258
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), the amendments made by this section
shall become effective on October 1, 1998.
(2) LIMITED EXCEPTION TO UNIT HANDLING
PAYMENTS.—Notwithstanding section 454B(b)(1) of
the Social Security Act, as added by this section,
any State which, as of the date of the enactment of
this Act, processes the receipt of child support pay-
ments through local courts, and, as of March 21,
1996, such courts were not funded under part D of
title IV of the Social Security Act, may, at the op-
tion of the State, continue to process through Sep-
tember 30, 1999, such payments through such
courts as processed such payments on or before such
date of enactment.
SEC. 313. STATE DIRECTORY OF NEW HIRES.
(a) STATE PLAN REQUIREMENT.—Section 454 (42
U.S.C. 654), as amended by sections 301(b), 303(a), and
312(a) of this Act, is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph
(26);
(2) by striking the period at the end of para-
graph (27) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
(3) by adding after paragraph (27) the follow-
ing new paragraph:
259
‘‘(28) provide that, on and after October 1,
1997, the State will operate a State Directory of
New Hires in accordance with section 453A.’’.
(b) STATE DIRECTORY OF NEW HIRES.—Part D of
title IV (42 U.S.C. 651–669) is amended by inserting
after section 453 the following new section:
‘‘SEC. 453A. STATE DIRECTORY OF NEW HIRES.
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—
‘‘(A) REQUIREMENT
FOR STATES
THAT
HAVE NO DIRECTORY.—Except as provided in
subparagraph (B), not later than October 1,
1997, each State shall establish an automated
directory (to be known as the ‘State Directory
of New Hires’) which shall contain information
supplied in accordance with subsection (b) by
employers on each newly hired employee.
‘‘(B) STATES WITH NEW HIRE REPORTING
IN EXISTENCE.—A State which has a new hire
reporting law in existence on the date of the en-
actment of this section may continue to operate
under the State law, but the State must meet
the requirements of subsection (g)(2) not later
than October 1, 1997, and the requirements of
260
this section (other than subsection (g)(2)) not
later than October 1, 1998.
‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section:
‘‘(A) EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘employee’—
‘‘(i) means an individual who is an
employee within the meaning of chapter 24
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; and
‘‘(ii) does not include an employee of
a Federal or State agency performing in-
telligence or counterintelligence functions,
if the head of such agency has determined
that reporting pursuant to paragraph (1)
with respect to the employee could endan-
ger the safety of the employee or com-
promise an ongoing investigation or intel-
ligence mission.
‘‘(B) EMPLOYER.—
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘em-
ployer’ has the meaning given such term in
section 3401(d) of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986 and includes any govern-
mental entity and any labor organization.
‘‘(ii) 
LABOR
ORGANIZATION.—The
term ‘labor organization’ shall have the
meaning given such term in section 2(5) of
261
the National Labor Relations Act, and in-
cludes any entity (also known as a ‘hiring
hall’) which is used by the organization
and an employer to carry out requirements
described in section 8(f)(3) of such Act of
an agreement between the organization
and the employer.
‘‘(b) EMPLOYER INFORMATION.—
‘‘(1) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in
subparagraphs (B) and (C), each employer shall
furnish to the Directory of New Hires of the
State in which a newly hired employee works, a
report that contains the name, address, and so-
cial security number of the employee, and the
name and address of, and identifying number
assigned under section 6109 of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 to, the employer.
‘‘(B) MULTISTATE EMPLOYERS.—An em-
ployer that has employees who are employed in
2 or more States and that transmits reports
magnetically or electronically may comply with
subparagraph (A) by designating 1 State in
which such employer has employees to which
the employer will transmit the report described
262
in subparagraph (A), and transmitting such re-
port to such State. Any employer that transmits
reports pursuant to this subparagraph shall no-
tify the Secretary in writing as to which State
such employer designates for the purpose of
sending reports.
‘‘(C) FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT
EMPLOY-
ERS.—Any department, agency, or instrumen-
tality of the United States shall comply with
subparagraph (A) by transmitting the report
described in subparagraph (A) to the National
Directory of New Hires established pursuant to
section 453.
