Economic Equity Act of 1996

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Title I: Workplace Fairness

Subtitle A: Part-Time and

Temporary Workers Protection

Subtitle B: Federal Employee Fairness

Subtitle C: Legislative Pay Equity Study

Subtitle D: Sexual Harassment Prevention

Subtitle E: Sexual Harassment Information

Subtitle F: Sexual Harassment Tax Equity

Subtitle G: Equal Remedies

Subtitle H: Federal Temporary Workers Protection

Subtitle I: Contingent Work Force Equity

Title II: Economic Opportunity

Subtitle A: Microenterprise Opportunity Expansion

Subtitle B: Commission on the Advancement of Women in

the Science and Engineering Work Forces

Subtitle C: Equal Surety Bond Opportunity

Subtitle D: Self-Sufficiency Standard

Subtitle E: Community Reinvestment

Subtitle F: Telecommunications Economic Opportunity

Subtitle G: HHS Women Scientist Employment Opportunity

Subtitle H: Women in Enterprise Development

Title III: Work and Family

Subtitle A: Child Care Consolidation and Investment

Subtitle B: Child Care Public-Private Partnership

Subtitle C: Dependent Care Tax Credit Refundability

Subtitle D: IRA Deductions for Homemakers

Subtitle E: Federal Parental Leave for Education

Activities

Subtitle F: Tax Incentives for Family-Friendly

Workplaces

Subtitle G: Parental Equity Leave

Title IV: Economic Self-Sufficiency

Subtitle A: Child Support Responsibility

Subtitle B: Interstate Child Support

Subtitle C: Child Support Enforcement Improvements

Subtitle D: Single Parent Protection

Subtitle E: Women's Pension Equity

Subtitle F: Pension Reform

Subtitle G: Social Security Caregiver

Title V: Economic Impact of Domestic Violence

Subtitle A: Workplace Violence Prevention Tax Credit

Subtitle B: Insurance Protection for Victims of

Domestic Violence

Subtitle C: Fairness to Minority Women Health

Subtitle D: Battered Women's Employment Protection

Subtitle E: Domestic Violence Legal Services

Eligibility

Economic Equity Act of 1996 - Title I: Workplace Fairness - Subtitle A: Part-Time and Temporary Workers Protection - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) with respect to requirements for approval of State unemployment compensation laws to provide for eligibility for unemployment compensation of certain individuals seeking part-time employment.

(Sec. 11102) Directs the Secretary of Labor, acting through the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, to establish and carry out an annual survey relating to temporary workers.

(Sec. 11103) Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to provide protection of part-time and temporary workers with respect to their treatment under participation, vesting, and accrual rules governing pension plans.

(Sec. 11201) Amends the IRC to provide for waiver of an employer's liability for certain employment taxes for a reasonable good faith misclassification based on common law rules. Amends the Revenue Act of 1978 to revise provisions relating to controversies involving whether individuals are employees for purposes of the employment taxes to modify safe harbor rules and authority for classifications of individuals as nonemployees.

(Sec. 11202) Amends the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 to set forth requirements regarding classification of persons as employees and independent contractors under certain Federal procurement contracts.

(Sec. 11203) Amends Federal law relating to defense contracts to set forth requirements regarding classification of persons as employees and independent contractors under Federal defense contracts.

Subtitle B: Federal Employee Fairness - Amends title VII (Equal Employment Opportunities) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to revise provisions relating to administrative determination of Federal employee discrimination claims, including Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) determination of such claims.

(Sec. 12002) Amends the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to provide for EEOC enforcement regarding specified claims, with certain exceptions with respect to employment in the Library of Congress. Provides for opportunity to commence civil action in the case of certain claims pending before EEOC.

(Sec. 12003) Amends Federal law relating to civil service employment to revise provisions for grievance procedures, actions involving discrimination, disciplinary action, personnel recordkeeping, and right to intervene in certain discrimination cases.

(Sec. 12005) Directs EEOC to issue certain guidelines and rules, including: (1) standards for alternative dispute resolution processes and identification of approved examples; (2) establishment of a voluntary settlement program; and (3) rules regarding classified information.

(Sec. 12008) Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) it should increase appropriations to EEOC to carry out additional EEOC responsibilities imposed by this Act; and (2) Federal agencies should not use their funds for salaries and expenses to pay any relief awarded under Civil Rights Act of 1964 title VII provisions against discrimination in Federal employment.

Subtitle C: Legislative Pay Equity Study - Declares the congressional policy of nondiscrimination and pay equity for employees of the legislative branch.

(Sec. 13002) Establishes the Commission on Employment Discrimination in the Legislative Branch to evaluate and report to the Congress on the compensation system and personnel policies and practices of the Library of Congress.

