Legislature(2001 - 2002)
04/25/2001 01:24 PM House JUD
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SB 19 - CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT/SOC SEC.# Number 1491 CHAIR ROKEBERG announced that the next order of business would be CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 19(HES), "An Act relating to federal child support enforcement requirements regarding social security number information, employer reports about employees, and certain kinds of automated data matching with financial institutions; repealing the termination date of changes made by ch. 87, SLA 1997, and ch. 132, SLA 1998, regarding child support enforcement and related programs; repealing the nonseverability provision of ch. 132, SLA 1998; repealing uncodified laws relating to ch. 87, SLA 1997, and ch. 132, SLA 1998; and providing for an effective date." [Before the committee was HCS CSSB 19(HES).] Number 1460 BARBARA MIKLOS, Director, Central Office, Child Support Enforcement Division (CSED), Department of Revenue (DOR), explained that in 1996, congress passed welfare reform with the intention of making people self-sufficient and not dependent on public money. One important aspect of helping families maintain self-sufficiency is child support, and to this end, congress added requirements that states pass laws to help child support programs collect child support as well as facilitate child support collection between states. The Alaska State Legislature passed legislation in 1996, 1997, and 1998 that met the requirements imposed by congress in the welfare reform legislation. In fiscal year (FY) 1999 the CSED collected and distributed $81 million in child support, in FY 2000 $85 million was collected and distributed, and in FY 2001 the CSED is expecting to collect and distribute $91 million. The CSED believes that the tools it was given have helped increase child support collections and disbursements. MS. MIKLOS noted that legislation passed in 1997 and 1998 was to be "sunsetted" this year for the purpose of revisiting the issues involved. She opined that CSED is doing much better than it was three years ago in terms of the Alaskan public; although there are still some problems and issues to be resolved, complaints of the CSED have dramatically decreased. She explained that it is very important to pass SB 19 this year because it will help the CSED maintain some very effective programs, and also because congress will impose financial penalties on Alaska by withholding federal child support funding (approximately $15 million) and funding for the public assistance program (approximately $55 million) if such legislation is not enacted. MS. MIKLOS noted that SB 19 started out as a couple of paragraphs simply authorizing sunsets to be repealed. She explained that one of the changes made to the bill as it made its way through the process was to remove all references to collecting social security numbers from hunting and fishing licenses. This change was made possible because the CSED applied for and received a waiver from the federal government exempting Alaska from the requirement of collecting social security numbers from those documents. Another change involved placing five-year sunsets on provisions requiring the exchange of social security numbers and provisions requiring social security numbers on various applications such as occupational licenses and driver's licenses. Another five-year sunset was placed on a financial data match program, which provides for an automated match between the CSED and various financial institutions for collections purposes. Number 1198 MS. MIKLOS said that in starting out, SB 19 was intended to only address welfare reform and its requirements. During the process, however, a couple of provisions have been added on, both with the agreement of the CSED. One provision - Section 11 - states that violation of AS 25.27.075(a), which requires employers to report personnel information to the CSED, would not give rise to a private cause of action. Another provision - Section 12 - although unrelated to welfare reform, added language to ensure that any child support payments received during the last five business days of the prior month because of the payroll cycle would be credited to the next calendar month as intended by the obligor. MS. MIKLOS explained that Sections 1-10, 13, 14, and 17 relate to the new sunset requirements. Section 15 repeals all sunsets; Section 16 says that all those sections that are repealed and don't come back are repealed immediately; and Section 17 says that July 1, 2003, is the new sunset date for all sections that continue to have a sunset. She noted that since the CSED already believes that the most important thing it should do with social security numbers is hold them sacred and ensure that they are not misused, it would prefer to have a longer sunset period; she added that the CSED is very vigilant and sends out monthly messages to all its employees reminding them of their responsibility to hold certain information, including social security numbers, confidential. She said that the CSED would rather have the opportunity to focus on those kinds of programs and safeguards as opposed to spending the resources to come back before the legislature and debate the social security number issue. MS. MIKLOS, in response to questions, explained that the effective date of 2003 in Section 17 pertains to sections of SB 19 that remove the social security number requirements from existing law. This means that those requirements will remain in effect until July 1, 2003. She noted, however, that the CSED's preference would be to leave the social security number requirements in place until 2004, although removing any sunset date from those requirements would be more preferable. As long as there is a sunset date on the social security number requirements, since the CSED is required by federal law to use the social security numbers as referenced in the sections contained in Section 17, it will also be required to come back before the legislature to debate the issue. At the request of Representative James, Ms. Miklos repeated her calculations regarding how much child support money has been collected and distributed by the CSED since 1999 and how much of a financial penalty would imposed on Alaska for noncompliance of the federal government's regulations. REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL noted that he would prefer that [state government] not collect any social security numbers, and he mentioned that there is a national debate in congress on this issue. MS. MIKLOS, in response to a question, said that no federal funds would be withheld by having the effective date of Section 17 remain July 1, 2003. Number 0583 JULIA LOUISE TENNISON (ph), testified via teleconference. She explained that she has experienced great difficulties because of the federal requirement that she disclose her social security number when renewing her Alaska driver's license. She recounted the details of the legal processes that she has undertaken to straighten out her situation. She noted that although the Alaska Court of Appeals has not yet finished with her case, it has waived the filing fee and has relayed to her that it considers her case worthy of review. MS TENNISON reminded the committee that when the legislature passed the legislation requiring her to disclose her social security number, it did so with the inclusion of a finding and intent section that described the federal requirements as "unreasonable and constitutionally questionable". The legislation also included a nonseverability clause, which said that if any part of the legislation is found to be unconstitutional, then so is all of that legislation. She then cited numerous constitutional and statutory points to back up her argument that such federal requirements are unconstitutional. TAPE 01-75, SIDE A Number 0001 MS. TENNISON said she did not understand why there is a distinction being made between a person who has never been issued a social security number and someone who was issued a social security number but then had "gotten rid of" it. She also noted that she did not completely understand the ramifications of signing an affidavit to the effect that she has never had a social security number issued to her. CHAIR ROKEBERG suggested to Ms. Tennison that she also send her testimony to Alaska's congressional delegation, since the social security number disclosure requirements are federal mandates. MS. TENNISON pointed out that there are no federal mandates requiring anyone to disclose his/her social security number; instead, mandates were placed on states to make statutory changes enabling the collection of social security numbers in order to continue receiving federal funds. She expressed displeasure that the legislature sold everybody's freedom for $70 million per year. REPRESENTATIVE BERKOWITZ pointed out that the committee recently passed legislation that will prevent people from being penalized if they don't have a social security number to put on a driver's license application. REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL clarified that this pending legislation has removed the requirement that a person who does not disclose his/her social security number on a driver's license application must fill out the aforementioned affidavit. He agreed with Ms. Tennison that the legislature is responsible for the current statutes regarding social security number disclosure. MS. TENNISON concluded by asking why she should face the possibility of being arrested simply for refusing to provide a social security number on a driver's license application. She suggested that the legislature should get rid of any such statutory requirements because, she opined, they are unconstitutional. Number 0346 REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL moved to report HCS CSSB 19(HES) out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal note. There being no objection, HCS CSSB 19(HES) was reported from House Judiciary Standing Committee.
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