Child Support Enforcement Program Quarterly Wage and Unemployment Compensations Claims Reporting to the National Directory of New Hires

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Administration for Children and Families

Office of Child Support Enforcement

45 CFR Part 303

RIN 0970-AB67

Child Support Enforcement Program Quarterly Wage and Unemployment

Compensations Claims Reporting to the National Directory of New Hires

AGENCY: Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE), HHS.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This proposed rule would implement section 453A(g)(2)(B) of

the Social Security Act (the Act), as added by section 313(b) of the

Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996

(PRWORA) and amended by section 5533 of Public Law 105-33, section

303(h) of the Act, in part, as amended by section 316(g) of PRWORA, and

section 3304(a)(16) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended by

section 316(g) of PRWORA. These provisions require certain State

entities to furnish quarterly wage and unemployment compensation data

to the National Directory of New Hires or to the Secretary of Health

and Human Services.

DATES: Consideration will be given to comments received by December 8,

1997.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Director, Office of Child Support

Enforcement, Administration for Children and Families, 370 L'Enfant

Promenade, S.W., 4th floor, Washington, D.C. 20447. Attention:

Director, Policy and Planning Division, Mail Stop: OCSE/DPP. Comments

will be available for public inspection Monday through Friday, 8:30

a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on the 4th floor of the Department's offices at the

above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anne Benson, Policy Branch, OCSE (202)

401-1467, e-mail: [email protected]. Deaf and hearing-impaired

individuals may call the federal Dual Party Relay Service at 1-800-877-

8339 between 8:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. Eastern time.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Statutory Authority

This proposed regulation is published under the authority of

section 453A(g)(2)(B) of the Social Security Act (the Act), 42 U.S.C.

653A(g)(2)(B), as added by section 313(b) of the Personal

Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996

(PRWORA), Public Law 104-193 and amended by section 5533 of Public Law

105-33, section 303(h) of the Act, in part, 42 U.S.C. 503(h), as

amended by section 316(g) of PRWORA, and section 3304(a)(16) of the

Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 26 U.S.C. 3304(a)(16), as amended by

section 316(g) of PRWORA.

This regulation is also proposed under the authority granted to the

Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary) by section 1102 of

the Act, 42 U.S.C. 1302. Section 1102 of the Act authorizes the

Secretary to publish regulations that may be necessary for the

efficient administration of the functions for which she is responsible

under the Act.

Section 453A(g)(2)(B) of the Act requires the State Directory of

New Hires to furnish, on a quarterly basis, data concerning the wages

and unemployment compensation paid to individuals to the National

Directory of New Hires. Pursuant to section 453A(g)(2)(B) of the Act,

the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services is

required to publish regulations to identify the dates, format, and data

elements necessary for the State Directory of New Hires to furnish the

quarterly wage and unemployment compensation data to the National

Directory of New Hires.

Section 3304(a)(16) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 contains

requirements that must be included in State Unemployment Compensation

laws for employers in the State to receive Federal Unemployment Tax

credits. Section 316(g) of Public Law 104-193 amended section

3304(a)(16) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide that the

wage and unemployment compensation information contained in the records

of the State agency administering that program shall be furnished to

the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in accordance with

regulations promulgated by the Secretary, as may be necessary for the

purposes of the National Directory of New Hires under section 453(i)(1)

of the Act. The Secretary intends to maintain the quarterly wage and

unemployment compensation data reported pursuant to section 3304(a)(16)

in the National Directory of New Hires (NDNH), which is being

established pursuant to section 453 of the Act.