Subtitle D: Sexual Harassment Prevention - Establishes a right of civil action by the injured person to seek relief for specified sexual harassment offenses or retaliation in relationships between: (1) a patient and a physician, psychotherapist, or dentist; (2) a client and an attorney, marriage, family, or child counselor, social worker, or accountant; (3) a beneficiary and an executor, trustee, or administrator of a trust or estate; (4) an employee and an employer with fewer than 15 employees for each working day in each of 33 or more calendar weeks in the current and preceding calendar year; or (5) the parties to a contract, or persons negotiating a contract or seeking to enforce claimed rights under a contract.

(Sec. 14002) Authorizes additional appropriations for the EEOC.

Subtitle E: Sexual Harassment Information - Requires employers to provide EEOC-approved information on sexual harassment violations and claims, through: (1) posting of notices at the workplace; and (2) annual notices to individual employees. Sets forth civil penalties for violation of such information requirements.

(Sec. 15003) Directs EEOC to provide: (1) technical assistance materials to employers, including model notices and voluntary guidelines for employer policies and procedures to address allegations of discrimination, including sexual harassment, in employment; and (2) a toll-free telephone number for employees and employers to obtain information regarding compliance with this subtitle and such model notices and guidelines.

(Sec. 15004) Requires EEOC enforcement of employer information requirements (except in the case of congressional employees, where the Board of the Office of Compliance is the enforcer).

Subtitle F: Sexual Harassment Tax Equity - Amends IRC to allow an income tax deduction for legal expenses of individuals bringing sexual harassment suits against their employers.

Subtitle G: Equal Remedies - Amends certain provisions of the Revised Statutes, as added by the Civil Rights Act of 1991, to provide for equalization of remedies.

Subtitle H: Federal Temporary Workers Protection - Amends Federal civil service law to provide eligibility for health benefits for certain Federal temporary workers.

Subtitle I: Contingent Work Force Equity - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to require that contingent (part-time or temporary) workers receive the same wages as full-time workers for the same work (with exceptions for differential payments pursuant to seniority, merit, or production quantity-or-quality systems or based on factors other than employment status).

(Sec. 19002) Amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to require employers to protect all workers (not only their own employees) from hazards within the employers' control.

Directs the Secretary of Labor to study whether the health and safety of part-time or temporary employees are being adequately monitored and, if not, to determine how such monitoring can be made adequate.

(Sec. 19003) Amends the Family and Medical Leave Act to lower the threshold for employee coverage to 125 hours of service with an employer during the previous three-month period.

(Sec. 19004) Directs the Secretary of Labor, through the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, to carry out an annual survey identifying the characteristics of temporary workers and their relationships with the establishments at which they are temporarily employed and, where appropriate, with their permanent employers.

(Sec. 19005) Amends the National Labor Relations Act to include in collective bargaining units part-time or temporary workers with reasonable expectations of continued employment.

(Sec. 19006) Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1970 (ERISA) to provide for: (1) treatment of employees working at less than full-time (500 or more hours but less than 1,000 hours service per year) under participation, vesting, and accrual rules governing pension plans; (2) treatment of part-time workers (less than 30 hours service per week) under group health plans; and (3) inclusion of certain individuals whose services are leased or contracted for under the definition of employee.

(Sec. 19007) Amends IRC to require States to provide unemployment compensation to part-time workers unavailable for full-time work.

Title II: Economic Opportunity - Subtitle A: Microenterprise Opportunity Expansion - Provides various means of promoting and assisting microenterprises (commercial enterprises with five or fewer employees, one or more of whom own the enterprise).

(Sec. 21001) Amends the Social Security Act to exclude certain business assets from resources and income for purposes of eligibility under the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. Extends public assistance benefits under AFDC and Medicaid and under SSI and Medicaid for persons with income from or resources in a microenterprise.

(Sec. 21002) Amends IRC provisions relating to State law requirements for unemployment compensation to provide for payment of unemployment compensation, under certain conditions, to individuals starting microenterprises. Allows State unemployment compensation funds to be used to provide microenterprise startup assistance to eligible individuals.

(Sec. 21003) Amends the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 to provide for treatment of microenterprise loans and grants by insured depository institutions as community reinvestment.

(Sec. 21004) Amends the Home Owners' Loan Act to provide for treatment of microenterprise loans by savings associations as qualified thrift investments.

(Sec. 21005) Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to allow the use of community development block grant assistance for administrative costs of entities assisting microenterprises.

(Sec. 21006) Requires each Federal banking agency to establish a Microenterprise Technical and Operations Office as a division to offer technical assistance, training, outreach, and other support to: (1) groups and individuals engaged in, or desiring to establish, a microenterprise; and (2) institutions which offer credit or financial services to microenterprises.

(Sec. 21007) Directs the Financial Institutions Examination Council to study and report, with recommendations, to the Congress on the best means to make credit available to small businesses which: (1) do not qualify for microenterprise loans or need credit in larger amounts than such loans make available; and (2) need credit in smaller amounts than is generally available from financial institutions or the Small Business Administration.

