Bill Text: IA SF301 | 2017-2018 | 87th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to employer reimbursements for withholding wages for support payments and garnishment.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-02-23 - Subcommittee: Edler, Bisignano, and Schneider. S.J. 402. [SF301 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2017-SF301-Introduced.html

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Senate File 301 - Introduced




                                 SENATE FILE       
                                 BY  DANIELSON

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act relating to employer reimbursements for withholding
  2    wages for support payments and garnishment.
  3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
    TLSB 2167SS (1) 87
    jh/nh

PAG LIN



  1  1    Section 1.  Section 252D.17, subsection 1, paragraph b, Code
  1  2 2017, is amended to read as follows:
  1  3    b.  As reimbursement for the payor's processing costs, the
  1  4 payor may deduct a fee of no more than two five dollars for each
  1  5 payment in addition to the amount withheld for support. The
  1  6 payor of income is not required to vary the payroll cycle to
  1  7 comply with the frequency of payment of a support order.
  1  8    Sec. 2.  Section 252D.18A, subsection 2, Code 2017, is
  1  9 amended to read as follows:
  1 10    2.  As reimbursement for the payor's processing costs, the
  1 11 payor may deduct a fee of no more than two five dollars for
  1 12 each payment withheld in addition to the amount withheld for
  1 13 support.
  1 14    Sec. 3.  Section 642.14B, Code 2017, is amended to read as
  1 15 follows:
  1 16    642.14B  Notice to defendant == employer garnishees.
  1 17    If the garnishment is to earnings an employer owes a
  1 18 defendant, the employer shall deliver the notice of garnishment
  1 19 to the defendant with the remainder of or in lieu of the
  1 20 defendant's earnings.  As reimbursement for the employer's
  1 21 processing costs, the employer may deduct a fee of no more than
  1 22 five dollars from the defendant's earnings for each payment in
  1 23 addition to the amount withheld. The garnishee shall state in
  1 24 answer to the sheriff's examination whether or not service of
  1 25 the notice of garnishment was delivered to the defendant. The
  1 26 notice required by this section shall contain the information
  1 27 required by section 642.14A, subsection 3, and shall be
  1 28 delivered by personal service, mail, or electronic means.
  1 29    Sec. 4.  Section 642.21, subsection 1, unnumbered paragraph
  1 30 1, Code 2017, is amended to read as follows:
  1 31    The disposable earnings of an individual are exempt from
  1 32 garnishment to the extent provided by the federal Consumer
  1 33 Credit Protection Act, Tit. III, 15 U.S.C. {1671 = 1677
  1 34 (1982). The maximum amount of an employee's earnings which
  1 35 may be garnished during any one calendar year, including any
  2  1 processing fees allowed pursuant to section 642.14B, is two
  2  2 hundred fifty dollars for each judgment creditor, except as
  2  3 provided in chapter 252D and sections 598.22, 598.23, and
  2  4 627.12, or when those earnings are reasonably expected to be
  2  5 in excess of twelve thousand dollars for that calendar year
  2  6 as determined from the answers taken by the sheriff or by the
  2  7 court pursuant to section 642.5, question number four. When
  2  8 the employee's earnings are reasonably expected to be more than
  2  9 twelve thousand dollars, the maximum amount of those earnings
  2 10 which may be garnished during a calendar year, including any
  2 11 processing fees allowed pursuant to section 642.14B, for each
  2 12 creditor is as follows:
  2 13                           EXPLANATION
  2 14 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
  2 15 the explanation's substance by the members of the general assembly.
  2 16    Under current law, an employer may be required to withhold a
  2 17 portion of an employee's wages when the employee owes an amount
  2 18 as a support payment, including child support, maintenance,
  2 19 medical support, or spousal support, or when the employer
  2 20 is garnished due to a judgment against the employee. As
  2 21 reimbursement for processing costs for support payments, an
  2 22 employer may withhold two dollars for each period where an
  2 23 amount is withheld.  An employer is not allowed reimbursement
  2 24 for processing costs related to garnishment.
  2 25    This bill provides that an employer may withhold five
  2 26 dollars from the employee's earnings for each period where an
  2 27 amount is withheld for support payments or garnishment.  The
  2 28 amounts withheld are included when calculating the amount of
  2 29 earnings that may be withheld per year, which is subject to an
  2 30 annual maximum under federal law.
       LSB 2167SS (1) 87
       jh/nh