BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                        AB 610|
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                                   THIRD READING 


          Bill No:  AB 610
          Author:   Jones-Sawyer (D), et al.
          Amended:  8/31/15 in Senate
          Vote:     27 - Urgency

           SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE:  7-0, 7/14/15
           AYES:  Jackson, Moorlach, Anderson, Hertzberg, Leno, Monning,  
            Wieckowski

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE:  7-0, 8/27/15
           AYES:  Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza, Nielsen

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  69-4, 5/7/15 - See last page for vote

           SUBJECT:   Child support:  suspension of support order


          SOURCE:    Placer County
                     San Francisco County
                     San Joaquin County
                     Stanislaus County

          DIGEST:   This bill, an urgency measure, until January 1, 2020,  
          specifies that the suspension of a child support order occurs by  
          operation of law for any period exceeding 90 consecutive days in  
          which an obligor is incarcerated or involuntarily  
          institutionalized, subject to specified exceptions. This bill  
          requires the Department of Child Support Services and the  
          Judicial Council to evaluate the effectiveness of the  
          administrative adjustment process and report to the Legislature  
          by January 1, 2019.

          ANALYSIS:
               
          Existing law:








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          1)Establishes the Department of Child Support Services (DCSS) as  
            the single statewide agency responsible for the administration  
            and management of California's child support enforcement  
            program and administers the state plan for securing child  
            support and determining paternity.  (Fam. Code Sec. 17202.)

          2)Requires, at the local level, the child support enforcement  
            program to be run by local child support agencies (LCSA),  
            which shall have the responsibility for promptly and  
            effectively establishing, modifying, and enforcing child  
            support obligations.  (Fam. Code Sec. 17400.)

          3)Provides that a support order may be modified or terminated at  
            any time as the court determines to be necessary, pursuant to  
            the filing of a motion or an order to show cause.  (Fam. Code  
            Sec. 3651.)

          4)Prohibits states from enacting laws providing for the  
            retroactive modification or termination of a support order,  
            except that an order modifying or terminating a support order  
            may be made retroactive to the date of the filing of a notice  
            of motion or order to show cause to modify or terminate the  
            order.  (42 U.S.C. Sec. 666(a)(9); Fam. Code Sec. 3653.)

          5)Provides that the provision below does not apply if the  
            obligor is incarcerated or involuntarily institutionalized for  
            any domestic violence offense against the custodial parent or  
            the supported child, any offense that could be enjoined by a  
            domestic violence protective order, or for failure to pay  
            child support.  (Fam. Code Sec. 4007.5.)

          6)Provides that the obligation to pay child support, as  
            specified, is suspended for the period of time in which the  
            obligor is incarcerated or involuntarily institutionalized for  
            any period exceeding 90 consecutive days, unless the obligor  
            has the means to pay, upon release from incarceration or  
            institutionalization, may petition the court to adjust the  
            arrears as follows:  

                 The obligor must show proof of dates of incarceration or  
               involuntary institutionalization, as well as proof that the  








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               obligor did not have the means to pay support;

                 The obligor must serve copies of the petition on the  
               support obligee and the LCSA, who may file objections to  
               the petition;  

                 Provides that arrears may not be adjusted until the  
               court has approved the petition; and 

                 Sunsets these provisions effective July 1, 2015.  (Fam.  
               Code Sec. 4007.5.)

          This bill: 

          1)Removes the sunset in the above provision and instead makes it  
            operative on January 1, 2020. 

          2)Provides, until January 1, 2020, that the obligation to pay  
            child support is suspended by operation of law for the period  
            of time that an obligor is incarcerated or involuntarily  
            institutionalized, as specified, unless: 

                 The obligor has the means to pay support while  
               incarcerated or institutionalized; 

                 The obligor was incarcerated for any domestic violence  
               offence; or

                 The obligor was incarcerated for failure to pay child  
               support. 

          1)Provides that the suspension only applies during the period of  
            incarceration or institutionalization and automatically  
            resumes to the amount of the pre-suspension order on the first  
            day of the first full month after release. 

          2)Allows a local child support agency to administratively adjust  
            a child support order if the LCSA notifies the obligee and  
            provides him or her with a form to object to any adjustment,  
            if one of the following apply: 

                 The arears and interest accrued were in violation of the  








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               provisions of this bill; 

                 The agency verifies that the obligor a) did or did not  
               have the ability to pay support, or b) was, or was not,  
               incarcerated for domestic violence, as specified, or  
               failure to pay child support; and 

                 Neither the obligee or obligor object, as specified. 

          1)Provides that if either party objects to an adjustment of  
            child support arears by the LCSA, the LCSA must instead file a  
            motion to adjust arears with the court and serve copies of the  
            motion on the parties. 

          2)Requires DCSS in consultation with Judicial Council, to  
            develop forms to implement the administrative adjustment  
            process. 

