CLARIFICATION OF GARNISHMENT PROVISIONS.

SEC. 501. CLARIFICATION OF GARNISHMENT PROVISIONS. (a) In General.—Section 459 of the Social Security Act is amended— (1) by striking out “(including any agency or instrumentality thereof and any wholly owned Federal Corporation)” and inserting in lieu thereof “or the District of Columbia (including any agency, subdivision, or instrumentality thereof)”; and (2) by inserting “or the District of Columbia” immediately after “United States” where it appears the second time. (b) Service of Process.—Section 459 of such Act is further amended— (1) by inserting “(a)” immediately after “Sec. 459.”. and (2) by adding at the end thereof the following new subsections: “(b) Service of legal process brought for the enforcement of an individual’s obligation to provide child support or make alimony91 STAT. 158payments shall be accomplished by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested, or by personal service, upon the appropriate agent designated for receipt of such service of process pursuant to regulations promulgated pursuant to section 461 (or, if no agent has been designated for the governmental entity having payment responsibility for the moneys involved, then upon the head of such governmental entity). Such process shall be accompanied by sufficient data to permit prompt identification of the individual and the moneys involved. “(c) No Federal employee whose duties include responding to interrogatories pursuant to requirements imposed by section 461(b)(3) shall be subject under any law to any disciplinary action or civil or criminal liability or penalty for, or on account or, any disclosure of information made by him in connection with the carrying out of any of his duties which pertain (directly or indirectly) to the answering of any such interrogatory. “(d) Whenever any person, who is designated by law or regulation to accept service of process to which the United States is subject under this section, is effectively served with any such process or with interrogatories relating to an individual’s child support or alimony payment obligations, such person shall respond thereto within thirty days (or within such longer period as may be prescribed by applicable State law) after the date effective service thereof is made, and shall, as soon as possible but not later than fifteen days after the date effective service is so made of any such process, send written notice that such process has been so served f together with a copy thereof) to the individual whose moneys are affected thereby at his duty station or last-known home address. “(e) Governmental entities affected by legal processes served for the enforcement of an individual’s child support or alimony payment obligations shall not lie required to vary their normal pay and disbursement cycles in order to comply with any such legal process. “(f) Neither the United States, any disbursing officer, nor governmental entity shall be liable with respect to any payment made from moneys due or payable from the United States to any individual pursuant to legal process regular on its face, if such payment is made in accordance with this section and the regulations issued to carry out this section.”. (c) Regulations.—Part D of title IV of such Act is further amended by adding at the end thereof the following new section: “regulations pertaining to garnishments “Sec. 461. (a) Authority to promulgate regulations for the implementation of the provisions of section 459 shall, insofar as the provisions of such section are applicable to moneys due from (or payable by)— “(1) the executive branch of the Government (including in such branch, for the purposes of this subsection, the territories and possessions of the United States, the United States Postal Service, the Postal Rate Commission, any wholly owned Federal corporation created by an Act of Congress, and the government of the District of Columbia), lie vested in the President (or his designee), “(2) the legislative branch of the Government, be vested jointly in the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives (or their designees), and 91 STAT. 159 “(3) the judicial branch of the Government, be vested in the Chief Justice of the United States (or his designee). “(b) Regulations promulgated pursuant to this section shall— “(1) in the case of those promulgated by the executive branch of the Government, include a requirement that the head of each agency thereof shall cause to be published, in the appendix of the regulations so promulgated, (A) his designation of an agent or agents to accept service of process, identified by title of position, mailing address, and telephone number, and (B) an indication of the data reasonably required in order for the agency promptly to identify the individual with respect to whose moneys the legal process is brought, “(2) in the case of regulations promulgated for the legislative and judicial branches of the Government set forth, in the appendix to the regulations so promulgated, (A) the name, position, address, and telephone number of the agent or agents who have been designated for service of process, and (B) an indication of the data