Subtitle B: Commission on the Advancement of Women in the Science and Engineering Work Forces - Establishes the Commission on the Advancement of Women in the Science and Engineering Work Forces to study and report to the Congress on the recruitment, retention, and advancement of women in the science and engineering work forces. Authorizes appropriations.

Subtitle C: Equal Surety Bond Opportunity - Sets forth equal surety bond requirements. Lists activities constituting unlawful discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, disability, or age, as well as those not constituting such discrimination. Requires statements of reasons for adverse actions on surety bond applications.

(Sec. 23002) Provides for civil liability for violations of this subtitle.

(Sec. 23003) Prohibits the Secretary of the Treasury from approving as a surety a company which does not maintain full compliance with the requirements of this subtitle. Sets forth administrative enforcement procedures.

Subtitle D: Self-Sufficiency Standard - Amends the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) to define economic self-sufficiency.

(Sec. 24003) Establishes economic self-sufficiency standards for adult training programs under JTPA.

(Sec. 24004) Prohibits State Governors from awarding incentive grants to service delivery areas that do not have an approved local economic self-sufficiency standards table in effect.

(Sec. 24005) Requires inclusion of the local economic self-sufficiency standards table and related reports in: (1) the job training plan; and (2) the Governor's coordination and special services plan.

(Sec. 24007) Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary of Labor for grants to States for economic self-sufficiency demonstration programs.

Subtitle E: Community Reinvestment - Amends the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 to direct the appropriate Federal financial supervisory agencies to jointly develop a format for collecting (and reporting to the public) specified types of data from regulated financial institutions concerning their record of meeting the credit needs of their local communities, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods.

Subtitle F: Telecommunications Economic Opportunity - Directs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to: (1) require each provider of telecommunications services to submit annual plans, and implementation reports, for increasing its procurement, in underrepresented categories, from business enterprises that are owned by minorities or women; (2) report annually to the Congress on such matters; and (3) establish regulations and criteria for determining eligibility of minority-or woman-owned businesses for such procurement contracts. Sets forth sanctions and remedies relating to specified violations.

Subtitle G: HHS Women Scientist Employment Opportunity - Amends the Public Health Service Act to add a new title XXVII, Women's Scientific Employment with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), relating to the employment of women as scientists in specified agencies of HHS, specified aspects of such employment, and inclusion of women in intramural and extramural conferences and other groups. Authorizes appropriations.

Subtitle H: Women in Enterprise Development - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to direct the Administrator of the Agency for International Development (AID) to establish and implement a Women in Enterprise Development Program, including provisions for financial, educational, and informational assistance. Urges the Administrator to use a specified portion of funds for microenterprise development.

Title III: Work and Family - Subtitle A: Child Care Consolidation and Investment - Amends the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to appropriate funds for FY 1997 through 2001 for child care services for eligible children through the awarding of grants to States.

(Sec. 31003) Changes from discretionary to mandatory the existing program of child care and development block grants for States.

Decreases from 25 to 20 percent the amount of funds a State shall reserve per fiscal year for activities to improve the quality of child care and to provide before- and after-school and early childhood development services. Directs States to reserve at least 50 percent of grant amounts for child care activities to support low-income working families. Requires State plans to assure that the availability of child care will be coordinated with AFDC requirements, and to ensure that the parent of a dependent child is not required to undertake an education, job training or search, or employment requirement unless child care assistance is available.

Directs the Secretary to establish a child care quality improvement incentive initiative to make funds available to States that demonstrate progress in the implementation of: (1) innovative teacher training programs; or (2) enhanced child care quality standards and licensing and monitoring procedures.

(Sec. 31004) Amends part A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) (AFDC) of title IV of the Social Security Act to repeal the AFDC, Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) Training program, and transitional child care programs, as well as the at-risk child care program. Repeals the Child Development Assistance Associate Scholarship Assistance Act of 1985, and the authority for State dependent care grants under the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981.

Subtitle B: Child Care Public-Private Partnership - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a business-incentive grant program to provide child care through public-private partnerships.

(Sec. 32001) Provides program grants to cover not more than one-third of the costs for: (1) businesses or consortia (two or more businesses acting jointly, which may also include a nonprofit private organization) to start up, or provide additional, employee child care services; and (2) nonprofit business organizations to provide technical information and assistance to enable businesses to provide employee child care services.

(Sec. 32004) Gives priority in grant selection to businesses with fewer than 100 full-time employees and to business and consortia applications. Requires equitable geographic distribution. Authorizes appropriations.

