By Harris                                              S.B. No. 581
         76R5135 JMM-F                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the requirements for and the liability of certain
 1-3     employers who are required to withhold child support from an
 1-4     employee's earnings.
 1-5           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-6           SECTION 1.  Section 158.103, Family Code, is amended to read
 1-7     as follows:
 1-8           Sec. 158.103.  CONTENTS OF ORDER OF WITHHOLDING.  An order of
 1-9     withholding shall state:
1-10                 (1)  the style, cause number, and court having
1-11     continuing jurisdiction of the suit;
1-12                 (2)  the name, address, and, if available, the social
1-13     security number of the obligor;
1-14                 (3)  the amount and duration of the child support
1-15     payments and medical support payments or other provisions for
1-16     medical support;
1-17                 (4)  the name, address, and, if available, the social
1-18     security numbers of the child and the obligee;
1-19                 (5)  the name and address of the person or agency to
1-20     whom the payments shall be made;
1-21                 (6)  that the obligor is required to notify the court
1-22     promptly of any change affecting the order;  [and]
1-23                 (7)  that the ordered amount shall be paid to a local
1-24     registry or the Title IV-D agency; and
 2-1                 (8)  that the ordered amount is required to be remitted
 2-2     to the person or office named in the order or writ on each pay
 2-3     date.
 2-4           SECTION 2.  Section 158.203(b), Family Code, is amended to
 2-5     read as follows:
 2-6           (b)  The employer shall include with each payment
 2-7     transmitted:
 2-8                 (1)  the number assigned by the Title IV-D agency, if
 2-9     available, the county identification number, if available, and [or]
2-10     the cause number of the suit under which withholding is required;
2-11                 (2)  the payor's name and social security number; and
2-12                 (3)  the payee's name and, if available, social
2-13     security number, unless the payment is transmitted by electronic
2-14     funds transfer.
2-15           SECTION 3.  Section 158.206(b), Family Code, is amended to
2-16     read as follows:
2-17           (b)  An employer receiving an order or writ of withholding
2-18     who does not comply with the order or writ is liable:
2-19                 (1)  to the obligee for the amount not paid in
2-20     compliance with the order or writ, including the amount the obligor
2-21     is required to pay for health insurance under Chapter 154;
2-22                 (2)  to the obligor for:
2-23                       (A)  the amount withheld and not paid as required
2-24     by the order or writ; and
2-25                       (B)  an amount equal to the interest that accrues
2-26     under Section 157.265 on the amount withheld and not paid; and
2-27                 (3)  for reasonable attorney's fees and court costs.
 3-1           SECTION 4.  (a)  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
 3-2           (b)  The changes in law made by this Act to Sections 158.203
 3-3     and 158.206, Family Code, apply only to child support withheld on
 3-4     or after that date.  Child support withheld before the effective
 3-5     date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the
 3-6     child support was withheld, and the former law is continued in
 3-7     effect for that purpose.
 3-8           SECTION 5.  The importance of this legislation and the
 3-9     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-10     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-11     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-12     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.