Section 303(h)(1)(A) of the Act, as amended by section 316(g) of

Public Law 104-193, requires the State agency charged with the

administration of the unemployment compensation program, on a

reimbursable basis, to disclose quarterly, to the Secretary of Health

and Human Services, wage and claim information, as required pursuant to

section 453(i)(1) of the Act, that is contained in the records of such

agency. As is the case with information reported pursuant to section

3304(a)(16) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, the Secretary intends

to maintain any quarterly wage and unemployment compensation data

reported pursuant to section 303(h) of the Act in the NDNH. Section

303(h)(3)(A) of the Act defines ``wage information'' as ``information

regarding wages paid to an individual, the social security account

number of such individual, and the name, address, State, and the

Federal employer identification number of the employer paying such

wages to such individual.'' Section 303(h)(3)(B) defines ``claim

information'' as ``information regarding whether an individual is

receiving, has received, or has made application for, unemployment

compensation, the amount of any such compensation being received (or to

be received by such individual), and the individual's current (or most

recent) home address.'' Title III of the Act, Grants to States for

Unemployment Compensation Administration, is directly administered by

the Department of Labor. We are referencing section 303(h)(1)(A) of the

Act because this provision references information required pursuant to

section 453(i)(1) of the Act. Section 453(i)(1) is administered by the

Department of Health and Human Services, and the information that is

required pursuant to that section (which in turn references information

supplied pursuant to section 453A(g)(2)) is being established in this

proposed rule. The Secretary also adopted the definitions included in

section 303(h) in the proposed rule in order to enable the

implementation of the provisions in an integrated and complementary

manner.

Background

The Federal Parent Locator Service (FPLS) is a computerized network

established pursuant to section 453 of the Act, 42 U.S.C. 653, through

which States may request information from Federal and State agencies to

find noncustodial parents and/or their employers for purposes of

establishing paternity and securing support. The Personal

Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 requires

the Secretary to develop an expanded FPLS to improve States' ability to

locate child support obligors and to establish and enforce child

support orders, as well as for other specified purposes in Title IV-D

of the Act. The Office of Child Support

[[Page 52307]]

Enforcement (OCSE), within the Administration for Children and Families

(ACF), is charged with the task of developing, implementing, and

maintaining the expanded FPLS. The Secretary will house the expanded

FPLS in the Social Security Administration's National Computer Center,

because locating the expanded FPLS there will provide the most

efficient and cost-effective mechanism for developing the expanded

FPLS, as well as ensuring state-of-the-art standards for system

security and confidentiality of the data.

The expanded FPLS will include the National Directory of New Hires

(operational no later than October 1, 1997) and a Federal Case Registry

(operational no later than October 1, 1998), and will maintain the

capability to seek information from existing FPLS data sources,

including, but not limited to, the Internal Revenue Service, Social

Security Administration, Department of Defense, and Department of

Veterans Affairs. The expanded FPLS will perform regular cross matches

between the National Directory of New Hires and the Federal Case

Registry. With these new FPLS resources, the interstate matching of

child support obligors and employment, earnings, and benefits data will

flow more efficiently and quickly between States.

The NDNH will contain three types of information. First, the NDNH

will maintain employment data on newly-hired employees (new hire

reporting) submitted by State Directories of New Hires pursuant to

section 453A(g)(2)(A) of the Act, and by federal agencies pursuant to

section 453A(b)(1)(C) of the Act. Second, the NDNH will maintain

quarterly wage information on individual employees received pursuant to

sections 453A(g)(2)(B) and 303(h) of the Act, and section 3304(a)(16)

of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as well as quarterly wage

information on federal employees received pursuant to 453(n) of the

Act. Third, the NDNH will maintain unemployment compensation claims

data received pursuant to sections 453A(g)(2)(B) and 303(h) of the Act,

and section 3304(a)(16) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. States

will be required to transmit new hire, quarterly wage and unemployment

compensation claims data electronically to the NDNH. This proposed rule

addresses specifically quarterly wage and unemployment compensation

claims reporting to the National Directory of New Hires. Policy

guidance and program instructions on new hire reporting will be

forthcoming (see also OCSE Action Transmittal 97-04, March 12, 1997).

The purpose of the NDNH is to develop a repository of information

on newly-hired employees, and on the earnings and unemployment

compensation claims data of employees. The purpose of including

quarterly wage and unemployment compensation claims data in the NDNH is

to provide States with the ability to quickly locate information on the

address of, employment of, and unemployment compensation being paid to,

parents with child support obligations who are residing or working in

other States. States will be seeking to locate these parents and their

employers to either establish or enforce a child support order.