Subtitle C: Dependent Care Tax Credit Refundability - Repeals the Internal Revenue Code's nonrefundable income tax credit for employment-related dependent care expenses, replacing it with a corresponding refundable 50 percent credit, reduced (but not below 20 percent) as the taxpayer's adjusted gross income exceeds $15,000 (adjusted for inflation). Includes within the scope of the new credit up to $1,200 ($2,400 in the case of more than one qualifying individual) of respite care expenses incurred in the care of: (1) a dependent of the taxpayer who is at least 13 years old; or (2) a spouse or other dependent who is physically or mentally incapable of self-care.

Subtitle D: IRA Deductions for Homemakers - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow certain spouses a full deduction for contributions to an individual retirement account.

Subtitle E: Federal Parental Leave for Education Activities - Amends the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to extend coverage to employees at worksites where the employer employs at least 25 (currently 50) employees at the worksite and within 75 miles of that worksite.

(Sec. 35002) Allows covered employees to take up to four hours during any 30-day period, and up to 24 hours during any 12-month period, of parental involvement leave to participate in or attend their children's educational and extracurricular activities.

(Sec. 35003) Amends Federal civil service law to apply the same parental involvement leave allowance to Federal employees.

Subtitle F: Tax Incentives for Family-Friendly Workplaces - Amends the IRC with respect to business related credits to establish: (1) a small business family and medical leave credit; and (2) a credit for wages paid to an employee who is allowed to shift hours of employment or to work at home in order to reduce child care needs.

Subtitle G: Parental Equity Leave - Requires an employer to provide an employee who is a parent of an adopted child or a foster child with the same leave the employer provides (in addition to leave required by the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993) an employee who is on parent leave for the birth of a child.

Title IV: Economic Self-Sufficiency - Subtitle A: Child Support Responsibility - Amends part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) to require States to have statutorily prescribed procedures to: (1) record child support orders in a central case registry; and (2) collect child support payments through a centralized collections unit. Permits parties to a child support order to opt for an alternative payment procedure.

(Sec. 41102) Revises the guidelines for: (1) State plans for child and spousal support; and (2) payments distribution.

(Sec. 41103) Requires State plans to establish procedural guidelines for: (1) notification of all proceedings and orders affecting child support obligations; and (2) privacy safeguards regarding paternity and child support actions.

(Sec. 41201) Revises the formula for: (1) Federal matching payments to the States; and (2) incentive adjustments to the Federal matching rate.

(Sec. 41203) Requires a State plan for child and spousal support to include prescribed procedures for State reviews and audits. Revises the guidelines for Federal evaluation and audit of State programs governing paternity, child and spousal support, and parent location.

(Sec. 41205) Revises the automated data processing requirements for State plans to mandate a single statewide automated data processing and information retrieval system which can perform specified tasks.

(Sec. 41206) Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to conduct staffing studies of each State child support enforcement program and to report the results to the Congress.

(Sec. 41207) Makes funds available to the Secretary for: (1) training of Federal and State staff, research and demonstration programs, and special projects of regional and national significance; and (2) operation of the Federal Parent Locator Service.

(Sec. 41301) Mandates that the single statewide automated data system function as a single central case registry of State-provided services and support orders. Delineates contents of case records and data matching activities, including data exchange with sister States.

(Sec. 41301) Requires State plans to include a centralized, automated unit for the collection and disbursement of support payments.

(Sec. 41303) Requires the States to have statutorily prescribed procedures: (1) for mandatory income withholding for support payments subject to enforcement; and (2) under which child support orders issued before October 1, 1996, shall become subject to withholding from wages if arrearages occur, without the need for a judicial or administrative hearing. Revises the procedural guidelines for income withholding for child support enforcement.

(Sec. 41305) Revises the Federal Parent Locator Service to add kinds of information which may be transmitted to locate individuals and assets for purposes of establishing parentage and executing child support obligations. Requires the Secretary to establish in the Service a Data Bank of Child Support Orders and an automated Directory of New Hires.

(Sec. 41306) Requires State plans to include procedures for recording social security numbers on certain family legal documents and records.

(Sec. 41401) Requires each State to have the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act in effect as of January 1, 1997.

(Sec. 41402) Amends the Federal judicial code to revise the procedures for a court to apply when determining which State order to recognize for purposes of continuing, exclusive jurisdiction and enforcement for child support orders.

(Sec. 41403) Amends SSA title IV part D to revise State plan guidelines for mandatory expedited administrative and judicial procedures to include: (1) authorized genetic testing to establish paternity; and (2) the securing of assets and increasing of monthly payments to satisfy a support arrearage.

(Sec. 41502) Revises the guidelines for statutorily prescribed procedures governing genetic testing and outreach for voluntary paternity acknowledgment.

(Sec. 41601) Establishes the National Child Support Guidelines Commission to develop a national child support guideline for consideration by the Congress that is based on a study of various guideline models, the benefits and deficiencies of such models, and any needed improvement.

