[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3892 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3892

                  To improve the child support system.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 24, 1994

Mr. Andrews  of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred 
 jointly to the Committees on Ways and Means, the Judiciary, Education 
           and Labor, and Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
                  To improve the child support system.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Child Support Enhancement Act of 
1994''.

           TITLE I--NATIONAL REGISTRY OF CHILD SUPPORT ORDERS

SEC. 101. NATIONAL CHILD SUPPORT ORDER REGISTRY.

    (a) Establishment.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services 
        shall establish a national registry of all child support orders 
        the information in which shall be accessible in the form of a 
        computerized database.
            (2) Child support order defined.--As used in this section, 
        the term ``child support order'' means an order, issued or 
        modified by a State court or an administrative process 
        established under State law, that requires an individual to 
        make payments for support and maintenance of a child or of a 
        child and the parent with whom the child is living.
    (b) Transmission of Copies of Child Support Orders to the National 
Registry.--Section 466(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 666(a)) 
is amended by inserting after paragraph (11) the following:
            ``(12) Procedures to ensure that a copy of each child 
        support order issued or modified in the State is transmitted to 
        the national registry of child support orders established under 
        section 2(a) of the Child Support Enhancement Act of 1994.''.
    (c) Provision of Child Support Information to Employers.--Upon 
receipt from an employer of a W-4 form completed by an employee, the 
national registry shall--
            (1) compare the child support information reported on the 
        W-4 form with the information in the national registry on the 
        child support obligations of the employee; and
            (2) report to the employer such information as the national 
        registry may have as to--
                    (A) whether the employee is required to make 
                payments pursuant to a child support order; and
                    (B) if so, the aggregate amount required to be so 
                paid (and to whom) by the employee on a monthly basis.

    TITLE II--ENFORCEMENT OF CHILD SUPPORT ORDERS THROUGH EMPLOYER 
                              WITHHOLDING

SEC. 201. REPORTING OF CHILD SUPPORT INFORMATION.

    (a) W-4 Reporting Requirement.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of the Treasury, in 
        consultation with the Secretary of Labor, shall require all 
        employees to file a new W-4 form with their employers within 5 
        calendar days after the later of the effective date of this 
        subsection or the date the employee is hired, and require all 
        employers to provide a copy of every employee's W-4 form to the 
        national child support order registry established under section 
        101(a) of this Act.
            (2) Expanded use of form.--The Secretary of the Treasury 
        shall modify the W-4 form to be completed by an employee to 
        enable the employee to indicate on the form--
                    (A) whether the employee owes child support, and if 
                so--
                            (i) to whom the support is payable and the 
                        amount of the support payable; and
                            (ii) whether the support is to be paid 
                        through wage withholding; and
                    (B) whether health care insurance is available to 
                the new employee, and, if so, whether the employee has 
                obtained such insurance for the dependent children of 
                the employee.
    (b) Employer Withholding Obligation.--
            (1) In general.--Subtitle C of the Internal Revenue Code of 
        1986 (relating to employment taxes) is amended by inserting 
        after chapter 24 the following new chapter:

  ``CHAPTER 24A--COLLECTION OF CHILD SUPPORT OBLIGATIONS AT SOURCE ON 
                                 WAGES

                              ``Sec. 3411. Child support obligations 
                                        collected at source.

``SEC. 3411. CHILD SUPPORT OBLIGATIONS COLLECTED AT SOURCE.

    ``(a) Requirement of Withholding.--Every employer making payment of 
wages shall deduct and withhold upon such wages a specified child 
support obligation amount.
    ``(b) Specified Child Support Obligation Amount.--For purposes of 
this chapter, the specified child support obligation amount with 
respect to any employee shall be determined based on--
            ``(1) information provided by the employee, or
            ``(2) if the national registry of child support orders 
        established under section 101 of the Child Support Enhancement 
        Act of 1994 notifies the employer that such information is 
        inaccurate, information provided by the registry.
    ``(c) Liability for Payment.--The employer shall be liable for the 
payment of the specified child support obligation amount to the person 
entitled to such amount, as determined based on the information 
referred to in subsection (b).
    ``(d) Special Rules.--For purposes of this chapter (and so much of 
subtitle F as relates to this chapter), any specified child support 
obligation amount shall be treated as if it were a tax withheld under 
chapter 24 and rules similar to the rules of such chapter shall 
apply.''
            (2) Clerical amendment.--The table of chapters of subtitle 
        C of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting 
        after the item relating to chapter 24 the following new item:

                              ``Chapter 24A. Child support obligations 
                                        collected at source.''
    (c) Withheld Child Support Obligations Reported on W-2 Forms.--
Subsection (a) of section 6051 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
(relating to receipts for employees) is amended by striking ``and'' at 
the end of paragraph (8), by striking the period at the end of 
paragraph (9) and inserting ``, and'', and by inserting after paragraph 
(9) the following new paragraph:
            ``(10) the total amount of specified child support 
        obligations withheld under section 3411.''

