Maryland 2023 Regular Session

Maryland House Bill HB326 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1
2	2
3	3	EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MAT TER ADDED TO EXISTIN G LAW.
4	4	[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
5	5	hb0326
6	6
7	7	HOUSE BILL 326
8	8	D4, R4 3lr2022
9	9	CF SB 164
10	10	By: Delegates Henson, Davis, Terrasa, and Toles
11	11	Introduced and read first time: January 25, 2023
12	12	Assigned to: Judiciary
13	13
14	14	A BILL ENTITLED
15	15
16	16	AN ACT concerning 1
17	17
18	18	Driver’s Licenses – Suspension for Child Support Arrearages – Exception 2
19	19
20	20	FOR the purpose of establishing a certain exception to the authority of the Child Support 3
21	21	Administration to notify the Motor Vehicle Administration of an individual’s child 4
22	22	support arrearages for the purpose of suspending the individual’s driver’s license or 5
23	23	privilege to drive if the obligor’s income is at or below a certain level; authorizing the 6
24	24	Child Support Administration to consider certain information in determining the 7
25	25	income of an obligor under this Act; and generally relating to the suspension of a 8
26	26	driver’s license or privilege to drive for child support arrearages. 9
27	27
28	28	BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 10
29	29	Article – Family Law 11
30	30	Section 10–119 12
31	31	Annotated Code of Maryland 13
32	32	(2019 Replacement Volume and 2022 Supplement) 14
33	33
34	34	BY repealing and reenacting, without amendments, 15
35	35	Article – Transportation 16
36	36	Section 16–203(a) and (b) 17
37	37	Annotated Code of Maryland 18
38	38	(2020 Replacement Volume and 2022 Supplement) 19
39	39
40	40	BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 20
41	41	Article – Transportation 21
42	42	Section 16–203(e) and (f) 22
43	43	Annotated Code of Maryland 23
44	44	(2020 Replacement Volume and 2022 Supplement) 24
45	45
46	46	SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBL Y OF MARYLAND, 25
47	47	That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 26
48	48	2 HOUSE BILL 326
49	49
50	50
51	51	Article – Family Law 1
52	52
53	53	10–119. 2
54	54
55	55	(a) (1) In this section the following words have the meanings indicated. 3
56	56
57	57	(2) “License” has the meaning stated in § 11–128 of the Transportation 4
58	58	Article. 5
59	59
60	60	(3) “Motor Vehicle Administration” means the Motor Vehicle 6
61	61	Administration of the Department of Transportation. 7
62	62
63	63	(b) (1) THIS SECTION DOES NOT APPLY TO AN OBLIGOR WHOSE INCOME 8
64	64	IS NOT GREATER THAN 300% OF THE FEDERAL POVER TY LEVEL UNLESS THE 9
65	65	OBLIGOR HAS BEEN JU DICIALLY DETERMINED TO BE VOLUNTARILY IM POVERISHED 10
66	66	UNDER § 12–204 OF THIS ARTICLE. 11
67	67
68	68	(2) TO DETERMINE THE INCO ME OF AN OBLIGOR UND ER THIS 12
69	69	SUBSECTION, THE ADMINISTRATION MAY CO NSIDER: 13
70	70
71	71	(I) THE INCOME OF THE OB LIGOR AT THE TIME TH E CHILD 14
72	72	SUPPORT ORDER IS ENTERED; OR 15
73	73
74	74	(II) INFORMATION ON THE O BLIGOR’S INCOME PROVIDED BY 16
75	75	THE OBLIGOR, THE COMPTROLLER , OR AN EMPLOYER OF TH E OBLIGOR. 17
76	76
77	77	(C) (1) Subject to the provisions of subsection [(c)] (D) of this section, the 18
78	78	Administration may notify the Motor Vehicle Administration of an obligor with a 19
79	79	noncommercial license who is 60 days or more out of compliance, or an obligor with a 20
80	80	commercial license who is 120 days or more out of compliance, with the most recent order 21
81	81	of the court in making child support payments if: 22
82	82
83	83	(i) the Administration has accepted an assignment of support under 23
84	84	§ 5–312(b)(2) of the Human Services Article; or 24
85	85
86	86	(ii) the recipient of support payments has filed an application for 25
87	87	support enforcement services with the Administration. 26
88	88
89	89	(2) Upon notification by the Administration under this subsection, the 27
90	90	Motor Vehicle Administration: 28
91	91
92	92	(i) shall suspend the obligor’s license or privilege to drive in the 29
93	93	State; and 30
94	94
95	95	(ii) may issue a work–restricted license or work–restricted privilege 31
96	96	to drive in the State in accordance with § 16–203 of the Transportation Article. 32 HOUSE BILL 326 3
97	97
98	98
99	99
100	100	[(c)] (D) (1) Before supplying any information to the Motor Vehicle 1
101	101	Administration under this section, the Administration shall: 2
102	102
103	103	(i) send written notice of the proposed action to the obligor, 3
104	104	including notice of the obligor’s right to request an investigation on any of the following 4
105	105	grounds: 5
106	106
107	107	1. the information regarding the reported arrearage is 6
108	108	inaccurate; 7
109	109
110	110	2. suspension of the obligor’s license or privilege to drive 8
111	111	would be an impediment to the obligor’s current or potential employment; or 9
112	112
113	113	3. suspension of the obligor’s license or privilege to drive 10
114	114	would place an undue hardship on the obligor because of the obligor’s: 11
115	115
116	116	A. documented disability resulting in a verified inability to 12
117	117	work; or 13
118	118
119	119	B. inability to comply with the court order; and 14
120	120
121	121	(ii) give the obligor a reasonable opportunity to request an 15
122	122	investigation of the proposed action of the Administration. 16
123	123
124	124	(2) (i) Upon receipt of a request for investigation from the obligor, the 17