(Sec. 41602) Revises the requirements for State plan procedures for the review and adjustment of support orders.

(Sec. 41701) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise the order of refund distribution with respect to past-due support owed to individuals.

(Sec. 41703) Amends SSA title IV part D to revise procedural guidelines for: (1) consent by the United States to income withholding, garnishment, and similar proceedings for enforcement of child support and alimony obligations of current and retired Federal employees; and (2) enforcement of child support obligations of current and retired members of the armed forces.

(Sec. 41705) Requires States to have statutorily prescribed procedures for: (1) placing liens for child support arrearages on motor vehicle titles of the debtor; (2) voiding fraudulent transfers by a child support debtor; (3) suspending any driver's, business, or occupational license issued to any person who owes past-due child support; (4) reporting to credit bureaus the name of the parent in arrears for child support; (5) extending the statute of limitations for collection of child support arrearages; and (6) calculating interest or penalties on such arrearages.

(Sec. 41711) Prescribes procedural guidelines for passport denial (including revocation) upon certification of nonpayment of child support.

(Sec. 41712) Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States should ratify the United Nations Convention of 1956. Requires State plans to provide that the State must treat international child support cases as interstate cases.

(Sec. 41801) Amends ERISA to include within the definition of medical child support order an order issued through a State administrative process.

Subtitle B: Interstate Child Support - Amends part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of SSA title IV to allow the Federal Parent Locator Service (FPLS) to be used along with appropriate disclosure safeguards for parentage establishment and child support and visitation enforcement.

(Sec. 42101) Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) denial of visitation rights under a child support order should be treated as irrelevant in any action to enforce its support provisions; and (2) failure to pay child support pursuant to such an order should be treated likewise in any action to enforce visitation rights.

(Sec. 42102) Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to enter into an agreement to provide the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) (Secretary) with access to quarterly estimated Federal income tax returns filed with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Requires that: (1) State agencies charged with child support enforcement maintain child support order registries and be allowed access to medical, financial, employment, and other specified data base information on absent parents; (2) registry information from each State be sent to the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) (designated under title VI of this Act) within HHS for a national registry of all State child support orders.

Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Secretary should investigate accessing certain Federal data banks not linked with FPLS.

(Sec. 42103) Requires the Secretary to expand FPLS to provide State agencies and courts with a national locate and case tracking network.

Expresses the sense of the Congress that the network should be used to access State records only through the agency administering the State's part D plan.

(Sec. 42104) Requires that private attorneys and pro se obligees be given access, in accordance with appropriate safeguards, to State locate resources and through enforcement techniques with respect to child support, visitation, and parentage orders.

(Sec. 42105) Amends the IRC to require employers to withhold from employee wages amounts owed for child support.

Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to modify the W-4 form completed by new employees in order to enable employers to obtain employee child support and other information for the appropriate State employment security agency.

(Sec. 42106) Requires the heads of national and regional individual tracking systems to allow child support enforcement agencies access to their information for paternity or child support purposes.

(Sec. 42107) Requires that States: (1) broadcast warrants issued in child support proceedings over their crime information systems; (2) remit, in a criminal case, to any individual owed child support any security posted by or on behalf of the individual owing the support and then forfeited, to the extent of any arrearage in support owed; and (3) have procedures to obtain access to financial records for purposes of child support establishment and enforcement.

(Sec. 42201) Amends SSA title IV part D to provide for service of process on Federal employees and members of the armed forces in connection with parentage and child support proceedings.

(Sec. 42202) Requires that: (1) parents' identification and locate information be filed with the appropriate adjudicating entity in parentage and child support actions; (2) there be appropriate safeguards on such information where a court has ordered that the custodial parent or child receive physical protection from the noncustodial parent; (3) appropriate administrative agencies make reasonable attempts to timely notify any individual owed child support of any proceeding to establish, modify, or enforce the support obligation; (4) States allow parties seeking both parentage and child support establishment in a judicial proceeding to bring a joint action in a single cause of action; (5) States provide for uniform procedures regarding jurisdiction and venue in parentage and child support cases; (6) States provide for continuation of parental child support obligations until they terminate in specified ways; (7) States allow parties to participate in interstate parentage and child support proceedings by telephonic means; (8) marriage licenses, birth certificates, and divorce and parentage decrees contain social security numbers; and (9) appropriate State agencies be allowed subpoena power in connection with child support hearings.

(Sec. 42205) Amends the Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA) to allow appropriate State agencies to obtain from credit reporting agencies information for establishing and modifying child support awards.

(Sec. 42206) Creates a National Child Support Guidelines Commission to study and report to the President and the Congress on national child support guidelines, and to develop such guidelines for congressional consideration should it be advisable.

(Sec. 42207) Amends SSA title IV part D to specify certain principles to be used in accordance with the application of State child support guidelines.