‘‘(2) TIMING
OF
REPORT.—Each State may
provide the time within which the report required by
paragraph (1) shall be made with respect to an em-
ployee, but such report shall be made—
‘‘(A) not later than 20 days after the date
the employer hires the employee; or
‘‘(B) in the case of an employer transmit-
ting reports magnetically or electronically, by 2
monthly transmissions (if necessary) not less
than 12 days nor more than 16 days apart.
‘‘(c) REPORTING FORMAT AND METHOD.—Each re-
port required by subsection (b) shall be made on a W–
263
4 form or, at the option of the employer, an equivalent
form, and may be transmitted by 1st class mail, magneti-
cally, or electronically.
‘‘(d) CIVIL MONEY PENALTIES ON NONCOMPLYING
EMPLOYERS.—The State shall have the option to set a
State civil money penalty which shall be less than—
‘‘(1) $25; or
‘‘(2) $500 if, under State law, the failure is the
result of a conspiracy between the employer and the
employee to not supply the required report or to
supply a false or incomplete report.
‘‘(e) ENTRY OF EMPLOYER INFORMATION.—Infor-
mation shall be entered into the data base maintained by
the State Directory of New Hires within 5 business days
of receipt from an employer pursuant to subsection (b).
‘‘(f) INFORMATION COMPARISONS.—
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than May 1,
1998, an agency designated by the State shall, di-
rectly or by contract, conduct automated compari-
sons of the social security numbers reported by em-
ployers pursuant to subsection (b) and the social se-
curity numbers appearing in the records of the State
case registry for cases being enforced under the
State plan.
265
ee’s wages are not subject to withholding pursuant
to section 466(b)(3).
‘‘(2) TRANSMISSIONS TO THE NATIONAL DIREC-
TORY OF NEW HIRES.—
‘‘(A) NEW HIRE INFORMATION.—Within 3
business days after the date information re-
garding a newly hired employee is entered into
the State Directory of New Hires, the State Di-
rectory of New Hires shall furnish the informa-
tion to the National Directory of New Hires.
‘‘(B) WAGE
AND
UNEMPLOYMENT
COM-
PENSATION
INFORMATION.—The State Direc-
tory of New Hires shall, on a quarterly basis,
furnish to the National Directory of New Hires
extracts of the reports required under section
303(a)(6) to be made to the Secretary of Labor
concerning the wages and unemployment com-
pensation paid to individuals, by such dates, in
such format, and containing such information
as the Secretary of Health and Human Services
shall specify in regulations.
‘‘(3) BUSINESS DAY DEFINED.—As used in this
subsection, the term ‘business day’ means a day on
which State offices are open for regular business.
‘‘(h) OTHER USES OF NEW HIRE INFORMATION.—
266
‘‘(1) LOCATION
OF
CHILD
SUPPORT
OBLI-
GORS.—The agency administering the State plan ap-
proved under this part shall use information received
pursuant to subsection (f)(2) to locate individuals
for purposes of establishing paternity and establish-
ing, modifying, and enforcing child support obliga-
tions.
‘‘(2) VERIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY FOR CER-
TAIN
PROGRAMS.—A State agency responsible for
administering a program specified in section 1137(b)
shall have access to information reported by employ-
ers pursuant to subsection (b) of this section for
purposes of verifying eligibility for the program.
‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATION OF EMPLOYMENT SECU-
RITY AND WORKERS’ COMPENSATION.—State agen-
cies operating employment security and workers’
compensation programs shall have access to informa-
tion reported by employers pursuant to subsection
(b) for the purposes of administering such pro-
grams.’’.
(c) 
QUARTERLY
WAGE
REPORTING.—Section
1137(a)(3) (42 U.S.C. 1320b–7(a)(3)) is amended—
(1) by inserting ‘‘(including State and local gov-
ernmental entities and labor organizations (as de-
267
fined in section 453A(a)(2)(B)(iii))’’ after ‘‘employ-
ers’’; and
(2) by inserting ‘‘, and except that no report
shall be filed with respect to an employee of a State
or local agency performing intelligence or counter-
intelligence functions, if the head of such agency has
determined that filing such a report could endanger
the safety of the employee or compromise an ongo-
ing investigation or intelligence mission’’ after
‘‘paragraph (2)’’.
SEC. 314. AMENDMENTS CONCERNING INCOME WITHHOLD-
ING.