reasonably required in order for such entity promptly to identify the individual with respect to whose moneys the legal process is brought, and “(3) provide that (A) in the case of regulations promulgated by the executive branch of the Government, each head of a governmental entity (or his designee) shall respond to relevant interrogatories, if authorized by the law of the State in which legal process will issue, prior to formal issuance of such process, upon a showing of the applicant’s entitlement to child support or alimony payments, and (B) in the case of regulations promulgated for the legislative and judicial branches of the Government, the person or persons designated as agents for service of process in accordance with paragraph (2) shall respond to relevant interrogatories if authorized by the law of the State in which legal process will issue, prior to formal issuance of legal process, upon a showing of the applicant’s entitlement to child support or alimony payments. “(c) In the event that a governmental entity, which is authorized under this section or regulations issued to carry out this section to accept service of process, pursuant to the provisions of subsection (a), is served with more than one legal process with respect to the same moneys due or payable to any individual, then such moneys shall be available to satisfy such processes on a first-come, first-served basis, with any such process being satisfied out of such moneys as remain after the satisfaction of all such processes which have been previously served.”. (d) Definitions.—Part D of title IV of such Act is further amended by adding after section 461 (as added by subsection (c) of this section) the following new section: “definitions “Sec. 462. For purposes of section 459— “(a) The term ‘United States’ means the Federal Government of the United States, consisting of the legislative branch, the judicial branch, and the executive branch thereof, and each and every department, agency, or instrumentality of any such branch, including the United States Postal Service, the Postal Rate Commission, any wholly owned Federal corporation created by an Act of Congress, any office, 91 STAT. 160commission, bureau, or other administrative subdivision or creature thereof, and the governments of the territories and possessions of the United States. “(b) The term ‘child support’, when used in reference to the legal obligations of an individual to provide such support, means periodic payments of funds for the support and maintenance of a child or children with respect to which such individual has such an obligation, and (subject to and in accordance with State law) includes but is not limited to, payments to provide for health care, education, recreation, clothing, or to meet other specific needs of such a child or children; such term also includes attorney’s fees, interest, and court costs, when and to the extent that the same are expressly made recoverable as such pursuant to a decree, order, or judgment issued in accordance with applicable State law by a court of competent jurisdiction. “(c) The term ‘alimony’, when used in reference to the legal obligations of an individual to provide the same, means periodic payments of funds for the support and maintenance of the, spouse (or former spouse) of such individual, and (subject to and in accordance with State law) includes but is not limited to, separate maintenance, alimony pendente lite, maintenance, and spousal support.; such term also includes attorney’s fees, interest, and court costs when and to the extent that the same are expressly made recoverable as such pursuant to a decree, order, or judgment issued in accordance with applicable State law by a court of competent jurisdiction. Such term does not include any payment or transfer of property or its value by an individual to his spouse or former spouse in compliance with any community property settlement, equitable distribution of property, or other division of property between spouses or former spouses. “(d) The term ‘private person’ means a person who does not have sovereign or other special immunity or privilege which causes such person not to be subject to legal process. “(e) The term ‘legal process’ means any writ, order, summons, or other similar process in the nature of garnishment, which— “(1) is issued by (A) a court of competent jurisdiction within any State, territory, or possession of the United States, (B) a court of competent jurisdiction in any foreign country with which the United States has entered into an agreement which requires the United States to honor such process, or (C) an authorized official pursuant to an order of such a court of competent jurisdiction or pursuant to State or local law, and “(2) is directed to, and the purpose of which is to compel, a governmental entity, which holds moneys which are otherwise payable to an individual, to make a payment from such moneys to another party in order to satisfy a legal obligation of such individual to provide child support or make alimony payments. “(f) Entitlement of an individual to any money shall be deemed to be ‘based upon remuneration for employment’, if such money consists