(Sec. 42208) Expresses the sense of the Congress that, if children receive child support while obtaining postsecondary education, they will attain higher levels of education affording them a greater chance to break the welfare cycle.

(Sec. 42209) Requires the new OCSE Assistant Secretary to develop: (1) a national subpoena duces tecum for distribution to child support agencies and others to use to reach income information; and (2) a uniform abstract of a child support order for State court use.

(Sec. 42214) Requires the Legal Services Corporation to ensure the use of a specified amount of funding for child support cases.

(Sec. 42215) Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) children on Indian reservations be accorded the same right of support currently afforded to off-reservation children; (2) State and tribal governments should, to the greatest extent possible, ensure that jurisdictional issues do not prevent any Indian child from receiving the support to which the child is entitled; and (3) States should work with community-based organizations with ties to underserved populations to develop better methods to reach and work with such populations to encourage the filing of more support orders.

Amends the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 to require Indian tribes to give full faith and credit to child support orders of other Indian tribes, to the extent such entities already give full faith and credit to the acts, records, and proceedings of the other entity.

(Sec. 42216) Amends SSA title IV part D to set forth specific measures, including grants for certain demonstration projects, designed to secure child support services in underserved areas and combat domestic violence.

(Sec. 42301) Amends SSA title IV part D to: (1) require States to adopt various specified procedures for voluntary paternity acknowledgment; and (2) provide for 90 percent Federal matching for such programs.

Expresses the sense of the Congress that, in a proceeding to establish paternity, once paternity is alleged, the burden of proof should shift to the alleged father.

(Sec. 42401) Amends SSA title IV part D to: (1) require States to mandate that an employer comply with wage withholding orders issued by any State court or administrative agency; (2) specify the priority for applying amounts withheld from income for child support and child health insurance; (3) subject to withholding for child support income from workers' compensation and other specified Federal sources; (4) prohibit State court application of the election of remedies doctrine to prevent collection of child support; (5) deny State occupational, professional, and business licenses, and driver's licenses and vehicle registrations to delinquent noncustodial parents; (6) authorize liens on vehicle titles, seizure of bank accounts, and holds on lottery winnings, settlements, payouts, bequests, and proceeds from the sale of forfeited property to satisfy child support arrearages; (7) require States to make a rebuttable presumption that any transfer of property by an individual who owes a child support arrearage is made with the intent to avoid payment of the arrearage; (8) revise the mechanism for collection of past-due child support from Federal tax refunds to cover post-minor children who do not receive AFDC; (9) authorize attachment of retirement plan interests without a separate court order to satisfy child support arrearages; (10) permit enforcement of any child support order until the child is at least 30; (11) require interest on all child support judgments; (12) require States to adopt the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act adopted by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform Laws in August 1992; (13) allow State courts to order the assignment of life insurance benefits and interests in jointly held property to satisfy child support arrearages; and (14) require States to treat international child support cases in the same manner as interstate child support cases.

(Sec. 42404) Amends CCPA with respect to State laws and garnishments for securing child support.

Gives Federal debts a lower priority than child support debts when the obligor's disposable income cannot satisfy both debts through withholding.

Prohibits employers from discharging any employee whose earnings are subject to garnishment for additional indebtedness arising from a child support order.

(Sec. 42406) Denies Federal occupational, professional, and business licenses for delinquent individuals until the license hold is released.

(Sec. 42412) Expresses the sense of the Congress that the IRS Commissioner should instruct IRS field officers and agents to give a high priority to requests for the use of full collection in delinquent child support cases.

Requires the Secretary of Treasury to simplify the full collection process and reduce the amount of child support arrearage needed before an individual may apply for full collection.

(Sec. 42417) Sets forth requirements pertaining to parentage establishment and child support payments in the armed forces.

(Sec. 42419) Directs the Comptroller General and Secretary of the Treasury to study the feasibility of an annual reconciliation process for paying child support arrearages as part of the Federal income tax process.

(Sec. 42420) Authorizes the Secretary of State to refuse, revoke, or restrict passports in cases where the applicant or holder is a noncustodial parent subject to a State arrest warrant for nonpayment of a substantial child support arrearage.

(Sec. 42421) Prohibits Federal benefits, loans, guarantees, and employment for individuals owing certain child support arrearages.

(Sec. 42424) Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States should ratify the United Nations Convention of 1956.

(Sec. 42501) Amends SSA title IV part D to: (1) set priorities for State distribution of child support collections; (2) require States to limit claims against noncustodial parents for reimbursement of a child's portion of AFDC to the amount in the child support order; (3) revise part D plan provisions concerning fees; and (4) require States to provide for collection and disbursement points for child support cases.

Requires the Comptroller General to conduct studies and pilot projects with respect to requiring State systems to pay the child support collected under a State plan to the individuals to whom the support is owed before making any payment to reimburse any State for AFDC provided with respect to the child in question.