(a) MANDATORY INCOME WITHHOLDING.—
(1) 
IN
GENERAL.—Section 
466(a)(1) 
(42
U.S.C. 666(a)(1)) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(1)(A) Procedures described in subsection (b)
for the withholding from income of amounts payable
as support in cases subject to enforcement under the
State plan.
‘‘(B) Procedures under which the wages of a
person with a support obligation imposed by a sup-
port order issued (or modified) in the State before
October 1, 1996, if not otherwise subject to with-
holding under subsection (b), shall become subject to
withholding as provided in subsection (b) if arrear-
268
ages occur, without the need for a judicial or admin-
istrative hearing.’’.
(2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—
(A) Section 466(b) (42 U.S.C. 666(b)) is
amended in the matter preceding paragraph
(1), by striking ‘‘subsection (a)(1)’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘subsection (a)(1)(A)’’.
(B) 
Section 
466(b)(4) 
(42 
U.S.C.
666(b)(4)) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(4)(A) Such withholding must be carried out
in full compliance with all procedural due process re-
quirements of the State, and the State must send
notice to each noncustodial parent to whom para-
graph (1) applies—
‘‘(i) that the withholding has commenced;
and
‘‘(ii) of the procedures to follow if the non-
custodial parent desires to contest such with-
holding on the grounds that the withholding or
the amount withheld is improper due to a mis-
take of fact.
‘‘(B) The notice under subparagraph (A) of this
paragraph shall include the information provided to
the employer under paragraph (6)(A).’’.
269
(C) 
Section 
466(b)(5) 
(42 
U.S.C.
666(b)(5)) is amended by striking all that fol-
lows ‘‘administered by’’ and inserting ‘‘the
State through the State disbursement unit es-
tablished pursuant to section 454B, in accord-
ance with the requirements of section 454B.’’.
(D) Section 466(b)(6)(A) (42 U.S.C.
666(b)(6)(A)) is amended—
(i) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘to the
appropriate agency’’ and all that follows
and inserting ‘‘to the State disbursement
unit within 5 business days after the date
the amount would (but for this subsection)
have been paid or credited to the employee,
for distribution in accordance with this
part. The employer shall comply with the
procedural rules relating to income with-
holding of the State in which the employee
works, regardless of the State where the
notice originates.’’
(ii) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘be in
a standard format prescribed by the Sec-
retary, and’’ after ‘‘shall’’; and
(iii) by adding at the end the follow-
ing new clause:
270
‘‘(iii) As used in this subparagraph, the term
‘business day’ means a day on which State offices
are open for regular business.’’.
(E) Section 466(b)(6)(D) (42 U.S.C.
666(b)(6)(D)) is amended by striking ‘‘any em-
ployer’’ and all that follows and inserting ‘‘any
employer who—
‘‘(i) discharges from employment, refuses
to employ, or takes disciplinary action against
any noncustodial parent subject to wage with-
holding required by this subsection because of
the existence of such withholding and the obli-
gations or additional obligations which it im-
poses upon the employer; or
‘‘(ii) fails to withhold support from wages
or to pay such amounts to the State disburse-
ment unit in accordance with this subsection.’’.
(F) Section 466(b) (42 U.S.C. 666(b)) is
amended by adding at the end the following
new paragraph:
‘‘(11) Procedures under which the agency ad-
ministering the State plan approved under this part
may execute a withholding order without advance
notice to the obligor, including issuing the withhold-
ing order through electronic means.’’.
292
order or notice under the laws of the State in which
the obligor works.
SEC. 322. IMPROVEMENTS TO FULL FAITH AND CREDIT
FOR CHILD SUPPORT ORDERS.
Section 1738B of title 28, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘subsection
(e)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections (e), (f), and (i)’’;
(2) in subsection (b), by inserting after the 2nd
undesignated paragraph the following:
‘‘ ‘child’s home State’ means the State in which
a child lived with a parent or a person acting as par-
ent for at least 6 consecutive months immediately
preceding the time of filing of a petition or com-
parable pleading for support and, if a child is less
than 6 months old, the State in which the child lived
from birth with any of them. A period of temporary
absence of any of them is counted as part of the 6-
month period.’’;
(3) in subsection (c), by inserting ‘‘by a court
of a State’’ before ‘‘is made’’;
(4) in subsection (c)(1), by inserting ‘‘and sub-
sections (e), (f), and (g)’’ after ‘‘located’’;
(5) in subsection (d)—