73R8504 JMM-D
          By Hilderbran, Cuellar of Webb                        H.B. No. 1192
          Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1192:
          By Cuellar of Webb                                C.S.H.B. No. 1192
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to enforcement alternatives for contempt orders for
    1-3  certain obligors who are delinquent in child support payments.
    1-4        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-5        SECTION 1.  Subchapter B, Chapter 14, Family Code, is amended
    1-6  by adding Section 14.401 to read as follows:
    1-7        Sec. 14.401.  ALTERNATIVE ENFORCEMENT OPTIONS FOR CONTEMPT
    1-8  ORDERS.  (a)  A court finding that an obligor is in contempt of
    1-9  court for failure or refusal to make a child support payment may
   1-10  order the obligor to participate in adult basic education or
   1-11  job-training programs offered by the Central Education Agency, the
   1-12  Texas Department of Commerce, or another agency or entity as
   1-13  provided by this section.
   1-14        (b)  The court may order an obligor who has not completed
   1-15  high school or earned an equivalent degree to participate in an
   1-16  adult basic education program approved by the court.  The court may
   1-17  approve a program only if the program establishes a time line for
   1-18  participation and completion of the program by the obligor and is
   1-19  designed to lead to the completion of a high school diploma or
   1-20  equivalent degree program for the obligor.
   1-21        (c)  The court may order an obligor to apply for a program
   1-22  approved by the court offered under the Texas Job-Training
   1-23  Partnership Act (Article 4413(52), Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes).
   1-24  An obligor ordered to apply for a job-training program under this
    2-1  subsection shall provide proof to the court that the obligor has
    2-2  made a good faith effort to be accepted to and participate fully in
    2-3  the program.  The court may approve a program only if the program:
    2-4              (1)  provides on-the-job training;
    2-5              (2)  trains the obligor for a trade or occupation in
    2-6  which employment opportunities exist at the time the obligor is
    2-7  ordered to participate in the program; and
    2-8              (3)  allows the obligor to earn income immediately on
    2-9  beginning the program.
   2-10        (d)  The court may order an obligor to apply for a special
   2-11  program for child support obligors administered by the Texas
   2-12  Department of Commerce under the Texas Job-Training Partnership Act
   2-13  (Article 4413(52), Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), if a special
   2-14  program is established.  A participant in the special program must
   2-15  be an obligor who has not been found by the court to be delinquent
   2-16  in child support payments on a previous occasion and who has a high
   2-17  school diploma or the equivalent degree.
   2-18        (e)  The court may order an obligor to participate in a
   2-19  public or private local program that meets the requirements of
   2-20  Subsection (b) or (c) of this section, if a program exists in the
   2-21  area where the court is located.
   2-22        (f)  The court has the exclusive right to determine the
   2-23  enforcement option, if any, that is appropriate for an obligor
   2-24  under this section.  In making a determination under this section,
   2-25  the court may consult any source that may reasonably assist the
   2-26  court in predicting the likelihood of an obligor's success in a
   2-27  program.
    3-1        (g)  An obligor is not eligible to participate in an
    3-2  alternative enforcement option under this section on more than one
    3-3  occasion.
    3-4        SECTION 2.  The Texas Job-Training Partnership Act (Article
    3-5  4413(52), Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes) is amended by adding
    3-6  Section 12 to read as follows:
    3-7        Sec. 12.  JOB TRAINING FOR CHILD SUPPORT OBLIGORS.  (a)  The
    3-8  Texas Department of Commerce shall establish a special program to
    3-9  be administered under this Act to provide job-training programs for
   3-10  persons who are found to be delinquent in court-ordered child
   3-11  support payments and ordered to participate in job-training
   3-12  programs under Section 14.401, Family Code.
   3-13        (b)  The department shall solicit funds for the establishment
   3-14  of the special program under this section.
   3-15        (c)  The department shall make a report to the lieutenant
   3-16  governor and the speaker of the house of representatives not later
   3-17  than December 1, 1994, concerning:
   3-18              (1)  the department's success in soliciting funds for
   3-19  the special program under Subsection (a) of this section; and
   3-20              (2)  the success of the special program as evaluated by
   3-21  the department's evaluator under this Act.
   3-22        (d)  The department shall allocate positions in on-the-job
   3-23  training programs offered under this Act to child support obligors
   3-24  who are:
   3-25              (1)  obligated to support children who are recipients
   3-26  of financial assistance and services under Chapter 31, Human
   3-27  Resources Code; and
    4-1              (2)  found to be delinquent in court-ordered child
    4-2  support payments and ordered to participate in job-training
    4-3  programs under Section 14.401, Family Code.
    4-4        SECTION 3.  (a)  This Act takes effect September 1, 1993, and
    4-5  applies only to the enforcement by contempt of a child support
    4-6  order that is entered or modified on or after that date.
    4-7        (b)  The enactment of this Act is not sufficient by itself to
    4-8  constitute a material and substantial change in the circumstances
    4-9  of a child for whose benefit a child support order has been entered
   4-10  to warrant modification of the order under Section 14.08, Family
   4-11  Code.
   4-12        SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
   4-13  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   4-14  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   4-15  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   4-16  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.