Howard Berman: “California becomes vulnerable on October 1. So do these other at least 11 States. The process, as I understand it, is…”

“California becomes vulnerable on October 1. So do these other at least 11 States. The process, as I understand it, is that by December or January, HHS will assess and decertify the States, and there is an appeals process. So, as the gentleman pointed out, it is very unlikely any money will be withheld for the next 6 months. But the fear in California, Senator Feinstein has worked on this issue, spoken with the President, and is pursuing whatever mechanisms she can to try and deal with it, the fear is that ultimately something will happen, the legislation will not move, and California will now be found to have been in default, owing $4 billion. Next year's payment will be held back because of this, and the fact is the underlying law California will not be able to comply with in 6 months or 1 year anyway. So there are two issues, the need for California and the other States to know that the penalty structure will be fundamentally changed, it is nuts to withhold TANF or AFDC funds, $3.7 billion in the State of California because of the failure to meet the computer model, and there will be a new penalty structure dealing with child support enforcement proportional to the sins in the sense it will be structured.”