Child support: enforcement.

Existing law requires the parties to a proceeding in which child support is at issue to disclose whether a party is currently receiving, or intends to apply for, assistance under the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program for the maintenance of the child. This bill would instead require the parties to disclose whether a party is currently receiving, or currently applying for, that assistance. Existing law requires, as a condition of eligibility for benefits under certain public assistance programs, including the CalWORKs and Medi-Cal programs, that applicants or recipients assign to the county any rights they may have to child support, as specified. Existing law delegates to the Department of Child Support Services and local child support agencies the responsibility for collecting and enforcing child support obligations, including child support delinquencies, as defined. Existing law sets the interest accrual rate on the principal amount of a money judgment that remains unsatisfied at 10%, and permits the Legislature to change that interest rate, if the change is applied prospectively. This bill would instead prohibit the department and local child support agencies from collecting interest that accrues on or after January 1, 2022, on the principal amount of child support that has been assigned as described above. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 17500 of the Family Code proposed by SB 337 to be operative only if this bill and SB 337 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.