PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Mar 11, 2004
Child Support Improvement Act of 2004 - Amends parts A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) and D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) to: (1) modify the rule requiring assignment of support rights as a condition of receiving TANF; (2) increase child support payments to families; (3) revise child support distribution rules; (4) ban the recovery of Medicaid (SSA title XIX) costs for the birth of children for whom support rights have been assigned; and (5) change from mandatory to discretionary the authority of States to retain certain support rights assignments after a certain date (thus giving them the option to discontinue such assignments), and allow to remain assigned any rights assigned before enactment of this Act to a State to support obligations accruing before the date a family first receives TANF (thus giving States the option to discontinue such assignments).
Amends part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of SSA title IV to provide for: (1) a decrease in the amount of child support arrearage triggering passport denial; (2) use of the tax refund intercept program to collect past-due child support on behalf of children who are not minors; (3) garnishment of compensation paid to veterans for service-connected disabilities in order to enforce child support obligations; and (4) revised interstate enforcement.
Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to report to specified congressional committees on the procedures States use to locate custodial parents for whom child support has been collected but not yet distributed.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
Provides for the use of new hire information to assist in the administration of unemployment compensation programs under SSA title IV part D.
Amends Federal money and finance law to modify Federal debt collection practices.
Amends SSA title IV part D to provide for the maintenance of technical assistance and Federal Parent Locator Service funding.
Provides for the electronic disbursement of child support payments to families.
Allows States to expand their State disbursement unit to create a centralized payment location for all child support wage withholding.
Directs the Secretary to prescribe regulations to implement the medical support performance measure developed under the Child Support Performance and Incentive Act of 1998.
Prohibits the Secretary from requiring the State of Texas to apply for a waiver from applicable requirements to continue to operate the State's program for monitoring and enforcement of a child support court order without the necessity of a written application.
People & committees
Sen. Cornyn, John [R-TX] · R–TX
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR 3/12/2004 S2720)
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
Source last updated: Aug 18, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze S.2194 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine S.2194 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine S.2194 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine S.2194 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.