SB 252 - PATERNITY/CHILD SUPPORT/NONSUPPORT CRIMES CHAIRMAN HALFORD called the Senate Resources Committee meeting to order at 3:50 p.m. He brought SB 252 before the committee as the first order of business. JULI LUCKY, staff to Senator Halford, directed attention to a new draft CSSB 252(RES), version "H," and two amendments to that work draft. Ms. Lucky then outlined the following changes between the new draft and the work draft (version "F") adopted at a previous hearing on the bill: - In Section 2 "recreational licensing" wording adopted at the previous hearing has been incorporated. This language differentiates between a recreational hunting or fishing license and a license required for subsistence or personal use. - Sections 3 and 5, which were in the HESS version of SB 252 but were not in the previous Resources CS, have been incorporated into version "H." - Section 4 will disallow sale of a list of social secuirty numbers collected by the state agency required by this bill. - Section 6 relates to confidentiality and would require the Department of Fish and Game at the time that they allow a vendor to sell licenses to notify them of the consequences if social security numbers are let out. - Sections 7 through 10 were in the HESS version of the bill and require the Department of Fish and Game to provide social security numbers to CSED upon request. - Section 11 is a court amendment that requires the court to provide copies of records for CSED for child support services. - Section 13 is the mediation amendment that was offered and adopted at the previous hearing on the bill. - In Section 22 the reference to first-class mail has been deleted and it now provides that service will be by certified mail, return receipt requested, or served personally. - In Section 24 the amounts the employer would have to pay as a civil penalty have been changed. - In Section 25 the language relating to subpoenas has been reworded for clarity. Number 145 SENATOR LINCOLN inquired as to the status of an amendment to Section 12 she had proposed at the previous hearing, which relates to withholding orders, an would delete the phrase "shall immediately send" and replace it with "may enforce the order by sending." She said she thought it was agreeable with the department to change that language so that it is more permissive. SENATOR GREEN voiced her concern of a person being notified in a timely manner if an order has been issued but the language provides that it "may" be sent. That means that person is left out of a loop and then could be held liable for nonpayment. BARBARA MIKLOS, Director, Child Support Enforcement Division, Department of Revenue, clarified that this is not the section that requires the Child Support Enforcement Division (CSED) to send out withholding orders. This is a special court order that a person gets directly and they may send it, but it is separate of the legislation, and it is not used very often. DAN BRANCH, Assistant Attorney General, Department of Law, said he thought the word "shall" was put in by the drafters to make sure that if you wanted to enforce a withholding order that you accompany it with all of the other documents that are listed. He said if the amendment is adopted, he doesn't think it is going to diminish the ability of a non-custodial parent who is not using the agency to enforce an income withholding order. He said the purpose of the amendment is to clarify and perhaps alleviate some of the concern that a newly divorced custodial parent might have that they are obligated by the statute to take a copy of the divorce order and send it off to anybody who might have money belonging to the child support debtor. MS. LUCKY continued her overview of the changes made in CSSB 252(RES), version "H." - Sections 26 and 27 relate to a person filing a response when served with a notice of paternity and financial responsibility. The deadline has been extended to 30 days for financial information and for admitting or denying paternity, and to 45 days to comply with genetic testing. - Section 52 makes the Act nonseverable. Number 261 CHAIRMAN HALFORD requested a motion to adopt the new Resources CS. SENATOR GREEN moved the adoption of CSSB 252(RES), version "H." Hearing no objection, the motion carried. SENATOR LINCOLN moved the following amendment to CSSB 252(RES): Page 9, line 10: Delete the language "shall immediately send" and replace it with "may enforce the order by sending" SENATOR TAYLOR objected to the adoption of Senator Lincoln's amendment. He said if the court was obligated every time to issue an income withholding order, why should someone be given the opportunity to sit on it. He added he couldn't see where the amendment, in any way, benefits that person. MR. BRANCH stated that the department is neutral on the amendment. He added that the statutes provide that every child support order issued in the state shall contain a income withholding order. The Court System has made provisions in the child support order form to allow the court to not make the income withholding order immediate in certain circumstances. He added that the particular subsection that the amendment addresses is going to be used more by the custodial parent that chooses not to go through CSED than by the agency. CHAIRMAN HALFORD called for a hand vote on the adoption of Senator Lincoln's amendment. By a vote of 1-5, the amendment failed. SENATOR LEMAN moved that CSSB 252(RES) be passed out of committee with individual recommendations. Hearing no objection, it was so ordered.