   TITLE III--ENFORCEMENT OF CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR FLIGHT TO AVOID 
                        PAYMENT OF CHILD SUPPORT

SEC. 301. ADDITIONAL AUTHORIZATION FOR ENFORCEMENT.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to the Attorney General for 
each of fiscal years 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1998 the amount of 
$50,000,000 for the enforcement of section 228 of title 18, United 
States Code.

                   TITLE IV--CREDIT BUREAU REPORTING

SEC. 401. REPORTS TO CREDIT BUREAUS ON PERSONS DELINQUENT IN CHILD 
              SUPPORT PAYMENTS.

    (a) In General.--Section 466(a)(7) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 666(a)(7)) is amended to read as follows:
            ``(7) Procedures requiring the State to provide to each 
        consumer reporting agency (as defined in section 603(f) of the 
        Fair Credit Reporting Act information regarding the amount of 
        overdue support owed by any absent parent who resides in the 
        State.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
take effect on October 1, 1994.

                     TITLE V--NATIONAL JURISDICTION

SEC. 501. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) The Congress finds that--
            (1) there are a large and growing number of child support 
        cases annually involving disputes between parents or alleged 
        parents who reside in different States, the District of 
        Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the territories and 
        possessions of the United States, and Indian country;
            (2) the laws by which the courts of these jurisdictions 
        determining their jurisdiction to adjudicate parentage and 
        establish child support orders are not uniform;
            (3) these nonuniform laws, along with the limits imposed by 
        a Federal system on the authority of each jurisdiction to take 
        certain actions outside its own boundaries, contribute to the 
        pressing problem of parties moving to avoid jurisdiction, to 
        inequities based solely on choice of domicile, to a disregard 
        of court orders resulting in massive arrearages nationwide, to 
        excessive relitigation of cases, to the establishment of 
        conflicting orders by the courts of various jurisdictions, and 
        to interstate travel and communication that is so expensive and 
        time consuming as to disrupt parties' occupations and 
        commercial activities;
            (4) among the results of these conditions are the failure 
        of the courts of such jurisdictions to give full faith and 
        credit to the judicial proceedings of the other jurisdictions, 
        the deprivation of rights of liberty and property without due 
        process of law, burdens of commerce among such jurisdictions, 
        and harm to the welfare of children and their parents and other 
        custodians;
            (5) the child's best interests should play a decisive role 
        in the determination of jurisdiction in actions arising from 
        domestic relations;
            (6) it is in the child's best interest to expand the forums 
        available in which a contestant can validly assert personal 
        jurisdiction over a nonresident contestant in an action to 
        adjudicate parentage or make a child support order;
            (7) a State has an interest in the financial stability of 
        its children citizens;
            (8) it is reasonably foreseeable for a parent or presumed 
        parent to be required to support his or her child wherever that 
        child is domiciled;
            (9) if a parent fails to fulfill his or her support 
        obligations to a child, it is the State where the child is 
        domiciled that may incur public expenditures on behalf of that 
        child; and
            (10) the domicile of a child to whom a support obligation 
        is owed or presumed to be owed is a sufficient connection 
        between a parent or presumed parent and the child's State to 
        make it fair to require the parent to defend the action in the 
        child's State of domicile.
    (b) For these reasons it is necessary to establish national 
standards under which the courts of such jurisdictions will determine 
their jurisdiction to adjudicate parentage and to establish a child 
support order and the effect to be given by each jurisdiction to such 
decisions by the courts of other jurisdictions.
    (c) The purposes of this title are to--
            (1) expand the forums available to adjudicate parentage and 
        to establish a child support order so that such actions may be 
        heard in the State which has the strongest interest in the 
        child's financial security;
            (2) promote and expand the exchange of information and 
        other forms of mutual assistance between States which are 
        concerned with the same child;
            (3) facilitate the enforcement of support decrees of sister 
        States;
            (4) discourage continuing interstate controversies over 
        child support in the interest of greater financial stability 
        and secure family relationships for the child; and
            (5) avoid jurisdictional competition and conflict between 
        State courts in matters of adjudication of parentage and 
        establishment of child support order which have in the past 
        resulted in the movement of parties among the States and a low 
        percentage of interstate cases with support orders, adversely 
        affecting children's well-being.