Amends IRC to revise the Federal income tax refund offset mechanism.

(Sec. 42505) Expresses the sense of the Congress that States should encourage parents to use the State child support agency to process and distribute child support payments in order to establish an official payment record.

(Sec. 42601) Amends SSA title IV part D to: (1) designate the separate organizational unit currently charged with various parentage and child support responsibilities as the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE); and (2) change OCSE's organizational structure.

(Sec. 42602) Requires: (1) the new OCSE Assistant Secretary to provide training assistance to the States; (2) States to provide for training of child support personnel; and (3) the Secretary to study staffing at State child support enforcement programs and reduce payments to States that have not implemented recommended staffing levels.

(Sec. 42604) Requires the Secretary to: (1) authorize demonstration projects to test alternative approaches to incentive funding for State child support programs; and (2) reduce payments to States which have not reinvested incentive payments in their child support programs.

Provides that "support" under SSA title IV part D with respect to incentive payments to States includes premiums paid for health insurance coverage pursuant to a support order.

Expresses the sense of the Congress that States should not use amounts paid to them pursuant to SSA title IV part D, which are reinvested in child support activities, to supplant State funding of such activities.

(Sec. 42606) Requires the Secretary to: (1) contract for a study of OCSE's audit process to develop criteria and methodology for auditing activities of State child support enforcement agencies; and (2) provide for State demonstration projects for the purpose of ensuring that custodial parents owed child support have a consistent source of income for the support of their children.

(Sec. 42607) Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) children should have a consistent source of income to meet their education and medical needs; (2) the provision of public assistance to a custodial parent for the support of a child with respect to whom the noncustodial parent owes child support does not absolve the latter of the obligation to provide such support; (3) the States must continue to vigorously pursue efforts to establish parentage, and establish and enforce child support obligations; and (4) OCSE should develop a mechanism to publicize the best State practices in child support.

(Sec. 42608) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish in the Treasury a Children's Trust Fund to hold the contributions designated by individuals on their tax returns for funding child support programs.

(Sec. 42609) Requires: (1) the Comptroller General to study and report to the Congress on delinquent child support payments and the effectiveness of administrative as compared with judicial adjudication of parentage and child support cases; and (2) OCSE to produce and update a certain compendium of State child support laws published by the National Conference of State Legislatures, and establish a permanent child support advisory committee.

(Sec. 42701) Amends SSA title IV part D to require States to: (1) promote the greatest economic security possible for children, within the obligor's ability to pay; (2) provide custodial parents with certain information on child support cases and the services available under their part D plans; and (3) require no more than administrative procedures for any changes in child support payees.

(Sec. 42703) Expresses the sense of the Congress that States should: (1) work closely with parents to improve the quality of child support services; (2) have offices in areas accessible to public transportation with convenient hours that allow parents to meet privately with attorneys and caseworkers; and (3) establish administrative procedures to process child support cases and a child support council to recommend improvements in State paternity and child support programs.

(Sec. 42801) Expresses the sense of the Congress that any Federal program to provide jobs for noncustodial parents should be administered so as not to adversely affect any Federal program for custodial parents.

Requires the Secretary to transmit evaluations of certain projects under SSA title IV part F (Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training Program) (JOBS) to the Secretary of Labor for study and possible action, including authorizing States to provide services of greater scope and duration to unemployed noncustodial parents under such program.

Subtitle C: Child Support Enforcement Improvements - Shields a depository institution from Federal or State liability to a person for disclosing individual financial records to a State child support enforcement agency attempting to establish, modify, or enforce a child support obligation. Establishes civil damages for unauthorized disclosure.

(Sec. 43002) Amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act to grant a State child support enforcement agency access to and use of consumer reports.

(Sec. 43003) Amends the SSA title IV part D to mandate certain State-prescribed procedures which require any child support order to include coverage of the health care costs of the child.

Directs the Secretary to study and report to the Congress on incentives that should be provided to encourage State enforcement of non-custodial parents' obligations to pay the medical and dental expenses of their children.

(Sec. 43004) Requires an annual report to the Congress on State compliance with the time limits within which State agencies must respond to requests for certain child support assistance.

(Sec. 43005) Requires States to have statutorily prescribed procedures imposing a late payment penalty for an employer's failure to remit to the State within ten days wages withheld to pay child support obligations to the State.

(Sec. 43006) Instructs the Secretary to expand the Parent Locator Service to establish a national network based on the comprehensive statewide child support enforcement systems developed by the States.

Subtitle D: Single Parent Protection - Amends the IRC to allow an income tax credit for any unpaid child support to which the taxpayer is entitled. Mandates a corresponding increase in the income tax owed by the individual obligated to make such child support payment.

Subtitle E: Women's Pension Equity - Amends the IRC and ERISA to direct the Secretary of the Treasury to develop a model spousal consent form for the waiver of a qualified joint and survivor annuity or a qualified preretirement survivor annuity.