Quarterly wage and unemployment compensation claims data will provide

information on continuously employed and unemployed individuals who

would not be located solely by new hire reporting.

Most States have been matching their quarterly wage and

unemployment compensation claims data against their respective State

child support caseloads since the 1980's. In addition, since 1990 the

Federal Parent Locator Service has conducted cross-matches between

State child support locate requests and State Employment Security

Agencies, although such matches are currently limited to 250,000 cases

per State per bi-weekly cross-match. The information generated from

cross-matches between quarterly wage, claims and child support data,

both at the State level and in the more limited FPLS context, has

proven extremely beneficial for the location of child support obligors

and their wages. The inclusion of quarterly wage and unemployment

compensations claims data in the NDNH will allow for a substantially

higher volume of interstate cross-matching than is currently possible.

The Federal Case Registry will be a national registry of

individuals involved in child support cases, constructed from abstracts

of child support case and order information that State Case Registries

will transmit to the Federal Case Registry. The expanded FPLS, through

a matching process between NDNH and the Federal Case Registry, will be

able to automatically provide States with information on address,

employment, and unemployment compensation claims data on parents owing

child support. The expanded FPLS will also alert States to other States

that have registered the same individual.

In an effort to be responsive to the President's Memorandum of

March 4, 1995 to heads of Departments and Agencies which announced a

government-wide Regulatory Reinvention Initiative to reduce or

eliminate burdens on States, other governmental agencies or the private

sector, OCSE formed an FPLS workgroup which held three meetings between

September, 1996 and March, 1997. The purpose of the FPLS workgroup is

to provide consultation regarding the design, development, and

regulatory requirements for the expanded FPLS. This group is comprised

of representatives from State Child Support Agencies, State Employment

Security Agencies, the Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement, the

U.S. Department of Labor, the Social Security Administration, the

Interstate Conference of State Employment Security Agencies, employer

groups, payroll associations, and other interested individuals. The

workgroup members provided information regarding quarterly wage and

unemployment compensation claims reporting which was considered in

developing these proposed regulations.

Description of Regulatory Provisions

We are proposing to implement the three new statutory reporting

requirements by adding a new section, 45 CFR 303.108, ``Quarterly Wage

and Unemployment Compensations Claims Reporting to the National

Directory of New Hires,'' to existing rules governing the child support

enforcement program under Title IV-D of the Act. Although there are

three separate reporting provisions, the information required to be

reported is substantially the same for all three. Therefore, OCSE

proposes to address the Secretary's responsibilities under all three

provisions by a single regulation which will permit the data required

to be furnished under the three provisions to be supplied in a single,

quarterly submission. Further, OCSE will consider the reporting

requirements to have been satisfied if any one of the required

reporting entities submits the information in accordance with the

provisions of the regulation. OCSE intends to leave the decision as to

which entity will report up to the individual States. Accordingly, the

regulation refers to the ``State'' as the entity that must transmit

data to the NDNH. However, if data is not reported as required under

the proposed regulation, OCSE intends to hold the State Title IV-D

agency accountable for the failure of the State Directory of New Hires

to report as required under section 453A(g)(2)(B). Section 454(28) of

the Act, as added by section 313(a) of PRWORA, added a new State plan

requirement for Title IV-D agencies to operate a State Directory of New

Hires in accordance with section 453A of the

[[Page 52308]]

Act. The failure to report as required pursuant to section 303(h) of

the Act or section 3304(a)(16) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 may

also result in actions being taken by the Secretary of Labor.

The proposed 45 CFR 303.108(a) contains definitions designed to

clarify quarterly wage and unemployment compensation claims reporting.

Paragraph (a)(1) defines ``Reporting period'' as the time elapsed

during a calendar quarter, e.g. January-March, April-June, July-

September, October-December. ``Wage information'' is defined in

paragraph (a)(2) as: (1) the name of the employee; (2) the employee's

social security number; (3) aggregate wages of the employee during the

reporting period; and (4) the name and address (and optionally, any

second address for wage withholding purposes) and Federal employer

identification number of the employer reporting wages. In the event

that an individual is working more than one job, the State must

transmit separate quarterly records containing the ``wage information''

for each job an individual has held. The information being included as

wage information is the minimal amount of data needed to meet the

purposes of the NDNH. OCSE is requesting data on the names of employees

in order to meet the requirements of section 453(j)(1) of the Act, 42

U.S.C. 653(j)(1). Section 453(j)(1) requires the Secretary of Health

and Human Services to transmit the information in the NDNH to the

Social Security Administration to verify the accuracy of the name,

social security number, and birth date of each individual.

