Bill Text: MI HB5715 | 2009-2010 | 95th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Family law; child support; annual child support fee; impose. Amends title & secs. 3 & 6 of 1971 PA 174 (MCL 400.233 & 400.236).
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2009-12-18 - Printed Bill Filed 12/18/2009 [HB5715 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2009-HB5715-Introduced.html
HOUSE BILL No. 5715
December 17, 2009, Introduced by Rep. Spade and referred to the Committee on Families and Children's Services.
A bill to amend 1971 PA 174, entitled
"Office of child support act,"
by amending the title and sections 3 and 6 (MCL 400.233 and
400.236), the title as amended by 1998 PA 112, section 3 as amended
by 2002 PA 564, and section 6 as amended by 2004 PA 548.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
TITLE
An
act to create the office of child support; and to prescribe
certain powers and duties of the office, certain public and private
agencies, and certain employers and former employers; and to impose
fees.
Sec. 3. The office shall do all of the following:
(a) Serve as a state agency authorized to administer title IV-
D.
(b) Assist a governmental agency or department in locating an
adult responsible for the child for any of the following purposes:
(i) To establish parentage.
(ii) To establish, set the amount of, modify, or enforce
support obligations.
(iii) To disburse support receipts.
(iv) To make or enforce child custody or parenting time orders.
(c) Coordinate activity on a state level in a search for an
adult responsible for the child.
(d) Obtain information that directly relates to the identity
or location of an adult responsible for the child.
(e) Serve as the information agency as provided in the revised
uniform reciprocal enforcement of support act, 1952 PA 8, MCL
780.151 to 780.183, and uniform interstate family support act, 1996
PA 310, MCL 552.1101 to 552.1901.
(f) Develop guidelines for coordinating activities of a
governmental department, board, commission, bureau, agency, or
council, or a public or private agency, in providing information
necessary for the location of an adult responsible for the child.
(g) Develop, administer, and coordinate with the state and
federal departments of treasury a procedure for offsetting the
state tax refunds and federal income tax refunds of a parent who is
obligated to support a child and who owes past due support. The
procedure shall include a guideline that the office submit to the
state department of treasury, not later than November 15 of each
year, all requests for the offset of state tax refunds claimed on
returns filed or to be filed for that tax year.
(h) Develop and implement a statewide information system to
facilitate the establishment and enforcement of child support
obligations.
(i) Publicize through regular and frequent, nonsexist public
service announcements the availability of support establishment and
enforcement services.
(j) Develop and implement in cooperation with financial
institutions a data matching and lien and levy system to identify
assets of and to facilitate the collection of support from the
assets of individuals who have an account at a financial
institution and who are obligated to pay support as provided in
this act.
(k) Provide discovery and support for support enforcement
activities as provided in the support and parenting time
enforcement act, 1982 PA 295, MCL 552.601 to 552.650.
(l) Have in effect safeguards against the unauthorized use or
disclosure of case record information that are designed to protect
the privacy rights of the parties as specified in sections 454 and
454a
of title IV-D, 42 U.S.C. USC
654 and 654a, and that are
consistent with the use and disclosure standards provided under
section 64 of the social welfare act, 1939 PA 280, MCL 400.64.
(m) As provided in section 10 for friend of the court cases,
centralize administrative enforcement remedies and develop and
implement a centralized enforcement program to facilitate the
collection of support.
(n) Impose an annual fee of $25.00 on each individual for whom
services are furnished under title IV-D if the individual has never
received assistance under a program funded under part A of title IV
of the social security act, 28 USC 601 to 619, and if this state
has collected $500.00 or more of support for the individual. All of
the following apply to a fee imposed under this subdivision:
(i) The office shall collect the fee from support collected for
the individual. However, the fee shall not be taken from the first
$500.00 of support collected for the individual.
(ii) The office shall not collect the fee if the individual is
a participant in the food stamps program unless the collection is
allowed under federal law.
(iii) The office shall comply with federal law and policy in
assessing, enforcing, collecting, and reporting the fee.
(iv) The fee shall be used to administer and operate the child
support program under title IV-D.
Sec. 6. (1) The state disbursement unit is established as the
direct responsibility of the office. The SDU shall use automated
procedures, electronic processes, and computer-driven technology to
the maximum extent feasible, efficient, and economical to receive
and disburse support and fees.
(2) The SDU is the single location to which a payer or source
of income subject to this section shall send a support or fee
payment. The SDU shall disburse a support payment to the recipient
of support within 2 business days after the SDU receives the
support payment. Not less than twice each calendar month, the SDU
shall disburse fees that it receives to the appropriate county
treasurer or office of the friend of the court.
(3) The SDU shall disburse fees collected under section 3(n)
as provided in section 3(n).
(4) (3)
If a payer or source of income
attempts to make a
support or fee payment to the SDU and the payment transaction fails
due to nonsufficient funds, the SDU may take actions to collect
from the payer or source of income the support or fee payment
amount, plus an amount for the expense of those actions.
(5) (4)
By not later than 1 year after the effective date of
the
amendatory act that added this subsection, the SDU shall
disburse
support electronically, in not fewer than 3 counties in
this
state, to either the recipient of support's account in a
financial
institution or to a special account that may be accessed
by
the recipient of support by an electronic access card. By not
later
than 2 years after the effective date of the amendatory act
that
added this subsection, the The
SDU shall disburse support
electronically either to the recipient of support's account in a
financial institution or to a special account that may be accessed
by the recipient of support by an electronic access card. This
subsection does not apply under any of the following circumstances:
(a)
If electronic Electronic transfer is not feasible to meet
federal requirements on the disbursement of child support payments.
(b)
If the The support payment is from a source that is
nonrecurring or that is not expected to continue in a 12-month
period.
(c) The recipient of support is a person with a mental or
physical disability that imposes a hardship in accessing an
electronically transferred payment.
(d) The recipient of support is a person with a language or
literacy barrier that imposes a hardship in accessing an
electronically transferred payment.
(e) The recipient of support's home and work addresses are
more than 30 miles from an automated teller machine and more than
30 miles from a financial institution where funds in the
recipient's account may be accessed.
