Repeals and reenacts the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act; repealer

Section 2 of the bill would repeal Article 5-B of the Family Court Act and would enact UIFSA 2008 as a new Article 5-B of the Family Court Act.

Section 3 of the bill would provide that the first section shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have become a law, and the second section shall take effect on January 1, 2016.

Existing law

Presently, Article 5-B of the Family Court Act contains the 1996 version of UIFSA.

Pursuant to Chapter 466 of the Laws of 2014, Social Services Law § 111-i will provide that the CPIA shall be updated biennially, beginning in 2016, on January 31st.

Prior legislative history

This is a new bill.

Statement in support

As part of the child support initiatives in the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, Congress mandated that states enact the 1996 version of UIFSA in order to remain eligible for the federal funding of child support enforcement. (See, section 466(f) of the Social Security Act). Since that time, the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws has adopted two amended versions of UIFSA (in 2001 and 2008). On November 23, 2007, the Hague Conference on Private International Law adopted the Hague Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance ("2007 Family Maintenance Convention").

On September 29, 2014, President Obama signed Public Law 113-183, the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act. This law amended section 466(0 of the Social Security Act, requiring all states to enact any amendments to UIFSA "officially adopted as of September 30, 2008 by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws" (i.e., UIFSA 2008). Among other changes, the UIFSA 2008 amendments integrate or enable the appropriate provisions of the 2007 Family Maintenance Convention. It also includes many of the amendments made in 2001, clarifying issues regarding controlling order determinations, telephonic testimony, duration of support orders, redirection of payments, and choice of law considerations.

This bill was drafted to comply with the federal requirements and includes some minor revisions to the uniform law to address State-specific laws or procedures. The federal Office of Child Support Enforcement has reviewed the bill, as well as bills being promulgated by other states, and is requiring that the proposed language for Family Court Act § 580-307 (a) be revised to provide that a support enforcement agency of New York State, upon request, shall provide services to a petitioner in a proceeding under Article 5-B of the Family Court Act. With this change, the bill is compliant with the federal requirement.

Section 301(0(3)(A) of P.L. 113-183 requires that UIFSA 2008 must be in effect in every state "no later than the effective date of laws enacted by the legislature of the State implementing such paragraph, but in no event later than the first day of the first calendar quarter beginning after the close of the first regular session of the State legislature that begins after the date of the enactment of this Act." If a state has a 2-year legislative session, "each year of the session shall be deemed to be a separate regular session of the State legislature." In New York State, the amendments must be adopted and in effect on or before January 1, 2016.

Social Services Law § 111-i sets forth the manner and timing of the calculation performed on a biennial basis to arrive at the CPIA, which is reported in the child support standards chart published by the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) and utilized in calculating child support orders in accordance with the child support guidelines. The proposed amendment would modify the effective date of the updated CPIA from January 31st to March 1st, making the effective date of the updated CPIA consistent with the date on which the Universal Case Management System is updated to reflect annual modifications to the Poverty Level and Self-Support Reserve (which is tied to the Poverty Level) as promulgated by the federal Department of Health and Human Services.

Amending Social Services Law § 111-i to make the effective date of the biennial update to the CPIA consistent with similarly mandated updates to the Poverty Level and Self-Support Reserve is a technical amendment that will facilitate the calculation of child support orders by ensuring that all benchmarks considered in the creation of support obligations are updated concurrently.

Budget implications

It is possible there will be implementation costs, including systems costs, that for SFY 2015-16 can be absorbed within existing resources and appropriations. Although there may be costs associated with this bill, its enactment is necessary to comply with federal requirements. Failure to enact this bill prior to January 1, 2016 would put New York out of State Plan compliance, as required by Title IV-D of the Social Security Act. Failure to comply with the Title IV-D State Plan may result in immediate suspension of all federal payments for New York's child support enforcement program, as well as elimination of authority to expend federal funds, access federal data systems, or use federal enforcement authorities for the operation of the program. Failure to comply with the Title IV-D State Plan may also result in penalties to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant.

Local impact

Implementation of this bill will require the State to provide notification and minor training of social services district staff. The bill will streamline the process for enforcing international support orders and clarify issues that resulted from earlier versions of UIFSA.

Effective date

Section one of this bill will be effective on the 90th day after it shall become law. The addition of a new Article 5-B to the Family Court Act made by section two of this act shall also apply to any action or proceeding filed or order issued on or before the effective date of that Article, consistent with the new section 580-903 of the Family Court Act which shall be effective on January 1, 2016 provided, however, that if it becomes a law after January 1, 2016, it shall be deemed in full force and effect on and after January 1, 2016.