NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A7636B
SPONSOR: Weinstein TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the social services law, in relation
to the effective date of adjustments to the combined parental income
amount; to amend the family court act, in relation to adopting the 2008
changes to the uniform interstate family support act; and to repeal
article 5-B of the family court act relating thereto
PURPOSE OF THE BILL: This bill would amend Article 5-B of the Family
Court Act to adopt the 2008 amendments to the Uniform Interstate Family
Support Act (UIFSA) and amend § 111-i of the Social Services Law to
align the timing of the adjustment of the combined parental income
amount (CPIA) with the adjustment of the poverty income guidelines
amount for a single person and the self-support reserve.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of the bill would amend Social Services Law § 111-i to align
the timing of the adjustment of the CPIA with the adjustment of the
poverty income guidelines amount for a single person and the self-sup-
port reserve.
Section 2 of the bill would repeal Article 5-B of the Family Court Act
and would enact UIFSA 2008 as a new Article 5-B of the Family Court Act.
Section 3 of the bill would provide that the first section shall take
effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have become a law, and the
second section shall take effect on January 1, 2016.
EXISTING LAW: Presently, Article 5-B of the Family Court Act contains
the 1996 version of UIFSA.
Pursuant to Chapter 466 of the Laws of 2014, Social Services Law § 111-i
will provide that the CPIA shall be updated biennially, beginning in
2016, on January 31st.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: This is a new bill.
STATEMENT IN SUPPORT: As part of the child support initiatives in the
Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996,
Congress mandated that states enact the 1996 version of UIFSA in order
to remain eligible for the federal funding of child support enforcement.
(See, section 466(f) of the Social Security Act). Since that time, the
National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws has adopted
two amended versions of UIFSA (in 2001 and 2008). On November 23, 2007,
the Hague Conference on Private International Law adopted the Hague
Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other
Forms of Family Maintenance ("2007 Family Maintenance Convention").
On September 29, 2014, President Obama signed Public Law 113-183, the
Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act. This law
amended section 466(f) of the Social Security Act, requiring all states
to enact any amendments to UIFSA "officially adopted as of September 30,
2008 by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws"
(i.e., UIFSA 2008). Among other changes, the UIFSA 2008 amendments inte-
grate or enable the appropriate provisions of the 2007 Family Mainte-
nance Convention. It also includes many of the amendments made in 2001,
clarifying issues regarding controlling order determinations, telephonic
testimony, duration of support orders, redirection of payments, and
choice of law considerations.
This bill was drafted to comply with the federal requirements and
includes some minor revisions to the uniform law to address State-spe-
cific laws or procedures. The federal Office of Child Support Enforce-
ment has reviewed the bill, as well as bills being promulgated by other
states, and is requiring that the proposed language for Family Court Act
§ 5807307 (a) be revised to provide that a support enforcement agency of
New York State, upon request, shall provide services to a petitioner in
a proceeding under Article 5-B of the Family Court Act. With this
change, the bill is compliant with the federal requirement.
Section 301(f)(3)(A) of P.L. 113-183 requires that UIFSA 2008 must be in
effect in every state "no later than the effective date of laws enacted
by the legislature of the State implementing such paragraph, but in no
event later than the first day of the first calendar quarter beginning
after the close of the first regular session of the State legislature
that begins after the date of the enactment of this Act." If a state has
a 2-year legislative session, "each year of the session shall be deemed
to be a separate regular session of the State legislature." In New York
State, the amendments must be adopted and in effect on or before January
1, 2016.
Social Services Law § 111-i sets forth the manner and timing of the
calculation performed on a biennial basis to arrive at the CPIA, which
is reported in the child support standards chart published by the Office
of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) and utilized in calculat-
ing child support orders in accordance with the child support guide-
lines. The proposed amendment would modify the effective date of the
updated CPIA from January 31st to March 1st, making the effective date
of the updated CPIA consistent with the date on which the Universal Case
Management System is updated to reflect annual modifications to the
Poverty Level and Self-Support Reserve (which is tied to the Poverty
Level) as promulgated by the federal Department of Health and Human
Services.
Amending Social Services Law § 111-i to make the effective date of the
biennial update to the CPIA consistent with similarly mandated updates
to the Poverty Level and Self-Support Reserve is a technical amendment
that will facilitate the calculation of child support orders by ensuring
that all benchmarks considered in the creation of support obligations
are updated concurrently.
BUDGET IMPLICATIONS: It is possible there will be implementation
costs, including systems costs, that for SFY 2015-16 can be absorbed
within existing resources and appropriations. Although there may be
costs associated with this bill, its enactment is necessary to comply
with federal requirements. Failure to enact this bill prior to January
1, 2016 would put New York out of State Plan compliance, as required by
Title IV-D of the Social Security Act. Failure to comply with the Title
IV-D State Plan may result in immediate suspension of all federal
payments for New York's child support enforcement program, as well as
elimination of authority to expend federal funds, access federal data
systems, or use federal enforcement authorities for the operation of the
program. Failure to comply with the Title IV-D State Plan may also
result in penalties to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block
grant.
LOCAL IMPACT: Implementation of this bill will require the State to
provide notification and minor training of social services district
staff The bill will streamline the process for enforcing international
support orders and clarify issues that resulted from earlier versions of
UIFSA.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Section one of this bill will be effective on the 90th day after it
shall become law. The addition of a new Article 5-B to the Family Court
Act made by section two of this act shall also apply to any action or
proceeding filed or order issued on or before the effective date of that
Article, consistent with the new section 580-903 of the Family Court Act
which shall be effective on January 1, 2016 provided, however, that if
it becomes a law after January 1, 2016, it shall be deemed in full force
and effect on and after January 1, 2016.
