STAND. COM. REP. NO. 522

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 734

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirtieth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2019

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Human Services, to which was referred S.B. No. 734 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CHILD SUPPORT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to require the agency or appropriate court that receives an income withholding request from an obligee to enter an order requiring the obligor's place of employment to classify the obligor as an employee for payroll or accounting purposes to become subject to withholding; provided that the obligor receives income on a periodic basis and becomes delinquent in making payments under a support order in an amount at least equal to the support payable for three months.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from two individuals.

Your Committee finds that under existing law, employers are not expressly required to classify a child support obligor owing past due payments as an employee, even when the obligor is receiving income from the employer periodically. This places a burden on child support enforcement agencies attempting to collect past due child support payments through income withholding. This measure allows the child support enforcement agency or court to enter an order requiring the employer's classification of an obligor as an employee under certain conditions, which will facilitate child support collections.

Your Committee has amended this measure by specifying that family courts are also allowed to enter an order requiring the employer's classification of an obligor as an employee under certain conditions.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 734, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 734, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Human Services,

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RUSSELL E. RUDERMAN, Chair