Full Text of HB2598 94th General Assembly
HB2598eng 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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HB2598 Engrossed |
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LRB094 10956 LCB 41541 b |
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| AN ACT concerning child support.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The Illinois Public Aid Code is amended by | 5 |
| changing Sections 10-1 and 10-3.1 as follows:
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| (305 ILCS 5/10-1) (from Ch. 23, par. 10-1)
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| Sec. 10-1. Declaration of Public Policy - Persons Eligible | 8 |
| for Child Support
Enforcement Services - Fees for | 9 |
| Non-Applicants and
Non-Recipients.) It is the intent of this | 10 |
| Code that the financial aid
and social welfare services herein | 11 |
| provided supplement rather than
supplant the primary and | 12 |
| continuing obligation of the family unit for
self-support to | 13 |
| the fullest extent permitted by the resources available
to it. | 14 |
| This primary and continuing obligation applies whether the | 15 |
| family
unit of parents and children or of husband and wife | 16 |
| remains intact and
resides in a common household or whether the | 17 |
| unit has been broken by
absence of one or more members of the | 18 |
| unit. The obligation of the
family unit is particularly | 19 |
| applicable when a member is in necessitous
circumstances and | 20 |
| lacks the means of a livelihood compatible with health
and | 21 |
| well-being.
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| It is the purpose of this Article to provide for locating | 23 |
| an absent
parent or spouse, for determining his financial | 24 |
| circumstances, and for
enforcing his legal obligation of | 25 |
| support, if he is able to furnish
support, in whole or in part. | 26 |
| The Illinois Department of Public Aid shall give
priority to | 27 |
| establishing, enforcing
and collecting the current support | 28 |
| obligation, and then to past due support
owed to the family | 29 |
| unit, except with respect to collections effected
through the | 30 |
| intercept programs provided for in this Article.
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| The child support enforcement services provided hereunder
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| shall be
furnished dependents of an absent parent or spouse who |
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| are applicants
for or recipients of financial aid under this | 2 |
| Code. It is not,
however, a condition of eligibility for | 3 |
| financial aid that there be no
responsible relatives who are | 4 |
| reasonably able to provide support. Nor,
except as provided in | 5 |
| Sections 4-1.7 and 10-8, shall the existence of
such relatives | 6 |
| or their payment of support contributions disqualify a
needy | 7 |
| person for financial aid.
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| By accepting financial aid under this Code, a spouse or a | 9 |
| parent or
other person having custody of a child shall be | 10 |
| deemed to have made
assignment to the Illinois Department for | 11 |
| aid under Articles III, IV,
V and VII or to a local | 12 |
| governmental unit for aid under Article VI of
any and all | 13 |
| rights, title, and interest in any support obligation up to
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| amount of financial aid provided. The rights to support | 15 |
| assigned to
the Illinois Department of Public Aid or local | 16 |
| governmental unit shall
constitute an
obligation owed the State | 17 |
| or local governmental unit by the person who
is responsible for | 18 |
| providing the support, and shall be collectible under
all | 19 |
| applicable processes.
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| The Illinois Department of Public Aid shall also furnish | 21 |
| the child support enforcement services established under this | 22 |
| Article in
behalf of persons who
are not applicants for or | 23 |
| recipients of financial aid
under this Code in accordance with | 24 |
| the requirements of Title IV, Part D of the
Social Security | 25 |
| Act. The Department may
establish a schedule of reasonable | 26 |
| fees, to be paid for the services
provided and may deduct a | 27 |
| collection fee, not to exceed 10% of the amount
collected, from | 28 |
| such collection.
The Illinois Department of Public Aid shall | 29 |
| cause to be published and
distributed publications
reasonably | 30 |
| calculated to inform the public that individuals who are not
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| recipients of or applicants for public aid under this Code are | 32 |
| eligible
for the child support enforcement services under this
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| Article X. The Illinois Department shall also cause to be | 34 |
| published and distributed a publication reasonably calculated | 35 |
| to inform members of the National Guard and the Reserves of the | 36 |
| United States Armed Forces of the CSMM program established in |
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| Section 10-3.1 of this Act. Such
publications
shall set forth | 2 |
| an explanation, in plain language, that the child
support | 3 |
| enforcement services program is independent of any public
aid | 4 |
| program under the Code and that the receiving of child
support
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| enforcement services in no way implies that the person
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| receiving such services is receiving
public aid.
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| (Source: P.A. 92-590, eff. 7-1-02.)
