Bill Text: TX HB458 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Relating to the collection and enforcement of withholding of income for the payment of child support.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Passed) 2021-06-09 - Effective on 9/1/21 [HB458 Detail]

Download: Texas-2021-HB458-Introduced.html

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87R162 EAS-F
By: Shaheen H.B. No. 458

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the collection and enforcement of withholding of income
for the payment of child support.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 101.011, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 101.011. EARNINGS. "Earnings" means a payment to or
due an individual, regardless of source and how denominated. The
term includes a periodic or lump-sum payment for:
(1) wages, salary, compensation received as an
independent contractor, overtime pay, severance pay, commission,
bonus, and interest income;
(2) payments made under a pension, an annuity,
workers' compensation, and a disability or retirement program;
[and]
(3) unemployment benefits;
(4) compensation from a transportation network
company as defined by Section 2402.001, Occupations Code; and
(5) compensation from a person that operates a
technology platform used to make deliveries to customers.
SECTION 2. Section 158.210(b), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) A fine recovered under this section shall be deposited
in a special fund in the state treasury [paid to the county in which
the obligee resides and shall be used by the county to improve child
support services]. The attorney general may bring an action to
collect a fine imposed under this section.
SECTION 3. Section 234.101, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 234.101. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Employee" means an individual who is an employee
within the meaning of Chapter 24 of the Internal Revenue Code of
1986 (26 U.S.C. Section 3401(c)) or an independent contractor as
defined by the Internal Revenue Service. The term includes a driver
who logs in to the digital network of a transportation network
company, as those terms are defined by Section 2402.001,
Occupations Code, and an individual who logs in to or otherwise uses
a technology platform to make deliveries for compensation. The term
does not include an employee of a state agency performing
intelligence or counterintelligence functions if the head of the
agency has determined that reporting employee information under
this subchapter could endanger the safety of the employee or
compromise an ongoing investigation or intelligence activity.
(2) "Employer" has the meaning given that term by
Section 3401(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C.
Section 3401(d)) and includes a governmental entity and a labor
organization, as that term is identified in Section 2(5) of the
National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. Section 152(5)), including
an entity, also known as a "hiring hall," used by the labor
organization and an employer to carry out requirements of an
agreement between the organization and an employer described in
Section 8(f)(3) of that Act (29 U.S.C. Section 158(f)(3)). The term
includes a transportation network company, as defined by Section
2402.001, Occupations Code, and a person that operates a technology
platform used to make deliveries to customers.
(3) "Newly hired employee" means an employee who:
(A) has not [been] previously been employed by or
received earnings from the employer; or
(B) was previously employed by the employer but
has been separated from that employment or has not received
earnings from the employer for at least 60 consecutive days.
SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act to Section
158.210(b), Family Code, with respect to the deposit of a fine
applies only to a fine imposed on or after the effective date of
this Act. A fine imposed before that date is governed by the law in
effect on the date the fine was imposed, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.