SEC. 502. FULL FAITH AND CREDIT GIVEN TO CHILD SUPPORT ORDERS.

    Chapter 115 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by 
inserting after section 1738A the following:

``SEC. 1738B. FULL FAITH AND CREDIT GIVEN TO CHILD SUPPORT ORDERS.

    ``(a) The appropriate authorities of every State shall enforce 
according to its terms, and shall not modify except as provided in 
subsection (f) of this section, any child support order made 
consistently with the provisions of this section by a court of another 
State.
    ``(b) As used in this section, the term--
            ``(1) `child' means any person under the age of 18; and 
        includes an individual 18 or more years of age for whom a child 
        support order can be made under the rendering State's law;
            ``(2) `child's State' means the State in which the child is 
        currently domiciled with a parent, or a person acting as a 
        parent;
            ``(3) `child support order' means a judgment, decree or 
        order of a court requiring the payment of money, whether in 
        periodic amounts or lump sum, for the support of a child and 
        includes permanent and temporary orders, initial orders and 
        modifications, ongoing support and arrearages;
            ``(4) `contestant' means a person, including a parent, who 
        claims a right to receive child support or is under an order to 
        pay child support. `Contestant' includes States and political 
        subdivisions to whom support rights have been assigned;
            ``(5) `court' means a court, administrative process or 
        quasijudicial process of a State which is authorized to 
        adjudicate parentage, establish the amount of support payable 
        by a contestant, or modify the amount of support payable by a 
        contestant;
            ``(6) `domicile' means physical residence accompanied by an 
        intent to indefinitely remain there;
            ``(7) `home State' means a State in which, immediately 
        preceding the time involved, the child lived with his parents, 
        a parent, or a person acting as parent, for at least 6 
        consecutive months, and in the case of a child less than 6 
        months old, the State in which the child lived from birth with 
        any of such persons. Periods of temporary absence of any of 
        such persons are counted as part of the 6-month or other 
        period;
            ``(8) `modification' and `modify' refer to a child support 
        order which modifies, replaces, supersedes, or otherwise is 
        made subsequent to, a prior child support order concerning the 
        same child, whether made by the same court or not;
            ``(9) `person acting as a parent' means a child, other than 
        a parent, who has physical custody of a child and who has 
        either been awarded custody by a court or claims a right to 
        custody; and
            ``(10) `State' means a State of the United States, the 
        District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a 
        territory or possession of the United States, or an Indian 
        tribe.
    ``(c) A child support order made by a court of a State is 
consistent with the provisions of this section only if such court had 
personal jurisdiction of the contestants. A court has personal 
jurisdiction over a nonresident contestant if one or more of the 
following factors are met--
            ``(1) the individual is personally served with a citation, 
        summons, or notice in the State;
            ``(2) the individual submits to the jurisdiction of the 
        State by consent, by entering a general appearance, or by 
        filing a responsive document having the effect of waiving any 
        contest to personal jurisdiction;
            ``(3) the individual resided with the child in the State;
            ``(4) the individual resided in the State and provided 
        prenatal expenses or support for the child;
            ``(5) the child resides in the State as a result of the 
        acts or directives of the individual;
            ``(6) the individual engaged in sexual intercourse in the 
        State and the child may have been conceived by that act of 
        intercourse;
            ``(7) the individual asserted parentage in the putative 
        father registry maintained in the State by the appropriate 
        agency; or
            ``(8) there is any other basis consistent with the 
        constitutions of the State and the United States for the 
        exercise of personal jurisdiction.
    ``(d) A court of a State which has made a child support order 
consistently with the provisions of this section has continuing, 
exclusive jurisdiction for so long as such State remains the child's 
State or the residence of any contestant.
    ``(e) Before a child support order is made, reasonable notice and 
opportunity to be heard shall be given to the contestants.
    ``(f) A court of a State may modify a child support order for the 
same child made by a court of another State, if--
            ``(1) it has jurisdiction to make such a child support 
        order; and
            ``(2) the court of the other State no longer has 
        continuing, exclusive jurisdiction because such State no longer 
        is the child's State or the residence of any contestant, or 
        each individual party has filed written consent for the State 
        to modify the order and assume continuing exclusive 
        jurisdiction.
    ``(g) A court of a State shall not exercise jurisdiction in any 
proceeding for a child support order commenced during the pendency of a 
proceeding in a court of another State where such court of that other 
State is exercising jurisdiction consistently with the provisions of 
this section to make a child support order unless--
            ``(1) the proceeding in the State is filed before the 
        expiration of the time allowed in the other State for filing a 
        responsive pleading challenging the exercise of jurisdiction by 
        the other State;
            ``(2) the contesting party timely challenges the exercise 
        of jurisdiction in the other State; and
            ``(3) if applicable, the State is the home State of the 
        child.''.