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| (305 ILCS 5/10-3.1) (from Ch. 23, par. 10-3.1)
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| Sec. 10-3.1. Child and Spouse Support Unit. The Illinois
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| Department shall establish within its administrative staff a | 11 |
| Child and
Spouse Support Unit to search for and locate absent | 12 |
| parents and spouses
liable for the support of persons resident | 13 |
| in this State and to exercise
the support enforcement powers | 14 |
| and responsibilities assigned the
Department by this Article. | 15 |
| The unit shall cooperate with all law
enforcement officials in | 16 |
| this State and with the authorities of other
States in locating | 17 |
| persons responsible for the support of persons
resident in | 18 |
| other States and shall invite the cooperation of these
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| authorities in the performance of its duties.
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| In addition to other duties assigned the Child and Spouse | 21 |
| Support Unit
by this Article, the Unit may refer to the | 22 |
| Attorney General or units of
local government with the approval | 23 |
| of the Attorney General, any actions
under this Section, | 24 |
| Section
Sections 10-10 , and Section 10-15 for judicial | 25 |
| enforcement or modification of the support
liability. The Child | 26 |
| and Spouse Support Unit shall act for the Department
in | 27 |
| referring to the Attorney General support matters requiring | 28 |
| judicial
enforcement under other laws. If requested by the | 29 |
| Attorney General to so
act, as provided in Section 12-16, | 30 |
| attorneys of the Unit may assist the
Attorney General or | 31 |
| themselves
institute actions in behalf of the Illinois | 32 |
| Department
under the Revised Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of | 33 |
| Support
Act; under the Illinois Parentage Act of
1984; under
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| the Non-Support of Spouse and Children Act; under the | 35 |
| Non-Support Punishment
Act;
or under any other law, State or
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| Federal, providing for support
of a spouse or dependent child.
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| The Illinois Department shall also have the authority to | 3 |
| enter into
agreements with local governmental units or | 4 |
| individuals, with the approval
of the Attorney General, for the | 5 |
| collection of moneys owing
because of the failure of a
parent | 6 |
| to make child support payments for any child receiving services
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| under this Article. Such agreements may be on a contingent
fee | 8 |
| basis, but such contingent fee shall not exceed 25% of the | 9 |
| total amount
collected.
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| An attorney who provides representation pursuant to this | 11 |
| Section shall
represent the
Illinois Department exclusively. | 12 |
| Regardless of
the designation of the plaintiff in an action | 13 |
| brought pursuant to this Section,
an attorney-client | 14 |
| relationship does not exist for purposes of that
action between | 15 |
| that attorney
and (i) an applicant for or recipient of child | 16 |
| support
enforcement services or
(ii) any other party to the | 17 |
| action other than the Illinois Department. Nothing
in this | 18 |
| Section shall be construed to modify any power or duty | 19 |
| (including a
duty to maintain confidentiality) of the Child and | 20 |
| Spouse Support Unit or the
Illinois Department otherwise | 21 |
| provided by law.
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| The Illinois Department may also enter into agreements with | 23 |
| local
governmental units for the Child and Spouse Support Unit | 24 |
| to exercise the
investigative and enforcement powers | 25 |
| designated in this Article,
including the issuance of | 26 |
| administrative orders under Section 10-11, in
locating | 27 |
| responsible relatives and obtaining support for persons
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| applying for or receiving aid under Article VI.
Payments for
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| defrayment of administrative costs and support payments | 30 |
| obtained shall
be deposited into the DHS Recoveries Trust Fund. | 31 |
| Support
payments shall be paid over to the General Assistance | 32 |
| Fund of the local
governmental unit at such time or times as | 33 |
| the agreement may specify.
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| With respect to those cases in which it has support | 35 |
| enforcement powers
and responsibilities under this Article, | 36 |
| the Illinois Department may provide
by rule for periodic or |
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| other review of each administrative and court order
for support | 2 |
| to determine whether a modification of the order should be
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| sought. The Illinois Department shall provide for and conduct | 4 |
| such review
in accordance with any applicable federal law and | 5 |
| regulation.
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| As part of its process for review of orders for support, | 7 |
| the Illinois
Department, through written notice, may require | 8 |
| the responsible relative to
disclose his or her Social Security | 9 |
| Number and past and present information
concerning the | 10 |
| relative's address, employment, gross wages, deductions from
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| gross wages, net wages, bonuses, commissions, number of | 12 |
| dependent exemptions
claimed, individual and dependent health | 13 |
| insurance coverage, and any other
information necessary to | 14 |
| determine the relative's ability to provide support in
a case | 15 |
| receiving child support enforcement services under
this | 16 |
| Article X.
