C.S.H.B. 3087 78(R) BILL ANALYSIS C.S.H.B. 3087 By: Hodge Juvenile Justice & Family Issues Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Presently, child support obligors, many of whom fall below the federal poverty line, owe the state of Texas approximately 3 billion dollars in assigned arrears. Moreover, the Title IV-D Agency (Office of Attorney General) retains a portion of collected child support to reimburse the state for public assistance expenditures. Administering this practice requires the Office of Attorney General to execute different strategies of compromise to collect arrearages owed by certain obligors. Following the recommendations of the Federal Commissioner of the Office of Child Support Enforcement, C.S.H.B.3087 would codify this practice into state law, by allowing the Office of Attorney General to use more flexibility in collecting debt owed by low-income obligors. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 231.002, Family Code, by adding Subsection (I), which provides that the Title IV-D agency may provide a release or satisfaction of a judgment for all or part of the amount of the arrearages assigned to the Title IV-D agency under Section 231.104(a). SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2003. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B.3087 modifies the original H.B.3087 by amending Section 231.002, Family Code where the duties and the powers of the Title IV-D agency are listed, in lieu of Section 157.262, Family Code, as previously amended in the original H.B.3087.