SB821.DOC

SECTION 1. Chapter 576D, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§576D‑ Disclosure of obligors in arrears in their child support obligations. (a) The agency may disclose a list of obligors who are in arrears or delinquent in their child support obligations under an existing order of support as defined in section 576D-1. The list shall include only those obligors who owe an arrearage of more than $ or are delinquent in payment of an amount equal to months' support obligation pursuant to an order for support. The list shall include the obligor's name and address, the amount of any child support arrearage, and any other information deemed appropriate by the agency.

(b) At least ninety days before the disclosure under subsection (a), the agency shall serve notice upon the obligor of the agency's intent to disclose the arrearage. The notice shall be sent by certified mail to the address of record of the obligor as shown in the agency's child support record. For purposes of this section, the date of service means two days following the date of mailing. The notice shall contain the following information:

(1) The name, social security number, if available, date of birth, if known, and each applicable child support case number or numbers of the obligor;

(2) The amount of the arrears, the amount of the monthly child support obligation, and reference to the support order upon which the support amount and arrears are based; and

(3) A statement that the obligor may contact the agency in writing within sixty days of the date of service of the notice and enter into a monthly payment agreement for the arrears owed, and if an agreement is entered into within sixty days of making contact with the agency, the agency shall not disclose the arrearage.

(c) If the arrearage is not paid within sixty days after the notice was delivered to the obligor or the agency has been notified that delivery was refused, and the obligor has not, since the date of mailing, entered into a written agreement with the agency for payment of the arrearage, the agency may disclose the obligor's arrearage.

(d) An obligor with child support arrearage under an order of support or an administrative order is not subject to disclosure under subsection (a) if a written agreement for payment exists between the obligor and the agency or the arrearage is the subject of an administrative hearing, administrative review, or judicial review.

(e) The list shall be made available for public inspection on the agency's official website.

(f) A disclosure made by the agency in a good faith effort to comply with this section shall not be considered a violation of the confidentiality provisions under section 576D-12."

SECTION 2. Chapter 651C, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§651C- Intentional concealment of support; penalties. (a) Whoever shall transfer an asset for the purpose of concealing it to avoid payment of an order of support, judgment, or decree issued pursuant to chapter 571, 576B, 576D, 580, or 584 or pursuant to any similar laws of other states, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $ or by imprisonment of not more than years, or both.

(b) Whoever receives or conceals an asset of another knowing that the asset is being transferred for the purpose of concealing it to avoid payment of an order of support, judgment, or decree issued pursuant to chapter 571, 576B, 576D, 580, or 584 or pursuant to any similar laws of other states, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $ or by imprisonment of not more than years, or both."

SECTION 3. Section 576D-6, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§576D-6 Other duties of agency. (a) The agency shall:

(1) Establish a state parent locator service for the purpose of locating absent and custodial parents;

(2) Cooperate with other states in:

(A) Establishing paternity, if necessary;

(B) Locating an absent parent who is present in the State and against whom any action is being taken under a Title IV-D program in any other state; and

(C) Securing compliance by an absent parent with a support order issued by a court of competent jurisdiction in any other state;

(3) Perform periodic checks of whether a parent is collecting unemployment compensation and, if so, to arrange, either through agreement with the parent or by bringing legal process, to have a portion of the compensation withheld, to fulfill the parent's child support obligations;

(4) Notify annually each custodial parent, guardian, protective payee, or other person having custody of the child of an Aid to Families with Dependent Children family of the amount of child support collected on behalf of the child in the family. For the purpose of this paragraph, "Aid to Families with Dependent Children family" means a family that receives financial assistance under the federal Aid to Families with Dependent Children program or its successor;

(5) Establish and use procedures that shall require a debtor parent to give security, post bond, or give some other guarantee to secure payment of delinquent child support. The procedures shall apply to all debtor parents of children described under section 576D-3. The procedures shall include advance notice to the debtor parent in full compliance with the State's procedural due process requirements. The agency shall develop guidelines, which are available to the public, to determine whether the case is appropriate for application of this requirement;

(6) Establish and use procedures by which information regarding the name of the debtor parent and the amount of delinquent child support owed by a debtor parent residing in the State will be made available to any consumer reporting agency as defined in section 603(f) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The procedures shall be effectuated upon the agency being authorized to provide Title IV-D services and shall include provisions to provide to the debtor parent whose information is being reported advance notice of the procedures, which notice and procedures shall be in full compliance with the State's procedural due process requirements, to contest the accuracy of the information;

(7) Establish and use procedures that will enforce liens against the real and personal property of a debtor parent who owes overdue support and who resides or owns property in the State. The agency shall further establish guidelines that are available to the public to determine whether the case is inappropriate for application of this paragraph;

(8) Establish and use procedures that will enforce liens against the vehicles or vessels of a debtor parent who owes overdue support and who resides in the State. The agency shall further establish guidelines that are available to the public to determine whether the case is inappropriate for application of this paragraph;

[~~(8)~~] (9) Establish and use procedures for the notification of a custodial parent that any income tax refund setoff under section 231-53 shall be retained by the State in cases where medical support rights have been assigned to the State and the income tax refund setoff is applied to amounts designated in the child support order for medical purposes;

[~~(9)~~] (10) Establish and use procedures for prompt reimbursement of overpayment of child support debts from income tax refund setoffs under section 231-53. The procedures shall provide for the reimbursement to be made by the custodial parent or agency;

[~~(10)~~] (11) Establish and use procedures for periodic review and modification of child support orders in accordance with Title IV-D;

[~~(11)~~] (12) Provide notice not less than once every three years to those parents subject to an order of support informing the parents of their right to request the agency to review and, if appropriate, adjust the order of support pursuant to the guidelines established under section 576D-7;

[~~(12)~~] (13) Establish and operate a state case registry that contains records of:

(A) Each case in which services are being provided by the agency under the state plan; and

(B) Each support order established or modified in the State on or after October 1, 1998.