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| The Illinois Department may send a written request
for the | 18 |
| same information to the relative's employer. The employer shall
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| respond to the request for information within 15 days after the | 20 |
| date the
employer receives the request. If the employer | 21 |
| willfully fails to fully
respond within the 15-day period, the | 22 |
| employer shall pay a penalty of $100 for
each day that the | 23 |
| response is not provided to the Illinois Department after the
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| 15-day period has expired. The penalty may be collected in a | 25 |
| civil action
which may be brought against the employer in favor | 26 |
| of the Illinois Department.
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| A written request for information sent to an employer | 28 |
| pursuant to this
Section shall consist of (i) a citation of | 29 |
| this Section as the statutory
authority for the request and for | 30 |
| the employer's obligation to provide the
requested | 31 |
| information, (ii) a returnable form setting forth the | 32 |
| employer's name
and address and listing the name of the | 33 |
| employee with respect to whom
information is requested, and | 34 |
| (iii) a citation of this Section as the statutory
authority | 35 |
| authorizing the employer to withhold a fee of up to $20 from | 36 |
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wages or income to be paid to each responsible relative for |
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| providing the
information to the Illinois Department within the | 2 |
| 15-day period. If the
employer is
withholding support payments | 3 |
| from the responsible relative's income pursuant to
an order for | 4 |
| withholding, the employer may withhold the fee provided for in
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| this Section only after withholding support as required under | 6 |
| the order. Any
amounts withheld from the responsible relative's | 7 |
| income for payment of support
and the fee provided for in this | 8 |
| Section shall not be in excess of the amounts
permitted under | 9 |
| the federal Consumer Credit Protection Act.
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| In a case receiving child support enforcement services,
the | 11 |
| Illinois
Department may request and obtain information from a | 12 |
| particular employer under
this Section no more than once in any | 13 |
| 12-month period, unless the information
is necessary to conduct | 14 |
| a review of a court or
administrative order for support at the | 15 |
| request of the person receiving child support enforcement | 16 |
| services.
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| The Illinois Department shall establish and maintain an | 18 |
| administrative unit
to receive and transmit to the Child and | 19 |
| Spouse Support Unit information
supplied by persons applying | 20 |
| for or receiving child support
enforcement services
under | 21 |
| Section 10-1. In addition, the Illinois Department shall | 22 |
| address and
respond to any alleged deficiencies that persons | 23 |
| receiving or applying for
services from the Child and Spouse | 24 |
| Support Unit may identify concerning the
Child and Spouse | 25 |
| Support Unit's provision of child support
enforcement | 26 |
| services.
Within 60 days after an action or failure to act by | 27 |
| the Child and Spouse
Support Unit that affects his or her case, | 28 |
| a recipient of or applicant for
child support enforcement | 29 |
| services under Article X of this
Code may request an
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| explanation of the Unit's handling of the case. At the | 31 |
| requestor's option, the
explanation may be provided either | 32 |
| orally in an interview, in writing, or both.
If the Illinois | 33 |
| Department fails to respond to the request for an explanation
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| or fails to respond in a manner satisfactory to the applicant | 35 |
| or recipient
within 30 days from the date of the request for an | 36 |
| explanation, the
applicant or recipient may request a |
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| conference for further review of the
matter by the Office of | 2 |
| the Administrator of the Child and Spouse Support Unit.
A | 3 |
| request for a conference may be submitted at any time within 60 | 4 |
| days after
the explanation has been provided by the Child and | 5 |
| Spouse Support Unit or
within 60 days after the time for | 6 |
| providing the explanation has expired.
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| The applicant or recipient may request a conference | 8 |
| concerning any decision
denying or terminating child support | 9 |
| enforcement services
under Article X of this Code, and the | 10 |
| applicant or recipient may also request a
conference concerning | 11 |
| the
Unit's failure to provide services or the provision of | 12 |
| services in an amount or
manner that is considered inadequate. | 13 |
| For purposes of this Section, the Child
and Spouse Support Unit | 14 |
| includes all local governmental units or individuals
with whom | 15 |
| the Illinois Department has contracted
under Section
10-3.1.
