Paternity Establishment Percentage Performance Relief rule (2022)
| What is a significant rule? Significant regulatory action is a term used to describe an agency rule that has had or might have a large impact on the economy, environment, public health, or state or local governments. These actions may also conflict with other rules or presidential priorities. As part of its role in the regulatory review process, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) determines which rules meet this definition. |
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The Paternity Establishment Percentage Performance Relief rule is a significant rule issued by the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) effective May 27, 2022, that decreased paternity establishment percentage (PEP) requirements for fiscal years 2020, 2021, and 2022, so that states received funding for child support programs regardless of setbacks to PEP due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This rule is pursuant to the Social Security Act.[1]
Timeline
The following timeline details key rulemaking activity:
- May 27, 2022: ACF issued the final rule and it took effect.[1]
- November 18, 2021: Comment period closed.[1]
- October 19, 2021: ACF issued the proposed rule and opened the comment period.[1]
Background
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many states receiving funding contingent on their paternity establishment percentage (PEP) saw a significant decrease in their parentage establishment, which is "a core function of the child support program." Therefore, the ACF proposed this time-limited relief rule to amend the Act that stops states from receiving financial penalties if their PEP is down during fiscal years 2020, 2021, and 2022. After fiscal year 2023, the PEP thresholds to receive funding went back to their pre-pandemic requirements.[1]
Summary of the rule
The following is a summary of the rule from the rule's entry in the Federal Register:
| “ | Due to the impact of the COVID–19 public health emergency (PHE) on State child support program operations, OCSE modifies the Paternity Establishment Percentage (PEP) from the 90 percent performance threshold to 50 percent for Federal Fiscal Years (FFY) 2020, 2021, and 2022 in order for a State to avoid a financial penalty. OCSE also provides that adverse findings of data reliability audits of a State's paternity establishment data will not result in a financial penalty in FFYs 2020, 2021, and 2022.[1][2] | ” |
Summary of provisions
The following is a summary of the provisions from the rule's entry in the Federal Register:[1]
| “ |
In § 305.61 add paragraph (e) to read as follows: § 305.61 Penalty for failure to meet IV–D requirements. ... (e) COVID–19 paternity establishment percentage penalty relief. Due to the adverse impact of the COVID–19 pandemic on State IV–D operations, the criteria by which States are subject to financial penalties for the paternity establishment percentage under paragraph (a) of this section are modified for fiscal years 2020, 2021, and 2022, in accordance with section 452(g)(A) of the Act, as follows: (1) The acceptable level of paternity establishment percentage performance under § 305.40(a)(1) is modified for fiscal years 2020, 2021, and 2022 from 90 percent to 50 percent, and (2) The adverse findings of data reliability audits of a State's paternity establishment data under § 305.60 will not result in a financial penalty for fiscal years 2020, 2021, and 2022.[2] |
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Significant impact
- See also: Significant regulatory action
Executive Order 12866, issued by President Bill Clinton (D) in 1993, directed the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to determine which agency rules qualify as significant rules and thus are subject to OMB review.
Significant rules have had or might have a large impact on the economy, environment, public health, or state or local governments. These actions may also conflict with other rules or presidential priorities. Executive Order 12866 further defined an economically significant rule as a significant rule with an associated economic impact of $100 million or more. Executive Order 14094, issued by President Joe Biden (D) on April 6, 2023, made changes to Executive Order 12866, including referring to economically significant rules as section 3(f)(1) significant rules and raising the monetary threshold for economic significance to $200 million or more.[1]
The text of the Paternity Establishment Percentage Performance Relief rule states that OMB deemed this rule significant, but not economically significant:
| “ | OIRA has determined that this final rule is significant and was accordingly reviewed by OMB.
ACF determined that the costs to title IV–D agencies as a result of this rule will not be “economically significant” as defined in Executive Order 12866 (have an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more or adversely affect in a material way the economy, a sector of the economy, productivity, competition, jobs, the environment, public health or safety, or State, local, or tribal governments or communities).[2] |
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Text of the rule
The full text of the rule is available below:[1]
See also
External links
Footnotes
