ENCOURAGEMENT OF PAYMENT OF CHILD SUPPORT.

SEC. 4101. ENCOURAGEMENT OF PAYMENT OF CHILD SUPPORT. (a) Exclusion.—Section 5(d)(6) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2014(d)(6)) is amended by adding at the end the following: “and child support payments made by a household member to or for an individual who is not a member of the household if the household member is legally obligated to make the payments,”. (b) Simplified Procedure.—Section 5 of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2014) is amended— (1) in subsection (e), by striking paragraph (4) and inserting the following: “(4) Deduction for child support payments.— “(A) In general.—In lieu of providing an exclusion for legally obligated child support payments made by a household member under subsection (d)(6), a State agency may elect to provide a deduction for the amount of the payments. “(B) Order of determining deductions.—A deduction under this paragraph shall be determined before the computation of the excess shelter expense deduction under paragraph (6).”; and116 STAT. 306 (2) by adding at the end the following: “(n) State Options To Simplify Determination of Child Support Payments.—Regardless of whether a State agency elects to provide a deduction under subsection (e)(4), the Secretary shall establish simplified procedures to allow State agencies, at the option of the State agencies, to determine the amount of any legally obligated child support payments made, including procedures to allow the State agency to rely on information from the agency responsible for implementing the program under part D of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) concerning payments made in prior months in lieu of obtaining current information from the households”.