Congress Acts on Child Support in 2020: More Awaits in 2021 by Tom Joseph

As CSQ readers know all too well, the child support program and the customers it serves have not been immune to the coronavirus pandemic. State and local operations were disrupted, and millions of customers lost their jobs and sources of financial support. But the program met the numerous challenges soon after the President proclaimed a national emergency on March 13. On the national level, the National Child Support Enforcement Association (NCSEA) leadership also worked to meet the challenges of a rapidly evolving policy landscape to respond to COVID-19 and work with the Congress on bills to further improve the program. A review of those efforts and what may be in store in 2021 follows. COVID Relief At the beginning of the pandemic, Congress passed a flurry of sweeping COVID response bills with little opportunity for stakeholders to review and respond, including the child support offset of the $1,200 Economic Impact Payments. Adopting a whole family approach, NCSEA adopted a resolution urging Congress to “exclude any future COVID-19 related relief payments from offset for past-due child support until Congress determines that parents who owe past-due support have enough employment opportunities to be self-sufficient without a relief payment.” Weeks later, the House included a provision to exclude future relief payments from offset when it passed the $3 trillion Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions, or HEROES, Act (H.R. 6800). Senate GOP leadership, however, was concerned about the measure’s price tag and did not consider the bill. Over the summer and fall, NCSEA continued to work with Democrats and Republicans to urge them to include the NCSEA provision if another COVID package was considered. And, right before Christmas, Congress passed a bipartisan package funding all federal programs and agencies and additional coronavirus relief, with specific language that the new $600 relief payment to individuals not be subject to a federal offset. Other Child Support Legislation in 2020 During the legislative stalemate on COVID relief, NCSEA worked with members of the House and Senate on five other bills addressing child support. While none of them were enacted into law, Capitol Hill staff sought NCSEA’s input on the drafting of many of them before introduction. They were: • Increasing Opportunity for Former Foster Youth Act (S. 3025): The bipartisan bill sponsored by Senate Finance Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) contained three provisions to help child support agencies identify individuals owing support and ease its collection, including a provision to require companies to report basic information on independent contractors who have earned at least $600. While the Trump administration supported the measure, the bipartisan measure died in committee. • Tribal Child Support Enforcement Act (S.3154): Long supported by NCSEA and sponsored by Senator John Thune (R-SD) with co- sponsors Ron Wyden (D-OR), Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Mike Crapo (R-ID), the measure would give tribal governments equal and direct access to the Federal Tax Refund Offset Program and other resources to locate parents while ensuring that all Internal Revenue Service confidentiality safeguards are met. The legislation died in the Senate Finance Committee. It is important to note, however, that in the 117th Congress, Senator Ron Wyden will chair the Committee and Senator Crapo will be the ranking member, giving it a better chance for passage in 2021. • Providing Adequate Resources to Enhance Needed Time with Sons and Daughters Act (PARENTS Act S.3025/HR 7725): This bipartisan bill was introduced in the Senate by John Cornyn (R-TX) with Democratic co-sponsors Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Ben Cardin (D- MD). The House companion was introduced by Representative Gwen Moore (D-WI) with Republican co-sponsors Ron Estes (R-KS) and Tom Rice (R-SC). The legislation would streamline a process to allow states to use existing child support performance incentive funds to establish voluntary parenting time arrangements without requesting a waiver from OCSE. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) consistently approves those waivers, so it is an unnecessary administrative step. Near the end of the session, the Senate adopted the bill by unanimous consent. A similar attempt was made on the House side, but Democratic leaders want to include it in a larger fatherhood measure in 2021. • Child Support Works Act: Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) introduced his bill (S. 4998) in December to serve as a marker for possible action in 2021. The bill would give states the option to receive reimbursement at the 66 percent federal matching rate for expenditures on mandatory work programs for noncustodial parents who are underemployed, unemployed, or behind on their child support payments. Federal reimbursement for work programs would be capped at two percent of the state’s reimbursable child support spending. After NCSEA input, Senator Cotton modified the draft bill to garner NCSEA’s support, including deleting the provision using the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families contingency fund as the funding source and expanding the eligible individuals beyond those who are in arrears. The policy was supported by both the Obama and Trump administrations. • Strengthening Families for Success Act (S.4844/HR 8704): Introduced in October 2020 by Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Representative Danny Davis (D-IL), the legislation would completely eliminate cost recovery for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program (TANF), Title IV- E foster care maintenance payments, and Medicaid birth costs by fiscal year 2026 while providing bridge funding to states to help implement these changes. The measure also included COVID-related provisions in the House-passed HEROES Act by providing administrative flexibility for meeting child support performance measures and exempting any additional Economic Income Payments from reduction or offset. Senate staff provided NCSEA with an opportunity to review and comment on the bill before introduction. Now Senate Finance Committee Chair, Senator Wyden has indicated that the measure will be reintroduced in 2021 and will be one of his legislative priorities. Child Support in 2021 The start of a new session of Congress is typically slow, with committees organizing for the year, new members appointed and, given the new Administration, hearings to be conducted on President Biden’s nominations to the executive branch. Also delayed will be the Biden Administration’s submission of fiscal year 2022 budget and policy proposals into early spring. And the legislative slate is wiped clean, with all bills from the last session needing to be re-introduced if a member wants them to be considered. While the House Democratic majority was trimmed to 222-211 with two seats to be determined and the Senate is split 50-50, with Vice President Harris serving as the tie-breaking vote, both houses are now controlled by Democrats. Child support issues, however, have enjoyed bipartisan support. It remains to be seen how much of this year’s legislative activity will be consumed by responding to the continuing economic and public health devastation wrought by the coronavirus pandemic. Sponsors of the child support bills described above will very likely introduce them again this year, and NCSEA will continue to be actively involved in the ensuing deliberations. ______Tom Joseph has represented public sector entities in Washington, D.C. since the early 1980’s, and has served as NCSEA’s advocate since 2009. For 16 years he lobbied Congress and the administration on behalf of the National Association of Counties (NACo), focusing on health and human services issues. He also served as NACo’s deputy director of its 11-member lobbying department, where he helped manage the organization’s lobbying efforts and oversaw NACo’s federal policy development process. In 1997, Tom left NACo to help establish a Washington, DC office for Los Angeles County where he served full-time as the County’s deputy legislative director. In that capacity, he coordinated and supplemented the County’s lobbying efforts on a wide range of issues, including criminal justice, homeland security, and human services.

Thirteen years ago, Tom joined Waterman & Associates which has since rebranded as Paragon Government Relations. Serving as managing partner, Tom works on behalf of NCSEA, county governments and other public sector associations.