The records shall use standardized data elements for both parents, including but not limited to names, residential and mailing addresses, telephone numbers, driver's license numbers, social security numbers and other uniform identification numbers, dates of birth, case identification numbers, and the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of the parents' employers, and contain any other information as required by the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services. In each case, with respect to subparagraph (A) and where a support order has been established, the case record shall include the amount of monthly or other periodic support owed under the order, and other amounts, including but not limited to arrearages, due under the order, the amounts collected under the order, the birthdate of any child for whom the order requires the provision of support, and the amount of any lien imposed[;]. The agency may assess and collect interest on behalf of the custodial parent at the rate of ten per cent annually on delinquent child support that has accrued under any support order entered into the registry;

[~~(13)~~] (14) Perform other duties required under chapter 576B, the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act; and

[~~(14)~~] (15) Perform other duties required under Title IV-D.

(b) The procedures required under subsection (a)(5), (6), (7), (8), (9), (10), and [~~(10)~~] (11) shall be established by rule in accordance with chapter 91."

SECTION 4. Section 576D-7, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

"(a) The family court, in consultation with the agency, shall establish guidelines to establish the amount of child support when an order for support is sought or being modified under this chapter. The guidelines shall be based on specific descriptive and numeric criteria and result in a computation of the support obligation.

The guidelines may include consideration of the following:

(1) All earnings, income, and resources of both parents; provided that earnings be the net amount, after deductions for taxes, and social security. Overtime and cost of living allowance may be deducted where appropriate;

(2) The earning potential, reasonable necessities, and borrowing capacity of both parents;

(3) The needs of the child for whom support is sought;

(4) The amount of public assistance which would be paid for the child under the full standard of need as established by the department;

(5) The existence of other dependents of the obligor parent;

(6) To foster incentives for both parents to work;

(7) To balance the standard of living of both parents and child and avoid placing any below the poverty level whenever possible;

(8) To avoid extreme and inequitable changes in either parent's income depending on custody; [~~and~~]

(9) To verify income and deductions when an order for support is sought or being modified, federal and state tax returns for the preceding two years and current pay stubs may be required. Other sufficient verification may be required for income and deductions that do not appear on tax returns or paystubs;

(10) To verify income and deductions for self-employed parents when an order for support is sought or being modified, federal and state tax returns with all schedules for the preceding five years may be required. Other sufficient verification may be required for income and deductions that do not appear on tax returns or paystubs; and

[~~(9)~~] (11) If any obligee parent (with a school age child or children in school), who is mentally and physically able to work, remains at home and does not work, thirty (or less) hours of weekly earnings at the minimum wage may be imputed to that parent's income."

SECTION 5. Section 576D-12, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

"(a) The agency and its agents shall keep records that may be necessary or proper in accordance with this chapter. All applications and records concerning any individual or case shall be confidential. The use or disclosure of information concerning any individual or case shall be limited to:

(1) Persons duly authorized by the State or the United States in connection with their official duties, when their official duties are directly concerned with the administration and implementation of any child support enforcement plan or of a program approved by Title IV‑A through E, or under Title II, X, XIV, XVI, XIX, or XX of the Social Security Act, including but not limited to any legal counsel working on behalf of the agency;

(2) Disclosure to the extent necessary to provide information to family support payors or payees or their authorized representatives regarding payments received by the agency and the status of their support accounts; provided that the information shall be disclosed to an authorized representative only if the request is accompanied by a written waiver of the payor or payee concerned;

(3) Disclosure to consumer reporting agencies as provided in section 576D-6(a)(6);

(4) Other agencies or persons connected with the administration of any other federal or federally assisted program that provides assistance, in cash or in kind, or services, directly to individuals on the basis of need;

(5) Employees acting within the scope and course of their employment with the department as may be approved by the agency;

(6) Purposes directly connected with any investigation, enforcement, prosecution, or criminal, civil, or administrative proceeding conducted in connection with the administration of any plan or program in paragraph (1); [~~and~~]

(7) Disclosure to the family court as may be deemed necessary by the family court for any case pending before a court or for purposes of implementation of section 571-51.5[.]; and

(8) Disclosure on the agency's official website as provided in section 576D- ."

SECTION 6. Section 651C-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending the definition of "creditor" to read as follows:

""Creditor" means a person who has a claim against a debtor[.], including a claim for past-due child support."

SECTION 7. Section 657-5.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"[[]§657-5.5[]] Judgments for support. Every judgment for child support, including a judgment for reimbursement or other arrears, shall be [presumed to be paid and discharged on the thirty-third birthday of the child for which the order of support was rendered or by the expiration of the latest period provided in section 657-5, whichever date is later.] enforceable until paid in full."

SECTION 8. If any provision of this Act, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance, is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of the Act that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this Act are severable.

SECTION 9. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 10. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	821
TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2013
STATE OF HAWAII