H. B. 3062
(By Delegates M. Poling, Hatfield, Fragale,
Moye, Stephens, Hrutkay, Caputo, Fleischauer
and Paxton)
[Introduced January 9, 2008; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §48-1-230 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended; and to amend said code by adding thereto two
new sections, designated §48-18-119a and §48-18-119b, all
relating to child support generally; providing for liens upon
proceeds or awards of a child support obligor from Workers'
Compensation awards; authorizing cooperation with insurance
companies; and providing for the filing of a lien or income
withholding order against a future insurance claim settlement
of a child support obligor.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §48-1-230 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted; and that said code be amended by adding
thereto two new sections, designated §48-18-119a and §48-18-119b,
all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS; DEFINITIONS.
§48-1-230. Income defined.
"Income" includes, but is not limited to, the following:
(1) Commissions, earnings, salaries, wages and other income
due or to be due in the future to an individual from his or her
employer and successor employers;
(2) Any income that is the result of self-employment;
(3) Any income that is interest or dividends on investments;
(2) (4) Any payment due or to be due in the future to an
individual from a profit-sharing plan, a pension plan, an insurance
contract, an annuity, social security, unemployment compensation,
supplemental employment benefits, workers' compensation benefits,
judgments and settlements, awards from arbitration or other
alternative dispute resolution agreement or order, state lottery
winnings and prizes, and overtime pay;
(3) (5) Any amount of money which is owing to an individual
as a debt from:
(A) An individual, partnership,
limited partnership
association,
limited liability company, public or private
corporation;
(B) The United States or any federal agency, this state or
any political subdivision of this state, any other state or a
political subdivision of another state; or
(C) Any other
person or legal entity which is indebted to the
obligor.
ARTICLE 18. BUREAU FOR CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT.
§48-18-119a. Obtaining support from Workers' Compensation
benefits.
(a) The Executive Director of the Workers' Compensation
Commission shall determine on a periodic basis whether individuals
receiving workers' compensation owe child support obligations which
are being enforced or have been requested to be enforced by the
Bureau for Child Support Enforcement. If an individual is
receiving the compensation and owes any child support obligation
which is not being met, the Bureau for Child Support Enforcement
shall enter into an agreement with the individual to have specified
amounts withheld otherwise payable to the individual, and shall
submit a copy of the agreement to the Bureau of Employment
Programs. In the absence of an agreement, the Bureau for Child
Support Enforcement shall bring legal process to require the
withholding of amounts from the obligor's compensation.
(b) The secretary shall enter into a written agreement with
the Executive Director of the Workers' Compensation Commission for
the purpose of withholding workers' compensation from individuals
with unmet support obligations being enforced by the Bureau for
Child Support Enforcement. The Bureau for Child Support
Enforcement shall agree only to a withholding program that it
expects to be cost-effective, and, as to reimbursement, shall agree
only to reimburse the Workers' Compensation Commission for its
actual incremental costs of providing services to the Bureau for Child Support Enforcement.
(c) The Commissioner of the Bureau for Child Support
Enforcement shall promulgate a procedural rule for selecting cases
to pursue through the withholding of workers' compensation for
support purposes. This rule shall be designed to ensure maximum
case selection and minimal discretion in the selection process.
(d) The Commissioner of the Bureau for Child Support
Enforcement shall, not less than annually, provide a receipt to an
individual who requests a receipt for the support paid through the
withholding of workers' compensation, if receipts are not provided
through other means.
(e) The Commissioner of the Bureau for Child Support
Enforcement shall, through direct contact with the Workers'
Compensation Commission, process cases through Workers'
Compensation programs in this state, and shall process cases
through support enforcement agencies in other states. The
Commissioner of the Bureau for Child Support Enforcement shall
receive all amounts withheld by workers' compensation programs in
this state, forwarding any amounts withheld on behalf of support
enforcement agencies in other states to those agencies.
(f) At least one time per year, the Commissioner of the Bureau
for Child Support Enforcement shall review and document program
operations, including case selection criteria established under
subsection (c) of this section, and the costs of the withholding process versus the amounts collected and, as necessary, modify
procedures and renegotiate the services provided by workers'
compensation programs to improve program and cost-effectiveness.
(g) For the purposes of this section:
(1) "Legal process" means a writ, order, summons or other
similar process in the nature of garnishment which is issued by a
court of competent jurisdiction or by an authorized official
pursuant to an order of the court or pursuant to state or local
law.
(2) "Workers' compensation" means any compensation under state
workers' compensation law as provided in chapter twenty-three of
this code with the exception of those provisions set forth in
sections three and four of article four of said chapter
twenty-three.
§48-18-119b. Insurance claim intercept program.
The Commissioner of the Bureau for Child Support Enforcement
shall enter into agreements with other state child support
enforcement agencies and insurance providers and shall participate
in the pooling of delinquent child support obligor information and
insurance claim intercept programs in cooperation with other state
programs.
The Commissioner of the Bureau for Child Support Enforcement
shall file a notice of lien or income withholding order against any
insurance claimant who is a delinquent child support obligor in this state.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide for liens upon
proceeds or awards of a child support obligor from Workers'
Compensation awards. The bill also requires cooperation with
insurance companies and child support enforcement agencies in other
states to intercept proceeds of insurance claims and it provides
for the filing of a lien or income withholding order against a
future insurance claim settlement of a child support obligor.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
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