of— “(1) compensation paid or payable for personal services of such individual, whether such compensation is denominated as wages, salary, commission, bonus, pay, or otherwise, and includes but is not limited to, severance pay, sick pay, and incentive pay, but does not include awards for making suggestions, or “(2) periodic benefits (including a periodic benefit as defined in section 228(h) (3) of this Act) or other payments to such individual under the insurance system established by title II of this91 STAT. 161 Act or any other system or fund established by the United States(as defined in subsection (a)) which provides for the payment of pensions, retirement or retired pay, annuities, dependents or survivors’ benefits, or similar amounts payable on account of personal services performed by himself or any other individual (not including any payment as compensation for death under any Federal program, any payment under any Federal program established to provide ‘black lung’ benefits, any payment by the Veterans’ Administration as pension, or any payments by the Veterans’ Administration as compensation for a service-connected disability or death, except any compensation paid by the Veterans’ Administration to a former member of the Armed Forces who is in receipt of retired or retainer pay if such former member has waived a portion of his retired pay in order to receive such compensation), and does not consist of amounts paid, by way of reimbursement or otherwise, to such individual by his employer to defray expenses incurred by such individual in carrying out duties associated with his employment. “(g) In determining the amount of any moneys due from, or payable by, the United States to any individual, there shall be excluded amounts which— “(1) are owed by such individual to the United States, “(2) are required by law to be, and are, deducted from the remuneration or other payment involved, including but not limited to, Federal employment taxes, and fines and forfeitures ordered by court-martial, “(3) are properly withheld for Federal, State, or local income tax purposes, if the withholding of such amounts is authorized or required by law and if amounts withheld are not greater than would be the case if such individual claimed all dependents to which he was entitled (the withholding of additional amounts pursuant to section 3402(i) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 may be permitted only when such individual presents evidence of a tax obligation which supports the additional withholding). “(4) are deducted as health insurance premiums, “(5) are deducted as normal retirement contributions (not including amounts deducted for supplementary coverage), or “(6) are deducted as normal life insurance premiums from salary or other remuneration for employment (not including amounts deducted for supplementary coverage).”. (e) Consumes Provisions.— (1) Subsection (b) of section 303 of the Consumer Credit Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1673(b)) is amended— (A) by inserting “(1)” immediately after “(b)”, (B) by redesignating clauses (1), (2), and (3) thereof as clauses (A), (B), and (C). respectively, and (C) by adding at the end thereof the following new paragraph: “(2) The maximum part of the aggregate disposable earnings of an individual for any workweek which is subject to garnishment to enforce any order for the support of any person shall not exceed— “(A) where such individual is supporting his spouse or dependent child (other than a spouse or child with respect to whose support such order is used), 50 per centum of such individual’s disposable earnings for that week; and 91 STAT. 162 “(B) where such individual is not supporting such a spouse or dependent child described in clause (A), 60 per centum of such individual’s disposable earnings for that week; except that, with respect to the disposable earnings of any individual for any workweek, the 50 per centum specified in clause (A) shall be deemed to be 55 per centum and the 60 per centum specified in clause (B) shall be deemed to be 65 per centum, if and to the extent that such earnings are subject to garnishment to enforce a support order with respect to a period which is prior to the twelve-week period which ends with the beginning of such workweek.”. (2) The provision of section 303(b) of the Consumer Credit Protection Act which is redesignated under paragraph (1) as clause (A) is amended by striking out all that follows “any order” and inserting in lieu thereof the following: “for the support of any person issued by a court of competent jurisdiction or in accordance with an administrative procedure, which is established by State law, which affords substantial due process, and which is subject to judicial review.”. (3) Section 303(c) of such Act is amended by inserting “, and no State (or officer or agency thereof),” immediately after “or any State”. (4) Section 305 of such Act is amended by inserting “and (b) (2)” immediately after “section 303(a)” each place it appears therein. (5) The amendments made by this subsection shall take effect on the first day of the first calendar month which begins after the date of enactment of this Act.