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| Upon receipt of a timely request for a conference, the | 17 |
| Office of the
Administrator shall review the case. The | 18 |
| applicant or recipient requesting
the conference shall be | 19 |
| entitled, at his or her option, to appear in person or
to | 20 |
| participate in the conference by telephone. The applicant or | 21 |
| recipient
requesting the conference shall be entitled to be | 22 |
| represented and to be
afforded a reasonable opportunity to | 23 |
| review the Illinois Department's file
before or at the | 24 |
| conference. At the conference, the applicant or recipient
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| requesting the conference shall be afforded an opportunity to | 26 |
| present all
relevant matters in support of his or her claim. | 27 |
| Conferences shall be without
cost to the applicant or recipient | 28 |
| requesting the conference and shall be
conducted by a | 29 |
| representative of the Child or Spouse Support Unit who did not
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| participate in the action or inaction being reviewed.
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| The Office of the Administrator shall conduct a conference | 32 |
| and inform all
interested parties, in
writing, of the results | 33 |
| of the conference within 60 days from the date of
filing of the | 34 |
| request for a conference.
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| In addition to its other powers and responsibilities | 36 |
| established by this
Article, the Child and Spouse Support Unit |
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| shall conduct an annual assessment
of each institution's | 2 |
| program for institution based paternity establishment
under | 3 |
| Section 12 of the Vital Records Act.
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| The Child and Spouse Support Unit shall establish a program | 5 |
| to modify the child support paid by any member of the National | 6 |
| Guard or Reserves of the United States Armed Forces called up | 7 |
| to military active duty for more than 30 continuous days. This | 8 |
| program shall be known as the Child Support Military | 9 |
| Modification program or CSMM. The CSMM program shall be | 10 |
| available regardless of whether the custodial parent of the | 11 |
| child for whose benefit the support is paid is an applicant or | 12 |
| recipient of financial aid under this Code in accordance with | 13 |
| the requirements of Title IV, Part D of the Social Security | 14 |
| Act. The Child and Spouse Support Unit shall establish an | 15 |
| application for members of the National Guard and Reserves who | 16 |
| wish to avail themselves of the CSMM program. The application | 17 |
| shall consist of an instruction sheet and one or more forms | 18 |
| that the applicant must complete. The forms may include a form | 19 |
| that the applicant must sign authorizing the Child and Spouse | 20 |
| Support Unit to obtain income information from the applicant's | 21 |
| military employer. The application shall be made available on | 22 |
| the Internet, at all military Mobilization Centers, and | 23 |
| elsewhere at the discretion of the Child and Spouse Support | 24 |
| Unit. Any member of the National Guard or Reserves may avail | 25 |
| himself or herself of the CSMM program by filling out the CSMM | 26 |
| application and submitting it to the Child and Spouse Support | 27 |
| Unit or to his or her Mobilization Center Officer-in-Charge, | 28 |
| who shall forward the application to the Child and Spouse | 29 |
| Support Unit.
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| If the Child and Spouse Support Unit determines the | 31 |
| applicant's military income will vary from the applicant's | 32 |
| civilian income in an amount that would support a modification | 33 |
| under Section 510 of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of | 34 |
| Marriage Act and the Illinois Department's rules on review and | 35 |
| adjustment of child support orders and the applicant is paying | 36 |
| court-ordered child support, the Child and Spouse Support Unit |
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| shall seek a modification in the child support paid by the | 2 |
| applicant by filing a motion on behalf of the Department in the | 3 |
| court in which the child support order was entered. The motion | 4 |
| shall seek to modify the child support paid by the applicant in | 5 |
| accordance with the guidelines in Section 505 of the Illinois | 6 |
| Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act and other applicable | 7 |
| Acts.
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| If the Child and Spouse Support Unit determines the | 9 |
| applicant's military income will vary from the applicant's | 10 |
| civilian income in an amount that would support a modification | 11 |
| under Section 510 of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of | 12 |
| Marriage Act and the Illinois Department's rules on review and | 13 |
| adjustment of child support orders and the applicant is paying | 14 |
| child support under an Administrative Order entered pursuant to | 15 |
| this Article X, the Child and Spouse Support Unit shall modify | 16 |
| the child support paid by the applicant in accordance with the | 17 |
| guidelines in Section 505 of the Illinois Marriage and | 18 |
| Dissolution of Marriage Act and any guidelines established by | 19 |
| the Illinois Department, pursuant to Section 10-3 of this Act.
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| The Department shall promulgate any rules necessary for the | 21 |
| Child and Spouse Support Unit to carry out the Child Support | 22 |
| Military Modification program.
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| (Source: P.A. 91-24, eff. 7-1-99; 91-613, eff. 10-1-99;
92-16, | 24 |
| eff. 6-28-01; 92-590, eff. 7-1-02.)
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 26 |
| becoming law.
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