis, for actions as are deter-
mined to be appropriate for improvement in child support 
enforcement. 
SEC. 306. REQUIRED ELECTRONIC PROCESSING OF INCOME WITH-
HOLDING. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 454A(g)(1) (42 U.S.C. 654a(g)(1)(A)) 
is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘, to the maximum extent feasible,’’; and 
(2) in subparagraph (A)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of clause (i); 
(B) by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end of clause (ii); and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(iii) at the option of the employer, using the elec-
tronic transmission methods prescribed by the Sec-
retary;’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by subsection 
(a) shall take effect on October 1, 2015. 
TITLE IV—BUDGETARY EFFECTS 
SEC. 401. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 
The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of complying 
with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall be determined 
by reference to the latest statement titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of 
PAYGO Legislation’’ for this Act, submitted for printing in the
H. R. 4980—32 
Congressional Record by the Chairman of the Senate Budget Com-
mittee, provided that such statement has been submitted prior 
to the vote on passage. 
Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.