``Unemployment compensation or claim information'' is defined in

paragraph (a)(3) as: (1) Whether an individual is receiving, has

received or has applied for unemployment compensation; (2) the

individual's name and current (or most recent) home address; (3) the

individual's social security number; and 4) the aggregate gross amount

of compensation the claimant received during the reporting quarter.

The proposed paragraph (b) of 45 CFR 303.108 contains the

requirements for quarterly wage and unemployment compensation claims

reporting. Under proposed paragraph (b), the State would be required to

disclose quarterly, to the National Directory of New Hires, wage and

claim information, as defined in paragraph (a), that is collected

pursuant to a State's unemployment compensation program referenced in

Title III of the Act or pursuant to section 1137 of the Act. OCSE does

not propose to require the collection or reporting of any additional

wage information for purposes of the NDNH beyond that which is

currently being collected. Wage and unemployment claim information is

currently reported to agencies administering unemployment compensation

laws under title III of the Act or to other agencies pursuant to

section 1137(a) of the Act as part of the income and eligibility

verification program, so proposed paragraph (b) will not impose an

additional information requirement. OCSE is also aware that some

States' compensation records either do not include employee names or

record only a partial set of the letters in the employee's name.

Similarly, OCSE is aware that State unemployment compensation laws do

not require all employers to report information. In the proposed

regulation, the State is only required to supply wage information which

is already contained in the records of the State. Therefore, in the

case of employee names or wages, a State is required to send us as much

information on employee names or wages as exists in the unemployment

compensation records, or in the records maintained for purposes of

section 1137 of the Act if the information is maintained by another

agency. The reference to section 1137 has been included to cover those

situations where States have alternate data collection systems to make

it clear that the data in such alternate systems would be covered by

the regulation.

Similarly, the State is only required to supply claim information

which is already contained in the records of the State agency

administering the unemployment compensation program or the records

maintained for purposes of section 1137 of the Act. There is no

requirement being imposed to collect additional claim information for

purposes of the NDNH. In addition, the State is only being required to

furnish the NDNH with claim information that is processed

electronically. OCSE believes that it is neither feasible nor cost

effective to require that States transmit claims data for those

relatively few benefit programs which are processed manually. State

Employment Security Agencies and the Department of Labor have indicated

that manually processed claims comprise a very small portion of total

claims. We understand that the unemployment compensation programs being

administered by States cover any compensation payable under State

unemployment compensation law (including amounts payable in accordance

with agreements under any Federal unemployment compensation law) and

extended benefits, unemployment compensation for Federal employees,

unemployment compensation for ex-servicemen, trade readjustment

allowances, and disaster unemployment assistance. We invite comment

regarding the regulatory language and whether it appropriately covers

these benefits.

The proposed 45 CFR 303.108(c) sets the time frames for quarterly

wage and claims reporting. The State would be required to report wage

information for the reporting period no later than the end of the

fourth month following the reporting period. For the reporting period

of July-September, 1997, the first period for which wage reporting

would be required, the State would be required to furnish wage

information to the Secretary no later than January 31, 1998. Currently,

State laws generally allow employers one month following the reporting

period to report quarterly wages to the State agency administering the

unemployment compensation program. We believe that the time frame for

States to report wage information to the Secretary for the purposes of

the NDNH will ensure that States have adequate time to enter, edit, and

transmit wage information to the Secretary. Given the necessity and

importance of maintaining accurate wage data in the NDNH, the proposed

schedule for reporting allows States ample time to work with employers

to correct inaccurate wage reports and to submit complete and

comprehensive wage information on employees within a State.

