By Shields H.B. No. 598
75R827 PB-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to reimbursement of certain administrative costs incurred
1-3 by an employer in implementing a garnishment order.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 63.004, Civil Practice and Remedies Code,
1-6 is amended to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 63.004. CURRENT WAGES EXEMPT. Except as otherwise
1-8 provided by state or federal law, current [Current] wages for
1-9 personal service are not subject to garnishment. The garnishee
1-10 shall be discharged from the garnishment as to any debt to the
1-11 defendant for current wages.
1-12 SECTION 2. Chapter 63, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, is
1-13 amended by adding Section 63.006 to read as follows:
1-14 Sec. 63.006. ADMINISTRATIVE FEE FOR CERTAIN COSTS INCURRED
1-15 BY EMPLOYERS. (a) An employer who is required by state or federal
1-16 law to deduct from the current wages of an employee an amount
1-17 garnished under a withholding order may deduct monthly an
1-18 administrative fee as provided by Subsection (b) from the
1-19 employee's disposable earnings in addition to the amount required
1-20 to be withheld under the withholding order. This section does not
1-21 apply to income withholding under Chapter 158, Family Code.
1-22 (b) The administrative fee deducted under Subsection (a) may
1-23 not exceed the lesser of:
1-24 (1) the actual administrative cost incurred by the
2-1 employer in complying with the withholding order; or
2-2 (2) $10.
2-3 (c) For the purposes of this section, "withholding order"
2-4 means:
2-5 (1) a withholding order issued under Section 488A,
2-6 Part F, Subchapter IV, Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
2-7 Section 1095a); and
2-8 (2) any analogous order issued under a state or
2-9 federal law that:
2-10 (A) requires the garnishment of an employee's
2-11 current wages; and
2-12 (B) does not contain an express provision
2-13 authorizing or prohibiting the payment of the administrative costs
2-14 incurred by the employer in complying with the garnishment by the
2-15 affected employee.
2-16 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997, and
2-17 applies only to recovery by an employer of administrative costs
2-18 incurred by the employer in complying with a withholding order, as
2-19 that term is defined by Section 63.006, Civil Practice and Remedies
2-20 Code, as added by this Act, that applies to wages paid by the
2-21 employer and received on or after September 1, 1997, by an employee
2-22 subject to the withholding order. Wages received by the employee
2-23 before September 1, 1997, are governed by the law in effect on the
2-24 date the wages were paid, and the former law is continued in effect
2-25 for that purpose.
2-26 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
2-27 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-1 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-2 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-3 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.