TITLE IV—ENFORCEMENT
SEC. 401. DIRECT WAGE WITHHOLDING.
(a) STATE LAW.—Section 466(b) (42 U.S.C. 666(b)),
as amended by section 104 of this Act, is amended by add-
ing at the end the following:
‘‘(15)(A) Upon the issuance or modification by
a State court or administrative agency of an order
imposing a child support obligation on an individual,
the State shall transmit to any employer of the indi-
vidual a wage withholding order developed under
section 452(a)(12) directing the employer to with-
hold amounts from the wages of the individual pur-
suant to the order.
‘‘(B) Any individual or entity engaged in com-
merce, as a condition of doing business in the State,
shall, on receipt of a wage withholding order devel-
oped under section 452(a)(12) that is regular on its
face and has been issued by a court of any State—
‘‘(i) within 3 days after receipt of the
order, comply with the order;
‘‘(ii) forward the amount withheld pursu-
ant to the order to the State or custodial parent
specified in the order; and
‘‘(iii) keep records of the amounts so with-
held.
‘‘(C) Such an order may be served on the in-
come source directly or by first-class mail.
‘‘(D) An individual or entity who complies with
such an order may not be held liable for wrongful
withholding of income from the employee subject to
the order.
‘‘(E) The State shall impose a civil fine of
$1,000 on any individual or entity who receives such
an order, and fails to comply with the order within
10 days after receipt. The preceding sentence shall
not be construed to affect the authority of any court
to stay the effectiveness of the fine.
‘‘(16) If the State transmits to an individual or
entity engaged in commerce in another State a wage
withholding order issued by the State with respect to
an employee of the individual or entity, and the indi-
vidual or entity contests or refuses to comply with
the order, the State shall send an informational copy
of the order to the registry established under sub-
section (a)(12) of such other State or of the State
from which the income of the employee is paid.
‘‘(17) If an employee requests a hearing to con-
test wage withholding based on claim of a mistake
of fact, the hearing may be held in the State from
which the income is paid or in which the employee
is employed, and, within 45 days after the income
source receives the withholding order, the entity con-
ducting the hearing must adjudicate the claim. The
State in which the hearing is held shall provide ap-
propriate services in cases enforced under the State
plan to ensure that the interests of the individual to
whom the withheld income is to be paid are ade-
quately represented.’’.
(b) 
UNIFORM
WITHHOLDING
ORDER.—Section
452(a) (42 U.S.C. 652(a)), as amended by section 208(a)
of this Act, is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph
(10);
(2) by striking the period at the end of para-
graph (11) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
(3) by inserting after paragraph (11) the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(12) develop a uniform order to be used in all
cases in which income is to be withheld for the pay-
ment of child support, which shall contain the name
of the individual whose income is to be withheld, the
number of children covered by the order, and the in-
dividual or State to whom the withheld income is to
be paid, and be generic to allow for the service of
the order on all sources of income.’’.
SEC. 402. PRIORITIES IN APPLICATION OF WITHHELD
WAGES.
Section 466(b) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)), as amended by
section 401(a) of this Act, is amended by inserting after
paragraph (13) the following:
‘‘(14) Procedures under which the amounts
withheld pursuant to a child support or wage with-
holding order are to be applied in the following
order:
‘‘(A) To payments of support due during
the month of withholding.
‘‘(B) To payments of premiums for health
care insurance coverage for dependent children.
‘‘(C) To payments of support due before
the month of withholding, and of unreimbursed
health-care expenses.’’.
SEC. 403. ADDITIONAL BENEFITS SUBJECT TO GARNISH-
MENT.
(a) FEDERAL DEATH BENEFITS, BLACK LUNG BEN-
EFITS, AND VETERANS BENEFITS.—Section 462(f)(2) (42
U.S.C. 662(f)(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘(not including’’
and all that follows through ‘‘compensation)’’.
(b) WORKERS’ COMPENSATION.—Section 462(f) (42
U.S.C. 662(f)) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of paragraph
(1);
(2) by striking the period at the end of para-
graph (2) and inserting ‘‘, or’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(3) workers’ compensation benefits.’’.
SEC. 404. CONSUMER CREDIT PROTECTION ACT AMEND-
MENTS.
(a) PREEMPTION OF STATE LAWS.—Section 307 of
the Consumer Credit Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1677) is
amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘This’’ and inserting ‘‘(a) IN
GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), this’’;
(2) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of paragraph
(1);
(3) by striking the period at the end of para-
graph (2) and inserting ‘‘, or’’; and
(4) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(3) providing a cause of action, either by the
State or a private individual, to enforce a Federal or
State law related to garnishment for the purpose of
securing child support.
‘‘(b) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a)(1) shall not apply
to the laws of any State that prohibit or restrict garnish-
ments for the purpose of securing support for any per-
son.’’.
(b) OTHER FORMS OF INCOME.—Title III of such
Act (15 U.S.C. 1671 et seq.) is amended by adding at
the end the following:
‘‘SEC. 308. OTHER FORMS OF INCOME.
‘‘This title does not apply to forms of income that
are not earnings within the definition contained in section
302(a).’’.
(c) PRIORITY OF DEBTS.—Title III of such Act (15
U.S.C. 1671 et seq.) is further amended by adding after
section 308, as added by subsection (b) of this section,
the following:
‘‘SEC. 309. PRIORITY OF DEBTS.
‘‘If an individual’s disposable earnings are not suffi-
cient to pay—
‘‘(1) a garnishment intended to satisfy a debt
owed to the Federal Government; and
‘‘(2) a garnishment intended to satisfy a debt
related to the support of any child,
the debt owed to the Federal Government shall be satisfied
through garnishment only after the debt related to child
support has first been satisfied.’’.