SEC. 503. REQUIRED STATE LONG ARM JURISDICTION.

    Section 466(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 666(a)), as 
amended by sections 101(b) and 201(b) of this Act, is amended by 
inserting after paragraph (13) the following:
            ``(14) Effective January 1, 1994, procedures under which 
        the State may validly assert personal jurisdiction over a 
        nonresident contestant for purposes of adjudicating parentage 
        and/or establishing a child support order if one or more of the 
        following factors are met--
                    ``(A) the individual is personally served with a 
                citation, summons, or notice in the State;
                    ``(B) the individual submits to the jurisdiction of 
                the State by consent, by entering a general appearance, 
                or by filing a responsive document having the effect of 
                waiving any contest to personal jurisdiction;
                    ``(C) the individual resided with the child in the 
                State;
                    ``(D) the individual resided in the State and 
                provided prenatal expenses or support for the child;
                    ``(E) the child resides in the State as a result of 
                the acts or directives of the individual;
                    ``(F) the individual engaged in sexual intercourse 
                in the State and the child may have been conceived by 
                that act of intercourse;
                    ``(G) the individual asserted parentage in the 
                putative father registry maintained in the State by the 
                appropriate agency; or
                    ``(H) there is any other basis consistent with the 
                constitutions of the State and the United States for 
                the exercise of personal jurisdiction.''.

SEC. 504. DUE PROCESS.

    Based on the findings set forth in section 501, Congress pursuant 
to its powers to enforce the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment, 
Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment, the Commerce Clause, the General 
Welfare Clause, and the Full Faith and Credit Clause declares that due 
process is satisfied when a child's State of domicile asserts personal 
jurisdiction over a nonresident contestant who is the parent or 
presumed parent as defined by that State's law of that child in an 
action to adjudicate parentage or establish a child support order.

SEC. 505. DURATION OF CHILD SUPPORT.

    (a) Subject to subsections (b) and (c), one or both parents may be 
ordered to pay child support for a child, until the later of the 
following occurs:
            (1) the child reaches the age of 18 and is no longer 
        enrolled as a student in an accredited secondary school or its 
        vocational or private equivalent; or
            (2) the child, enrolled at the time of reaching the age of 
        18 as a student working toward fulfilling requirements to 
        receive a high school diploma or its vocational or private 
        equivalent, subsequently--
                    (A) graduates; or
                    (B) reaches the maximum age permitted under State 
                law for enrollment in public secondary education in 
                that State.
    (b)(1) A child support duty may be extended to cover any of the 
following occurrences:
            (A) A child's disability, if the child becomes disabled 
        during the period he or she would qualify for support under 
        subsection (a), for the period for which the child suffers a 
        mental, physical, or emotional impairment that is so severe as 
        to make improbable the ability of the child to live financially 
        independently on a long-term basis, whether institutionalized 
        or not, for as long as the impairment inhibits financial 
        independence; an action under this paragraph may be brought 
        only by a natural or adoptive parent of the child, or by the 
        child or his or her guardian ad litem, entitlement to which 
        cannot be assigned to any person or government agency, except 
        to the State child support agency as defined under section 452 
        of title IV-D of the Social Security Act.
            (B) A child's enrollment in an accredited postsecondary 
        educational or vocational school, college, or institute if the 
        child has not attained the age of 22; for the purpose of this 
        section, a child is and continues to be an enrolled student 
        during all regularly scheduled or approved school breaks 
        including summer recess; the trier of fact shall decide whether 
        any intervals in attendance between secondary and postsecondary 
        education and any intervals between enrollments in 
        postsecondary educational or vocational schools, college, or 
        institutes require the continuation of the obligation of 
        providing support during those intervals.
            (C) If a written, voluntary agreement, executed by the 
        parents of the child or oral, voluntary confirmed by both 
        parents of a child, extends the duty until the child reaches a 
        certain age or until a specified event occurs.
    (2) Child support ordered under this subsection may follow the 
State's guidelines for determining support or may deviate without need 
of special justification if the order states the reasoning behind the 
amount set and the calculations therefor.
    (c) The duty to provide current child support terminates for a 
child at the time any one of the following events occurs:
            (1) The child dies.
            (2) The child marries.
            (3) The child's parent who has a support duty has his or 
        her parental rights terminated regarding that child; if another 
        person has a duty to support the child, the other person's 
        support duty is not extinguished.
            (4) The child is emancipated by court order.
            (5) The child enlists in the armed forces and reports for 
        active duty.
    (d) A child support duty shall continue after the death or 
permanent, total disability of one or both parents who owe a support 
duty until conditions under subsection (a), (b), or (c) are met, with 
said support having priority payment and distribution status above that 
belonging to all other non-Federal creditors.
    (e) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a), (b), (c), or 
(d), termination of a child support duty does not relieve the obligor 
of liability for past-due support.
    (f) Notwithstanding any other provision in this section, a child in 
foster care is entitled to parental support for as long as Federal and 
State law permit.
    (g) A child born out-of-wedlock whose parentage has been determined 
under law is entitled to the same duration of support as a child born 
to a marriage.
    (h) A child or his or her guardian ad litem has a right to bring an 
action under this section as does either one of the child's parents or 
the State child support agency as defined in section 452 of title IV-D 
of the Social Security Act.
    (i) Nothing prohibits a State from enacting duration of support 
laws that provide a longer duration of support than that which this 
section provides.

