Child Support Provisions in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (P.L. 109-171)

RS22377 -- Child Support Provisions in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (P.L. 109-171)

February 14, 2006

Summary

Among other things, P.L. 109-171 (the budget reconciliation measure, now referred to as the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 -- S. 1932) made a number of changes to the Child Support Enforcement (CSE) program. The act will reduce the federal matching rate for laboratory costs associated with paternity establishment from 90% to 66%, end the federal matching of state expenditures of federal CSE incentive payments reinvested back into the program, and require states to assess a $25 annual user fee for child support services provided to families with no connection to the welfare system. P.L. 109-171 also simplifies CSE distribution rules and extends the "families first" policy by providing incentives to states to encourage them to allow more child support to go to both former welfare families and families still on welfare. In addition, P.L. 109-171 revises some child support enforcement collection mechanisms and adds others. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that the CSE provisions contained in P.L. 109-171 will reduce federal costs of the CSE program by $1.5 billion over the five-year period FY2006-FY2010. This report will not be updated.