Bill Text: NY A06057 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Enacts the New York state national guard and reserves child support modification act of 2017; 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.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 4-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-01-03 - referred to social services [A06057 Detail]
Download: New_York-2017-A06057-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6057 2017-2018 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY February 23, 2017 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. KOLB, LOPEZ -- 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 of 2017" 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 of 3 2017". 4 § 2. Legislative findings and intent. Since 2001, men and women who 5 make up New York state's national guard and reserves have been called up 6 to active duty in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Often, such active duty 7 results in the loss of salary or a portion of a salary for the individ- 8 ual due to the difference in pay between their civilian employment and 9 the military pay based on their rank. In cases where the member called 10 up to active duty is a non-custodial parent, the difference in pay may 11 make it difficult for the individual to meet his or her child support 12 obligations. Unfortunately, the non-custodial parent may find himself 13 or herself in arrears which can lead to penalties, such as the loss of 14 driving privileges. In order to avoid situations such as this, the 15 legislature seeks to create a program that will address and alleviate 16 these problems. 17 § 3. The social services law is amended by adding a new section 106-d 18 to read as follows: 19 § 106-d. Child support military modification program. 1. Notwith- 20 standing any other provision of law to the contrary, the commissioner of 21 the office of temporary and disability assistance, in conjunction with 22 the division of military and naval affairs, shall establish a child 23 support military modification program (CSMM) under the auspices of the EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD10074-01-7A. 6057 2 1 district child support enforcement units. The commissioner of the 2 office of temporary and disability assistance shall establish a program 3 to modify the child support paid by any member of the New York state 4 organized militia or reserves of the United States armed forces called 5 up to active duty for more than thirty continuous days in support of 6 military operations overseas or in the CONUS (continental United 7 States). This shall not include service during training exercises or 8 mobilization for federal or state disaster relief projects. 9 2. The commissioner of the office of temporary and disability assist- 10 ance shall establish for use by the district child support enforcement 11 units an application form for members of the New York state organized 12 militia and reserves who wish to participate in the CSMM program and who 13 meet the deployment criteria. Such application shall include a form 14 that the applicant must complete and sign authorizing the child support 15 enforcement unit to obtain income information from the applicant's mili- 16 tary employer. This application shall be made available on the office 17 of temporary and disability assistance's website and at all military 18 mobilization centers. Applications for such program shall be submitted 19 by the applicant to the child support enforcement unit or at his or her 20 mobilization center to the officer-in-charge, who then shall forward the 21 application to the child support enforcement unit. 22 3. If the child support enforcement unit determines that the appli- 23 cant's military income will vary significantly from the applicant's 24 civilian income and the applicant is paying court-ordered child support, 25 the unit shall seek a temporary modification in the child support paid 26 by the applicant during his or her military active duty by filing a 27 motion on behalf of the office of temporary and disability assistance in 28 the court in which the child support was entered. The motion shall seek 29 to modify the child support paid by the applicant by the same proportion 30 that the applicant's military pay varies from his or her civilian pay. 31 If the motion to modify is granted, the child support shall be adjusted 32 appropriately and be deemed to be in full force and effect. The tempo- 33 rary modification period shall apply to the support obligations of the 34 non-custodial parent on the date of their activation and shall continue 35 at such level for the duration of their active duty deployment and for 36 sixty days thereafter following their deactivation. Upon expiration of 37 the temporary support order the child support court-order prior to 38 deployment shall be deemed to be in full force and effect. 39 4. The commissioner of the office of temporary and disability assist- 40 ance shall promulgate any rules and regulations necessary to enable the 41 child support enforcement unit to carry out the child support military 42 modification program. 43 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.