                    TITLE VI--ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESS

SEC. 601. ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESS.

    Section 466(a)(2) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 666(a)(2)) 
is amended to read as follows:
            ``(2) Procedures under which expedited administrative 
        processes are used to establish paternity in contested 
        paternity cases and to establish and enforce support orders in 
        all cases.''.

   TITLE VII--MEDICAL CHILD SUPPORT ORDERS ISSUED BY ADMINISTRATIVE 
                              ADJUDICATORS

SEC. 701. TECHNICAL CORRECTION TO ERISA DEFINITION OF MEDICAL CHILD 
              SUPPORT ORDER.

    (a) In General.--Section 609(a)(2)(B) of the Employee Retirement 
Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1169(a)(2)(B)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``issued by a court of competent 
        jurisdiction'';
            (2) by striking the period at the end of clause (ii) and 
        inserting a comma; and
            (3) by adding, after and below clause (ii), the following:
                ``if such judgment, decree, or order (I) is issued by a 
                court of competent jurisdiction or (II) is issued by an 
                administrative adjudicator and has the force and effect 
                of law under applicable State law.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--
            (1) In general.--The amendments made by this section shall 
        take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.
            (2) Plan amendments not required until january 1, 1995.--
        Any amendment to a plan required to be made by an amendment 
        made by this section shall not be required to be made before 
        the first plan year beginning on or after January 1, 1995, if--
                    (A) during the period after the date before the 
                date of the enactment of this Act and before such first 
                plan year, the plan is operated in accordance with the 
                requirements of the amendments made by this section, 
                and
                    (B) such plan amendment applies retroactively to 
                the period after the date before the date of the 
                enactment of this Act and before such first plan year.
        A plan shall not be treated as failing to be operated in 
        accordance with the provisions of the plan merely because it 
        operates in accordance with this paragraph.

   TITLE VIII--ELIMINATION OF OPERATING SUBSIDIES FOR VACANT PUBLIC 
                                HOUSING

SEC. 801. ELIMINATION OF OPERATING SUBSIDIES FOR VACANT PUBLIC HOUSING.

    (a) In General.--Section 9(a)(3)(B) of the United States Housing 
Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437g(a)(3)(B)) is amended--
            (1) in clause (iv), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in clause (v), by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new clause:
            ``(vi) no payment may be provided under this section for 
        any dwelling unit that has been vacant for a period of 180 days 
        or more unless such unit is vacant because of comprehensive 
        modernization, major reconstruction, demolition, or disposition 
        activities that have been funded or approved.''.
    (b) Elimination of Annual Contribution Reserve.--Section 14(p) of 
the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437l(p)) is amended 
by striking paragraph (3).
    (c) Recapture of Annual Contribution Reserve.--The Secretary of 
Housing and Urban Development shall recapture any amounts reserved from 
annual contributions for public housing agencies and deposited in 
accounts established on behalf of the agencies pursuant to paragraph 
(3) of section 14(p) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (as in 
effect immediately before the date of the enactment of this Act).

                                 <all>

HR 3892 IH----2