The State would be required to report claim information for the

reporting period no later than the end of the first month following the

end of the reporting period. The State would be required to begin the

reporting of claim information for the reporting period of October-

December, 1997. We believe that a shorter time frame for submitting

claim information, as opposed to wage information, is appropriate

because the State agency charged with administering the unemployment

compensation program maintains this data on an ongoing basis. Also, as

noted above, the collection of wage information lags behind the

collection of claim information because of the time required to ensure

that wage information submitted is accurate.

In order to ensure the effective implementation of the NDNH, the

Secretary is planning a staggered schedule for initial data submissions

to the NDNH. The reporting of new hire data will begin on October 1,

1997, followed by initial quarterly wage and claims information

submissions on January 31, 1998. For this reason, the Secretary will

require that claims

[[Page 52309]]

information be submitted for the period beginning October-December,

1997, rather than July-September, 1997.

The proposed 45 CFR 303.108(d) provides that the Secretary will

establish standardized formats for reporting quarterly wage and claim

information and that the States will be required to adhere to such

formats for reporting purposes. The formats identify the data elements,

descriptions and tape specifications for reporting quarterly wage and

claim information. These formats were published in the Federal Register

for comment on July 25, 1997 (62 FR 40092).

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

Sections 453A(g)(2)(B) and 303(h) of the Act and section

3304(a)(16) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 contain information

collection requirements. As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of

1995 (44 U.S.C. 3507(d)), the Administration for Children and Families

has submitted a copy of this section to the Office of Management and

Budget (OMB) for its review.

As discussed earlier, sections 453A(g)(2)(B) and 303(h) of the Act,

and section 3304(a)(16) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, require

various State entities to furnish to the Secretary of Health and Human

Services or the National Directory of New Hires, on a quarterly basis,

data concerning the wages and unemployment compensation paid to

individuals. The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human

Services is required to publish regulations to identify the dates,

format, and data elements necessary for States to furnish this data.

The purpose of these requirements is to develop a repository of

information on the earnings and unemployment compensation claims data

on all employees to provide the necessary information to locate

individuals for child support purposes, as well as for other specified

purposes in Title IV-D of the Act. This data will be combined with new

hire data to be reported to the NDNH pursuant to section 453A of the

Act. Quarterly wage and unemployment compensation claims data will

provide for the location of continuously employed and unemployed

individuals who would not be located by new hire reporting.

All 50 States, as well as the District of Columbia, the Virgin

Islands, and Puerto Rico, will be required to report quarterly wage and

unemployment compensation claims data to the NDNH. The proposed

regulation requires the State to disclose quarterly, to the NDNH, wage

and claim information that is currently being collected pursuant to a

State's unemployment compensation program referenced in Title III of

the Act or pursuant to section 1137 of the Act. Wage information is

defined to include: (1) the name of the employee; (2) the employee's

social security number; (3) aggregate wages of the employee during the

reported period; and, (4) the name, address (and optionally, any second

address for wage withholding purposes), and Federal employer

identification number of the employer reporting wages under a State

unemployment compensation law. Claim information is defined as: (1) The

status of an individual's claim for unemployment compensation (i.e., is

receiving, has received, or has made application for benefits); (2) The

individual's name and current (or most recent) home address; (3) the

individual's social security number; and, (4) the aggregate gross

amount of compensation the claimant received during the reporting

quarter. To ensure that public comments have maximum effect in

developing the final regulations, ACF urges that each commenter clearly

identify the specific section or sections of the regulations that the

comment addresses and that comments be in the same order as the

regulations.

Because all quarterly wage and unemployment compensation claims

data will be reported from the State to the NDNH electronically and

will be limited to data already being collected, the burden on the

States will be minimal. The average burden per response is estimated to

be 2 minutes (.03 hours). States may also have a one-time initial

start-up burden of two weeks (80 hours) for reprogramming their systems

to comply with Federal reporting requirements. The total annual

reporting and recordkeeping burden that will result from the collection

of information is estimated to be 7.13 hours.