125	125	Administration shall conduct an investigation to determine if any of the grounds under 18
126	126	paragraph (1)(i) of this subsection exist. 19
127	127
128	128	(ii) The Administration shall: 20
129	129
130	130	1. send a copy of the obligor’s request for an investigation to 21
131	131	the obligee by first–class mail; 22
132	132
133	133	2. give the obligee a reasonable opportunity to respond; and 23
134	134
135	135	3. consider the obligee’s response. 24
136	136
137	137	(iii) Upon completion of the investigation, the Administration shall 25
138	138	notify the obligor of the results of the investigation and the obligor’s right to appeal to the 26
139	139	Office of Administrative Hearings. 27
140	140
141	141	(3) (i) An appeal under this section shall be conducted in accordance 28
142	142	with Title 10, Subtitle 2 of the State Government Article. 29
143	143
144	144	(ii) An appeal shall be made in writing and shall be received by the 30
145	145	Office of Administrative Hearings within 20 days after the notice to the obligor of the 31 4 HOUSE BILL 326
146	146
147	147
148	148	results of the investigation. 1
149	149
150	150	(4) If, after the investigation or appeal to the Office of Administrative 2
151	151	Hearings, the Administration finds that one of the grounds under paragraph (1)(i) of this 3
152	152	subsection exists, the Administration may not send any information about the obligor to 4
153	153	the Motor Vehicle Administration. 5
154	154
155	155	(5) The Administration may not send any information about an obligor to 6
156	156	the Motor Vehicle Administration if: 7
157	157
158	158	(i) the Administration reaches an agreement with the obligor 8
159	159	regarding a scheduled payment of the obligor’s child support arrearage or a court issues an 9
160	160	order for a scheduled payment of the child support arrearage; and 10
161	161
162	162	(ii) the obligor is complying with the agreement or court order. 11
163	163
164	164	[(d)] (E) (1) If, after information about an obligor is supplied to the Motor 12
165	165	Vehicle Administration, the obligor’s arrearage is paid in full, the obligor has demonstrated 13
166	166	good faith by paying the ordered amount of support for 6 consecutive months, the obligor is 14
167	167	a participant in full compliance in an employment program approved by the 15
168	168	Administration, or the Administration finds that one of the grounds under subsection 16
169	169	[(c)(1)(i)] (D)(1)(I) of this section exists, the Administration shall notify the Motor Vehicle 17
170	170	Administration to reinstate the obligor’s license or privilege to drive. 18
171	171
172	172	(2) The Administration may request that the Motor Vehicle 19
173	173	Administration expunge a record of a suspension of a license or privilege to drive for failure 20
174	174	to pay child support: 21
175	175
176	176	(i) for an obligor who is enrolled in and compliant with an 22
177	177	employment program approved by the Administration; or 23
178	178
179	179	(ii) if the information reported by the Administration that led to the 24
180	180	suspension was inaccurate. 25
181	181
182	182	[(e)] (F) The Secretary of Human Services, in cooperation with the Secretary of 26
183	183	Transportation, THE COMPTROLLER , and the Office of Administrative Hearings, shall 27
184	184	adopt regulations to implement this section. 28
185	185
186	186	Article – Transportation 29
187	187
188	188	16–203. 30
189	189
190	190	(a) In this section, “Child Support Administration” means the Child Support 31
191	191	Administration of the Department of Human Services. 32
192	192
193	193	(b) On notification by the Child Support Administration in accordance with § 33
194	194	10–119 of the Family Law Article that an obligor is 60 days or more out of compliance with 34 HOUSE BILL 326 5
195	195
196	196
197	197	the most recent order of the court in making child support payments, the Administration: 1
198	198
199	199	(1) Shall suspend an obligor’s license or privilege to drive in the State; and 2
200	200
201	201	(2) May issue a work–restricted license or work–restricted privilege to 3
202	202	drive. 4
203	203
204	204	(e) The Administration shall reinstate an obligor’s license or privilege to drive in 5
205	205	the State if: 6
206	206
207	207	(1) The Administration receives a court order to reinstate the license or 7
208	208	privilege to drive; or 8
209	209
210	210	(2) The Child Support Administration notifies the Administration that: 9
211	211
212	212	(i) The individual whose license or privilege to drive was suspended 10
213	213	is not in arrears in making child support payments; 11
214	214
215	215	(ii) The obligor has paid the support arrearage in full; 12
216	216
217	217	(iii) The obligor has demonstrated good faith by paying the ordered 13
218	218	amount of support for 6 consecutive months; 14
219	219
220	220	(iv) The obligor is a participant in full compliance in an employment 15
221	221	program approved by the Child Support Administration; or 16
222	222
223	223	(v) One of the grounds under [§ 10–119(c)(1)(i)] § 10–119(D)(1)(I) 17
224	224	of the Family Law Article exists. 18
225	225
226	226	(f) The Secretary of Transportation, in cooperation with the Secretary of Human 19
227	227	Services, THE COMPTROLLER , and the Office of Administrative Hearings, shall adopt 20
228	228	regulations to implement this section. 21
229	229
230	230	SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect 22
231	231	October 1, 2023. 23
232	232
233	233