ADVISORY

FROM THE COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS
Subcommittee on Human Resources

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Contact: (202) 225-1025
January 16, 1998
No. HR-9

Shaw Announces Hearing on Modifying
Child Support Penalties for Automatic Data Processing

Congressman E. Clay Shaw, Jr. (R-FL), Chairman, Subcommittee on Human Resources of the Committee on Ways and Means, today announced that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing on modifying child support penalties that will be imposed on States that violated the October 1, 1997, deadline for implementing automatic data processing systems. The hearing will take place on Thursday, January 29, 1998, in room B-318 of the Rayburn House Office Building, beginning at 9:00 a.m.

In view of the limited time available to hear witnesses, oral testimony at this hearing will be from invited witnesses only. Witnesses will include Members of Congress, a representative of the Clinton Administration, State child support enforcement directors, and child advocates. However, any individual or organization not scheduled for an oral appearance may submit a written statement for consideration by the Committee and for inclusion in the printed record of the hearing.

BACKGROUND:

The Family Support Act passed by Congress in 1988 contained a requirement that every State develop an automatic data processing system that operated in all jurisdictions of the State. Specific requirements for the systems were established in the legislation and States were provided with 90 percent Federal reimbursement for spending on systems that had been approved by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). Given the inexperience of both the Federal Government and the States in working with these advanced and constantly changing computer systems, a host of problems interfered with timely implementation of the systems. As a result, Congress delayed the date by which States must implement an operational system from October 1, 1995, to October 1, 1997.

Unfortunately, by October 1, 1997, only 16 States had a certified system. However, almost every other State, with perhaps two or three exceptions, were in various stages of implementing systems that could reasonably be expected to meet certification requirements before October 1, 1998. Because of the manner in which the original legislation was written, under current law States not certified by October 1, 1997, are subject to losing all their Federal child support funds as well as all the funds they receive under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant. There seems to be general agreement that the Secretary of HHS should be allowed to impose a less severe penalty on States that are making good faith efforts to implement their computer system. Chairman Shaw and Rep. Sander Levin (D-MI), are expected to introduce a modified penalty proposal to that effect before the hearing.

FOCUS OF THE HEARING:

The purpose of the hearing is to give Members of our Subcommittee an opportunity to review a proposal to modify the child support penalties on States that violate the deadline for implementing automatic data processing systems.

In announcing the hearing, Chairman Shaw stated: "We have worked very hard to develop a consensus approach to this problem. I believe we can develop a penalty that imposes serious fines on States that fail to meet the data processing requirement and at the same time provide an incentive for States to push their systems to completion. I am optimistic that we will have all but two or three States certified this year and the remaining States within one or two years after that. But we must send a very clear signal that the longer States fail to develop a certified data system, the higher the penalties they will pay."

DETAILS FOR SUBMISSION OF WRITTEN COMMENTS:

Any person or organization wishing to submit a written statement for the printed record of the hearing should submit at least six (6) single-space legal-size copies of their statement, along with an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in ASCII DOS Text or WordPerfect 5.1 format only, with their name, address, and hearing date noted on a label, by the close of business, Thursday, February 12, 1998, to A.L. Singleton, Chief of Staff, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, 1102 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515. If those filing written statements wish to have their statements distributed to the press and interested public at the hearing, they may deliver 200 additional copies for this purpose to the Subcommittee on Human Resources office, room B-317 Rayburn House Office Building, at least one hour before the hearing begins.

FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS:

Each statement presented for printing to the Committee by a witness, any written statement or exhibit submitted for the printed record or any written comments in response to a request for written comments must conform to the guidelines listed below. Any statement or exhibit not in compliance with these guidelines will not be printed, but will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.

1. All statements and any accompanying exhibits for printing must be typed in single space on legal-size paper and may not exceed a total of 10 pages including attachments. At the same time written statements are submitted to the Committee, witnesses are now requested to submit their statements on an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in ASCII DOS Text or WordPerfect 5.1 format. Witnesses are advised that the Committee will rely on electronic submissions for printing the official hearing record.

2. Copies of whole documents submitted as exhibit material will not be accepted for printing. Instead, exhibit material should be referenced and quoted or paraphrased. All exhibit material not meeting these specifications will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.

3. A witness appearing at a public hearing, or submitting a statement for the record of a public hearing, or submitting written comments in response to a published request for comments by the Committee, must include on his statement or submission a list of all clients, persons, or organizations on whose behalf the witness appears.

4. A supplemental sheet must accompany each statement listing the name, full address, a telephone number where the witness or the designated representative may be reached and a topical outline or summary of the comments and recommendations in the full statement. This supplemental sheet will not be included in the printed record.

The above restrictions and limitations apply only to material being submitted for printing. Statements and exhibits or supplementary material submitted solely for distribution to the Members, the press and the public during the course of a public hearing may be submitted in other forms.

The Committee seeks to make its facilities accessible to persons with disabilities. If you are in need of special accommodations, please call 202-225-1721 or 202-226-3411 TTD/TTY in advance of the event (four business days notice is requested). Questions with regard to special accommodation needs in general (including availability of Committee materials in alternative formats) may be directed to the Committee as noted above.