Title: An act relating to license suspension and notice of noncompliance with a child support order.

Brief Description: Modifying notice provisions for parents in noncompliance with child support orders.

Sponsors: Senator McCaslin.

Brief History:

Committee Activity: Human Services & Corrections: 1/17/06

SENATE COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES & CORRECTIONS

Staff: Shani Bauer (786-7468)

Background: When a parent is not complying with a child support order, the Department of Social & Health Services (DSHS) is authorized to certify the parent's name for noncompliance with a child support order to the Department of Licensing and any other appropriate licensing entity. Until a notice of compliance is sent to the licensing entity, the licensing entity will suspend or refuse to renew the parent's license.

Before certifying a parent's name to the Department of Licensing or any other licensing entity, the DSHS must serve the parent with a notice of intent to certify the parent's name. The parent may request a hearing only on the basis of whether the parent is required to pay child support under a child support order and whether the parent is in compliance with that order.

Current law requires all child support orders to contain language stating that the parent's privileges to obtain and maintain a license may not be renewed or may be suspended if the parent is not in compliance with a support order. In Washington, a parent is generally not in compliance with a support order if that parent has accumulated arrears greater than six months' worth of support payments.

Summary of Substitute Bill: The DSHS may notify a parent of its intent to submit the parent's name to the Department of Licensing or any other licensing entity for suspension of a parent's license if the parent has failed to comply with an order to pay child support.

If the parent's support order includes language stating that a parent's privilege to hold or maintain a license may be suspended or not renewed if the parent fails to comply with the support order, the DSHS may send the notice by first class mail. If the parent's support order did not include the license suspension statement, the notice of intent must be served on the parent by certified mail, return receipt requested.
A parent may request an adjudicative proceeding to contest the issue of compliance with the child support order within twenty days of the date the notice was mailed to the parent or within twenty days of the date the notice was served.

Obsolete provisions are removed related to the suspension of a parent's license if the parent is not in compliance with a residential or visitation order.

Substitute Bill Compared to Original Bill: The proposed substitute bill eliminates a specific reference to "driver's" license in Section 1(1)(b) and strikes the redundant phrase in Section 1(3).

Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Not requested.

Committee/Commission/Task Force Created: No.

Effective Date: Ninety days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.

Testimony For: This change will benefit children and families by streamlining the service process for license suspension and save money by avoiding duplication of notice to parents. License suspension is used as an enforcement tool in working with the parent to pay child support. It is estimated that the license suspension tool results in child support collections of $50 million per year. Statistics also show that 60 percent of parents who get their license suspended get the license reinstated within a year of suspension.

Testimony Against: None.

Who Testified: PRO: David Stillman, Division of Child Support; Doron Maniece, Department of Licensing; Dennis Eagle, WA Federation of State Employees.

CON: No one.