          3)Requires DCSS and the Judicial Council to conduct an  
            evaluation of the effectiveness of the administrative  
            adjustment process, as specified, and report the results and  
            any recommended changes to the Assembly Judiciary Committee  
            and the Senate Judiciary Committee.

          Background
          
          Prior law required, until July 1, 2015, that the obligation to  
          pay child support pursuant to an order being enforced by a LCSA  
          was to be suspended for the period of time exceeding 90  
          consecutive days in which an obligor is incarcerated or  
          involuntarily institutionalized, unless the obligor has the  
          means to pay, the obligor was incarcerated for an offense  
          constituting domestic violence, or the obligor was incarcerated  
          for failure to pay child support. Prior law provided that upon  
          release from incarceration or involuntary institutionalization,  
          an obligor could petition the court for an adjustment of the  
          arrears pursuant to the suspension of the support obligation  
          authorized, subject to proof of the dates of incarceration or  
          involuntary institutionalization, as well as proof that during  
          that time, the obligor did not have the means to pay the  
          support. An obligor's arrears were not to be adjusted until the  
          court approved the petition.








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          This bill seeks to provide for the suspension of child support  
          by operation of law during a period of incarceration or  
          involuntary institutionalization, and authorizes an LCSA to  
          administratively adjust the order, as specified. This bill also  
          expands the population of applicable obligors beyond those  
          individuals whose support orders are being enforced by LSCAs to  
          all child support obligors. 

          FISCAL EFFECT:   Appropriation:    No          Fiscal  
          Com.:YesLocal:   No

          According to the Senate Appropriations Committee: 

           Forms and legislative report:  Minor and absorbable one-time  
            costs to the Judicial Council and the DCSS to develop the  
            required forms, evaluate the process and report to the  
            Legislature, as specified, on or before January 1, 2019.

           LCSA administration:  Potential minor to moderate increase in  
            LCSA administrative costs (Federal Funds/General Fund) to  
            comply with this bill's provisions.

           CalWORKs impact:  Minor, if any, loss of child support payment  
            revenue to offset CalWORKs program costs, as only those  
            obligors who do not have the means to pay support will have  
            their child support orders automatically suspended.

          SUPPORT:    (Verified8/28/15)

          Placer County (co-source)
          San Francisco County (co-source)
          San Joaquin County (co-source)
          Stanislaus County (co-source)
          Butte County Board of Supervisors
          California Judges Association
          California State Association of Counties
          Legal Services for Prisoners with Children 


          OPPOSITION:   (Verified8/28/15)









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          Department of Finance


          ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT:  The author writes: 
               
            When noncustodial parents are incarcerated, unless they seek a  
            modification of their child support order, their support  
            obligation continues unabated, and interest accrues on the  
            unpaid debt. According to a study of California's child  
            support caseload by the Urban Institute, only about half of  
            incarcerated child support obligors had reported incomes in  
            the two years prior to their incarceration. Of those, their  
            median annual net income was just under $3,000, and their  
            median arrears were $14,564. Researchers have discovered that  
            the build-up of uncollectible child support while an obligor  
            is incarcerated has implications not just for the obligor, but  
            also for the state and the family. A just-released obligor,  
            with a large support debt and few employment prospects, is far  
            more likely to avoid the formal economy and, therefore, pay no  
            child support and have little or no contact with his or her  
            children. In addition, the failure to collect ongoing child  
            support will result in the state receiving less incentive  
            funding from the federal government. Finally, recidivism rates  
            appear to increase for obligors with large child support  
            debts. 

            In an effort to address these negative impacts, the  
            Legislature approved SB 1355 (Wright), Ch. 495, Stats. 2010,  
            which sunsets on July 1, 2015. Assembly Bill 610 will extend  
            this law as well as correct ineffective interpretation and  
            implementation of the bill by the Department of Child Support  
            Services.


          ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION:  The Department of Finance writes: 


            This bill is unnecessary, as DCSS is already taking  
            administrative steps to proactively address the accrual of  
            unpaid child support for incarcerated obligors.  The  
            Department is currently working closely with the Judicial  








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            Council to develop standard language for all child support  
            orders that will specify an order is automatically adjusted  
            should the obligor be incarcerated or involuntarily  
            institutionalized. Additionally, local child support agencies  
            already possess the authority to seek modification of existing  
            child support orders due to incarceration, and current federal  
            and state law allow for adjustment of arrears under certain  
            circumstances.


          ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  69-4, 5/7/15
          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta,  
            Brown, Burke, Calderon, Chang, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley,  
            Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth  
            Gaines, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez,  
            Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Holden, Irwin, Jones,  
            Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Lopez, Low, Maienschein,  
            Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte,  
            O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea, Quirk, Rendon,  
            Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Mark Stone,  
            Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Wood, Atkins
          NOES:  Travis Allen, Brough, Gallagher, Gonzalez
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Campos, Chávez, Roger Hernández, Linder,  
            Melendez, Steinorth, Williams

          Prepared by:Nichole Rapier / JUD. / (916) 651-4113
          8/31/15 11:43:39


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