Enacts the New York state national guard and reserves child support modification act; provides for modification of child support payments in certain instances where the person called to active duty will experience a reduction in income due to loss of wages from a civilian job.
STATE OF NEW YORK
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4440
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 4, 2019
___________
Introduced by M. of A. KOLB -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. CROUCH,
GIGLIO, HAWLEY, THIELE -- read once and referred to the Committee on
Social Services
AN ACT to amend the social services law, in relation to enacting the
"New York state national guard and reserves child support modification
act"
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "New York
2 state national guard and reserves child support modification act".
3 § 2. Legislative findings and intent. Since 2001, men and women who
4 make up New York state's national guard and reserves have been called up
5 to active duty in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Often, such active duty
6 results in the loss of salary or a portion of a salary for the individ-
7 ual due to the difference in pay between their civilian employment and
8 the military pay based on their rank. In cases where the member called
9 up to active duty is a non-custodial parent, the difference in pay may
10 make it difficult for the individual to meet his or her child support
11 obligations. Unfortunately, the non-custodial parent may find himself
12 or herself in arrears which can lead to penalties, such as the loss of
13 driving privileges. In order to avoid situations such as this, the
14 legislature seeks to create a program that will address and alleviate
15 these problems.
16 § 3. The social services law is amended by adding a new section 106-d
17 to read as follows:
18 § 106-d. Child support military modification program. 1. Notwith-
19 standing any other provision of law to the contrary, the commissioner of
20 the office of temporary and disability assistance, in conjunction with
21 the division of military and naval affairs, shall establish a child
22 support military modification program (CSMM) under the auspices of the
23 district child support enforcement units. The commissioner of the
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04307-01-9
A. 4440 2
1 office of temporary and disability assistance shall establish a program
2 to modify the child support paid by any member of the New York state
3 organized militia or reserves of the United States armed forces called
4 up to active duty for more than thirty continuous days in support of
5 military operations overseas or in the CONUS (continental United
6 States). This shall not include service during training exercises or
7 mobilization for federal or state disaster relief projects.
8 2. The commissioner of the office of temporary and disability assist-
9 ance shall establish for use by the district child support enforcement
10 units an application form for members of the New York state organized
11 militia and reserves who wish to participate in the CSMM program and who
12 meet the deployment criteria. Such application shall include a form
13 that the applicant must complete and sign authorizing the child support
14 enforcement unit to obtain income information from the applicant's mili-
15 tary employer. This application shall be made available on the office
16 of temporary and disability assistance's website and at all military
17 mobilization centers. Applications for such program shall be submitted
18 by the applicant to the child support enforcement unit or at his or her
19 mobilization center to the officer-in-charge, who then shall forward the
20 application to the child support enforcement unit.
21 3. If the child support enforcement unit determines that the appli-
22 cant's military income will vary significantly from the applicant's
23 civilian income and the applicant is paying court-ordered child support,
24 the unit shall seek a temporary modification in the child support paid
25 by the applicant during his or her military active duty by filing a
26 motion on behalf of the office of temporary and disability assistance in
27 the court in which the child support was entered. The motion shall seek
28 to modify the child support paid by the applicant by the same proportion
29 that the applicant's military pay varies from his or her civilian pay.
30 If the motion to modify is granted, the child support shall be adjusted
31 appropriately and be deemed to be in full force and effect. The tempo-
32 rary modification period shall apply to the support obligations of the
33 non-custodial parent on the date of their activation and shall continue
34 at such level for the duration of their active duty deployment and for
35 sixty days thereafter following their deactivation. Upon expiration of
36 the temporary support order the child support court-order prior to
37 deployment shall be deemed to be in full force and effect.
38 4. The commissioner of the office of temporary and disability assist-
39 ance shall promulgate any rules and regulations necessary to enable the
40 child support enforcement unit to carry out the child support military
41 modification program.
42 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.