(d) ADDITIONAL
INDEBTEDNESS
IN
ANTI-DIS-
CHARGE SECTION.—Section 304 of such Act (16 U.S.C.
1674) is amended—
(1) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub-
section (c);
(2) in subsection (c) (as so redesignated) by
striking ‘‘subsection (a) of’’; and
(3) by inserting after subsection (a) the follow-
ing:
‘‘(b) No employer may discharge any employee by
reason of the fact that the earnings of the employee have
been subjected to garnishment for more than one indebt-
edness, if not more than one indebtedness arises from a
debt other than an order for the support of a child.’’.
(e) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections
at the beginning of the title III of the Truth in Lending
Act (15 U.S.C. 1671 et seq.) is amended by adding at
the end the following:
‘‘308. Other forms of income.
‘‘309. Priority of debts.’’.
SEC. 405. PROHIBITION AGAINST USE OF ELECTION OF
REMEDIES DOCTRINE TO PREVENT COLLEC-
TION OF CHILD SUPPORT.
Section 466(a) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)), as amended by
sections 104, 205, 206, 207, 209, 210, and 212 of this
Act, is amended by inserting after paragraph (20) the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(21) Procedures which prohibit any State
court from applying the doctrine of election of rem-
edies to prevent a custodial parent from collecting or
seeking to collect child support from a noncustodial
parent.’’.
SEC. 406. HOLD ON OCCUPATIONAL, PROFESSIONAL, AND
BUSINESS LICENSES.
(a) STATE HOLD BASED ON WARRANT OR SUPPORT
DELINQUENCY.—Section 466(a) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)), as
amended by sections 104, 205, 206, 207, 209, 210, 212,
and 405 of this Act, is amended by inserting after para-
graph (21) the following:
‘‘(22) Procedures under which the State occu-
pational licensing and regulating departments and
agencies may not issue or renew any occupational,
professional, or business license of—
‘‘(A) a noncustodial parent who is the sub-
ject of an outstanding failure to appear war-
rant, capias, or bench warrant related to a child
support proceeding that appears on the State’s
crime information system, until removed from
the system; and
‘‘(B) an individual who is delinquent in the
payment of child support, until the obligee or a
State prosecutor responsible for child support
enforcement consents to, or a court that is re-
sponsible for the order’s enforcement orders,
the release of the hold on the license, or an ex-
pedited inquiry and review is completed while
the individual is granted a 60-day temporary li-
cense.’’.
(b) FEDERAL HOLD BASED ON SUPPORT DELIN-
QUENCY.—A Federal agency may not issue or renew any
occupational, professional, or business license of an indi-
vidual who is delinquent in the payment of child support,
until the obligee, the obligee’s attorney or a State prosecu-
tor responsible for child support enforcement consents to,
or a court that is responsible for the order’s enforcement
orders, the release of the hold on the license, or an expe-
dited inquiry and review is completed while the individual
is granted a 60-day temporary license.
SEC. 407. DRIVER’S LICENSES AND VEHICLE REGISTRA-
TIONS DENIED TO PERSONS FAILING TO AP-
PEAR IN CHILD SUPPORT CASES.
Section 466(a) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)), as amended by
sections 104, 205, 206, 207, 209, 210, 212, 405, and
406(a) of this Act, is amended by inserting after para-
graph (22) the following:
‘‘(23) Procedures under which the State motor
vehicle department—
‘‘(A) may not issue or renew the driver’s li-
cense or any vehicle registration (other than
temporary) of any noncustodial parent who is
the subject of an outstanding failure to appear
warrant, capias, or bench warrant related to a
child support proceeding that appears on the
State’s crime information system, until removed
from the system;
‘‘(B) upon receiving notice that an individ-
ual to whom a State driver’s license or vehicle
registration has been issued is the subject of a
warrant related to a child support proceeding,
shall issue a show cause order to the individual
requesting the individual to demonstrate why
the individual’s driver’s license or vehicle reg-
istration should not be suspended until the war-
rant is removed by the State responsible for is-
suing the warrant; and
‘‘(C) in any case in which a show cause
order has been issued as described in subpara-
graph (B), may grant a temporary license or
vehicle registration to the individual pending
the show cause hearing or the removal of the
warrant, whichever occurs first.’’.
SEC. 408. LIENS ON CERTIFICATES OF VEHICLE TITLE.
Section 466(a) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)), as amended by
sections 104, 205, 206, 207, 209, 210, 212, 405, 406(a),
and 407 of this Act, is amended by inserting after para-
graph (23) the following:
‘‘(24) Procedures under which the State shall
systematically place liens on vehicle titles for child
support arrearages determined under a court order
or an order of an administrative process established
under State law, using a method for updating the
value of the lien on a regular basis or allowing for
an expedited inquiry to and response from a govern-
mental payee for proof of the amount of arrears,
with an expedited method for the titleholder or the
individual owing the arrearage to contest the arrear-
age or to request a release upon fulfilling the sup-
port obligation, and under which such a lien has
precedence over all other encumbrances on a vehicle
title other than a purchase money security interest,
and that the individual owed the arrearage may exe-
cute on, seize, and sell the property in accordance
with State law.’’.
SEC. 409. ATTACHMENT OF BANK ACCOUNTS.
Section 466(a) (42 U.S.C. 666(a)), as amended by
sections 104, 205, 206, 207, 209, 210, 212, 405, 406(a),
407, and 408 of this Act, is amended by inserting after
paragraph (24) the following:
‘‘(25) Procedures under which—