(Sec. 45002) Amends the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 to extend tier II railroad retirement benefits to surviving former spouses pursuant to divorce agreements.

(Sec. 45003) Amends the Federal civil service code to provide for survivor annuities for widows, widowers, and former spouses of Federal employees who die before attaining the age for a deferred annuity under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS).

(Sec. 45004) Includes payments to a former spouse of a Federal employee, Member of Congress, or Federal annuitant under CSRS and Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) retirement payments that may be made under a court decree, court order, property settlement, or similar process.

(Sec. 45005) Requires deduction of court-ordered payments to former spouses from any retirement benefits under CSRS or FERS, regardless of any waiver of retired pay made to enhance a civil service retirement annuity.

Subtitle F: Pension Reform - Extends the applicability of the pension nondiscrimination rules to integrated pension plans under the Tax Reform Act of 1986 to benefits attributable to plan years beginning on or before December 31, 1988. Repeals the provision allowing integration for simplified employee pensions.

(Sec. 46002) Amends the Tax Reform Act of 1986 to require an employer operating a single line of business to designate a qualified trust as part of a plan benefiting all the employer's employees.

(Sec. 46003) Amends the IRC and ERISA to repeal the special vesting rule for multiemployer plans.

(Sec. 46004) Provides for the division of pension benefits upon divorce.

Subtitle G: Social Security Caregiver - Amends title II (Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to provide for an increase in the number of years disregarded in determining the benefit computation years for an individual living with a child under age 12 or with a chronically dependent child, parent, or spouse.

(Sec. 47003) Repeals the seven-year restriction on eligibility for widow's and widower's insurance benefits based on disability.

(Sec. 47004) Provides for an increase in widow's and widower's insurance benefits by reason of delayed retirement.

(Sec. 47006) Exempts from the two-year waiting period following a divorce for divorced spouse's benefits in cases of prior receipt of spouse's benefits.

(Sec. 47008) Provides for full benefits for disabled widows and widowers without regard to age.

(Sec. 47009) Prohibits any reduction in widow's or widower's insurance benefits for disabled individual.

Title V: Economic Impact of Domestic Violence - Subtitle A: Workplace Violence Prevention Tax Credit - Amends the IRC to allow a workplace safety program credit to an employer for 40 percent of the safety and education costs paid or incurred by such employer to implement workplace safety programs to combat violence against women.

Subtitle B: Insurance Protection for Victims of Domestic Violence - Amends the Public Health Service Act to create a new title prohibiting health insurers from: (1) discriminating against an individual or group because the individual or a family member is the subject of domestic violence; or (2) disclosing or being compelled (subject to exception) to disclose information concerning the status of an individual as a victim of domestic violence.

(Sec. 52001) Mandates development of model standards. Requires each State to report on its implementation actions and, where States fail to act, provides for Federal enforcement involving civil fines against insurers and a Federal private right of action.

Subtitle C: Fairness to Minority Women Health - Amends part A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) (AFDC) of SSA title IV and the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to exempt aliens and their children from provisions attributing to the alien the income and resources of the sponsor and the sponsor's spouse if the alien is battered by, or the subject of extreme cruelty by, the person who executed the affidavit of support or similar agreement regarding the alien.

(Sec. 53003) Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to prohibit payments to States for obstetrical or gynecological services unless the hospital, clinic, or provider has available at least one individual who is able to communicate in the predominant language used by residents of the area. Amends the Public Health Service Act to allow grants for family planning projects only if the service providers under the grant have at least one such individual. Amends the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act to prohibit making funds available under the Act unless providers of shelter or related assistance have at least one such individual.

(Sec. 53004) Mandates a study and report to the Congress regarding domestic violence in which Latina women are the victims.

Subtitle D: Battered Women's Employment Protection - Amends the IRC with respect to unemployment tax to require appropriate State laws to provide for unemployment compensation for an individual separated from employment due to circumstances directly resulting from the individual's experience of domestic violence.

(Sec. 54002) Amends the Social Security Act to require State laws approved under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act to provide for training for claims reviewers and hearing personnel in the nature of domestic violence, and in methods of ascertaining its existence, so that employment separations stemming from domestic violence are reliably screened, identified, and adjudicated.

(Sec. 54003) Requires employers subject to the Federal Family and Medical Leave Act or similar State law, employment benefits program, or collective bargaining agreement to provide leave to employees seeking temporary absences to deal with domestic violence and its aftermath. Entitles employees to use such leave to deal with domestic violence.

Subtitle E: Domestic Violence Legal Services Eligibility - Amends the Legal Services Corporation Act to require the Legal Services Corporation, in establishing income levels to determine if a client who is the victim of domestic violence is eligible for assistance, to prescribe that only that client's income will be considered in making such determination.