An Act To Improve Child Support Services
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 19-A MRSA §2103, sub-§3-A is enacted to read:
3-A. Service fee. In the case of an individual who has never received assistance under a state program and for whom the State has collected at least $500 in child support, the State shall impose an annual fee for each child support enforcement case that is:
A. Retained by the State from child support collected on behalf of the individual after the collected support exceeds $500;
B. Paid by the individual applying for services;
C. Recovered from the noncustodial parent; or
D. Paid by the State out of its own funds. The annual fee may not be considered as an administrative cost of the State for operation of child support enforcement services and must be considered income to the program under which the individual has received child support enforcement services.
summary
This bill adds language necessary to comply with requirements set out in the federal Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, which now requires Maine to impose an annual service fee in each case in which an individual has never received assistance under a state program and from which child support collections total over $500 in a year.