The Administration for Children and Families will consider comments

by the public on this proposed collection of information in:

Evaluating whether the proposed collection is necessary

for the proper performance of the functions of ACF, including whether

the information will have practical utility;

Evaluating the accuracy of ACF's estimate of the burden of

the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the

methodology and assumptions used;

Enhancing the quality, usefulness, and clarity of the

information to be collected; and

Minimizing the burden of the collection of information on

those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate

automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technology, e.g.,

permitting non-electronic submission of responses.

OMB is required to make a decision concerning the collection of

information contained in these proposed regulations between 30 and 60

days after publication of this document in the Federal Register.

Therefore, a comment is best assured of having its full effect if OMB

receives it within 30 days of publication. This does not affect the

deadline for the public to comment to the Department on the proposed

regulations. Written comments to OMB for the proposed information

collection should be sent directly to the following: Office of

Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project, 725 17th Street,

N.W., Washington D.C. 20503, Attn: Ms. Wendy Taylor.

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

The Secretary certifies, under 5 U.S.C. 605(b), as enacted by the

Regulatory Flexibility Act (Pub. L. 96-354), that this proposed

regulation will not result in a significant impact on a substantial

number of small entities. The primary impact is on State governments

and individuals. State governments are not considered small entities

under the Act.

Executive Order 12866

Executive Order 12866 requires that regulations be reviewed to

ensure that they are consistent with the priorities and principles set

forth in the Executive Order. The Department has determined that this

proposed rule is consistent with these priorities and principles. The

proposed rule implements the statutory provisions by specifying the

wage and unemployment compensation claims information that must be

reported to the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Unfunded Mandates Act

The Department has determined that this proposed rule is not a

significant regulatory action within the meaning of the Unfunded

Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (P.L. 104-4).

List of Subjects in 45 CFR Part 303

Child support, Grant programs/social programs, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Programs No. 93.563, Child

Support Enforcement Program)

[[Page 52310]]

Dated: July 8, 1997.

Olivia A. Golden,

Principal Deputy Assistant, Secretary for Children and Families.

Approved: August 14, 1997.

Donna E. Shalala,

Secretary, Department of Health Human Services.

For the reasons discussed above, we propose to amend title 45 CFR

Chapter III of the Code of Federal Regulations as follows:

PART 303--STANDARDS FOR PROGRAM OPERATIONS

1. The authority citation of Part 303 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 651 through 658, 660, 663, 664, 666, 667,

1302, 1396a(a)(25), 1396(d)(2), 1396b(o), 1396b(p) and 1396(k).

2. A new 303.108 is added to read as follows:

Sec. 303.108 Quarterly wage and unemployment compensation claims

reporting to the national directory of new hires.

(a) What definitions apply to quarterly wage and unemployment

compensation claims reporting? When used in this section:

(1) Reporting period means time elapsed during a calendar quarter,

e.g. January-March, April-June, July-September, October-December.

(2) Wage information means:

(i) The name of the employee;

(ii) The social security number of the employee;

(iii) The aggregate wages of the employee during the reporting

period; and

(iv) The name, address (and optionally, any second address for wage

withholding purposes), and Federal employer identification number of an

employer reporting wages.

(3) Unemployment compensation or claim information means:

(i) Whether an individual is receiving, has received or has applied

for unemployment compensation;

(ii) The individual's name and current (or most recent) home

address;

(iii) The individual's social security number; and

(iv) The aggregate gross amount of compensation the claimant

received during the reporting quarter.

(b) What data must be transmitted to the National Directory of New

Hires? The State shall disclose quarterly, to the National Directory of

New Hires, wage and claim information as defined in paragraph (a) that

is collected pursuant to a State's unemployment compensation program

referenced in Title III of the Act or pursuant to section 1137 of the

Act.

(c) What time frames apply for reporting quarterly wage and

unemployment compensation claims data? The State shall report wage

information for the reporting period no later than the end of the

fourth month following the reporting period. The State shall report

claim information for the reporting period no later than the end of the

first month following the reporting period.

(d) What reporting formats will be used for reporting data? The

State must use standardized formats established by the Secretary of

Health and Human Services for reporting wage and claim information.

[FR Doc. 97-26538 Filed 10-6-97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4184-01-U