BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
1355 (Wright)
Hearing Date: 05/24/2010 Amended: 05/12/2010
Consultant: Jacqueline Wong-HernandezPolicy Vote: Judiciary 4-0
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BILL SUMMARY: SB 1355 provides that the obligation of a person
to pay child support pursuant to an order that is being enforced
by a local child support agency under Title IV-D of the Social
Security Act is suspended for the period of time in which the
obligor is incarcerated or involuntarily institutionalized, with
specified exceptions. This bill would require the court to
provide notice to the parties of the support obligation
suspension at the time the order is issued. This bill would
authorize an obligor, upon release from incarceration or
involuntary institutionalization, to petition the court for an
adjustment of the arrears pursuant to the suspension of the
support obligation. These provisions would apply to all child
support orders issued and all modifications of child support
orders requested on or after January 1, 2011. This bill would
also require the Judicial Council to proscribe forms necessary
for the implementation of the above-described provisions,
including forms for a petition to adjust arrears.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13
Fund
Suspension of arrears Potentially significant
decrease in revenue General
New court petition process Unlikely to create
new costs General*
New forms Minor
and absorbable General*
*Trial Courts Trust Fund
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STAFF COMMENTS: This bill may meet the criteria for referral to
the Suspense File.
This bill prescribes changes to court processes that are
unlikely to present any significant up front costs, and may
create workload efficiencies. The potential loss of revenue
noted above is as a result of the effects of the new procedure
on any child support payments that reimburse the state for aid
to recipient families.
Under existing federal law, a child support obligor can request
a modification to a court order requiring him or her to pay
child support, based on a change of circumstances lasting more
than 90 days. A change of circumstance could be the loss of a
job, the birth of another child (or establishment of paternity),
or virtually any circumstance in which the obligor's financial
situation may affect the amount of child support expected from
him or her. Child support orders are largely based on the
obligor's income, ability to pay, and custody arrangement. If a
child support order were issued at a time when the obligor was
employed full time, and he or she were to subsequently become
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SB 1355 (Wright)
unemployed, the obligor could seek a support modification of the
child support order after 90 days of unemployment (a financial
circumstance change). Until the 91st day, the court order for
full support would still stand.
This bill would suspend arrears for an obligor incarcerated for
more than 30 consecutive days. Currently, if an obligor were
incarcerated in a county jail for fewer than 90 days (and then
released), he or she would be responsible for paying the full
amount of court-ordered child support for the time he or she was
incarcerated because the circumstance change lasted fewer than
90 days. Because this bill specifically provides that
incarceration for more than 30 days would trigger an automatic
suspension of the child support order, the 60 day difference
between existing federal law and this bill allows for a revenue
loss to the custodial parent, and to the state if the state is
involved in the support of the child and non-custodial parent.
Existing law allows the state to collect and child support on
behalf of a custodial parent enrolled in CalWORKs to offset the
aid given to the family. A CalWORKs child support case is opened
when a custodial parent applies for and receives CalWORKs
benefits. The Department of Social Services (DSS) informs the
Department of Child Support Services (DCSS) when CalWORKs
benefits are granted, and a child support case is opened by the
DCSS. As a condition of receiving CalWORKs benefits, the
custodial party automatically assigns all rights to child,
spousal, and medical support to the county up to the amount of
aid paid. This includes all current and past-due support and
continues as long as a family is receiving aid. Any current
child support payments which exceed the amount of aid paid will
be sent to the custodial party. To the extent that this bill
results in decreased support payments to CalWORKs aided
families, it creates General Fund costs by not backfilling the
aid with child support money collected.
Many obligors who are eligible for modifications to their child
support orders do not know they are eligible, and never seek
modifications even though their circumstances have changed. For
these individuals, arrears continue to accumulate; they
frequently never fully pay their arrears. To the extent that any
obligors who were incarcerated or involuntarily
institutionalized with no means to pay child support, would have
eventually paid arrears which the state had some portion of
claim over, this bill could result in a loss of state revenue.
These arrears, however, would have been the result of what is
functionally an overpayment. Had the individual petitioned the
court for a modification of the child support order, allowable
under existing law, it would have likely been granted and
arrears suspended.
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