* § 171-a. Statewide wage reporting system. (1) The department shall
design, develop, implement and operate a wage reporting system within
the department utilizing information submitted by employers as defined
under article eighteen of the labor law. The department is authorized to
require submission of a report, in such form and in such manner as
prescribed by regulations for not more frequently than four times per
annum, of the name, social security account number, and gross wages paid
to each employee who resides or is employed in this state, whether or
not such employee is a resident for purposes of this chapter and whether
or not the wages of such employee are subject to withholding of tax or
payments of tax under article twenty-two of this chapter. Employers also
shall report if dependent health insurance benefits are available. No
report shall be filed with respect to an employee of a state or local
agency performing intelligence or counterintelligence functions, if the
head of such agency has determined that filing such a report could
endanger the safety of the employee or compromise an ongoing
investigation or intelligence mission.

(2) Such system shall be designed in a manner compatible with existing
reporting requirements, to the extent possible, while remaining
consistent with the goals of such system, and shall be consistent with
the provisions of article eighteen of the labor law. Not later than
January first, nineteen hundred ninety-six, the department shall,
pursuant to regulation, begin to collect such data in such manner for
the first quarter of calendar year nineteen hundred ninety-six and for
all subsequent quarters.

(3) (a) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the commissioner of
taxation and finance shall maintain cooperative agreements with the
state office of temporary and disability assistance, which shall
provide:

(i) for the utilization by the office of temporary and disability
assistance of information obtained pursuant to subdivision one of this
section, for the purpose of verifying eligibility for and entitlement to
amounts of benefits under the social services law, locating absent
parents or other persons legally responsible for the support of
applicants or recipients of public assistance and care under the social
services law and persons legally responsible for the support of a
recipient of services under section one hundred eleven-g of the social
services law and, in appropriate cases, establishing support obligations
pursuant to the social services law and the family court act, and for
the purpose of evaluating the effect on earnings of participation in
employment or training programs authorized pursuant to the social
services law by current recipients of public assistance and care and by
former recipients of public assistance and care, such agreement shall
further provide to the degree required by federal law for the
commissioner and the office of temporary and disability assistance to
provide information obtained pursuant to subdivision one of this section
to the federal social security administration or to public agencies in
other states which administer programs under the food stamp act of
nineteen hundred seventy-seven or title I, II, IV-A, IV-D, X, XIV, XVI,
or XIX of the federal social security act and to take such other steps
as may be required by section one thousand one hundred thirty-seven of
the social security act or federal regulations promulgated thereunder;
and

(ii) for the utilization by the office of temporary and disability
assistance of information obtained pursuant to subdivision one of this
section, with respect to the parents, the stepparents, the child and the
siblings of the child who were living in the same household as a child
who is in the custody, care and custody or custody and guardianship of a
local social services district or of the office of children and family
services during the month that the court proceedings leading to the
child's removal from the household were initiated, or the written
instrument transferring care and custody of the child pursuant to the
provisions of section three hundred fifty-eight-a or three hundred
eighty-four-a of the social services law was signed, provided however,
that the office of temporary and disability assistance shall only use
the information obtained pursuant to this subdivision, for the purpose
of determining the eligibility of such child for federal payments for
foster care and adoption assistance pursuant to the provisions of title
IV-E of the federal social security act. Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, the office of temporary and disability assistance is
authorized to share information obtained pursuant to this subdivision
with any applicable social services district, provided however, that if
such information is shared, that such social services district shall
only use the information obtained for the purpose of determining the
eligibility of such child for federal payments for foster care and
adoption assistance pursuant to the provisions of title IV-E of the
federal social security act.

(b) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary and not later than ninety
days after the effective date of this paragraph, the commissioner of
taxation and finance shall enter into a cooperative agreement with the
commissioner of social services for the delivery to the state department
of social services of information obtained pursuant to subdivision one
hereof, which information shall be utilized for the purpose of enabling
such department to fulfill obligations and responsibilities otherwise
incumbent upon the state department of labor under section one hundred
twenty-four of the federal family support act of nineteen hundred
eighty-eight by giving the federal parent locator service, maintained by
the federal department of health and human services, prompt access to
certain wage information for use by such latter department for the
purpose of complying with such act.

(4) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary and not later than
September first, nineteen hundred ninety-seven, the commissioner shall
enter into a cooperative agreement with the state department of labor to
allow the information obtained by the department pursuant to subdivision
one of this section to be made available to the department of labor, or
other individuals designated by the commissioner of labor, for
administration of such department's employment security programs, public
assistance work programs, or for other purposes deemed appropriate by
the commissioner of labor consistent with the provisions of the labor
law, as well as for the evaluation of the effect on earnings of
participation in training programs with respect to which the department
of labor has reporting, monitoring, administering, or evaluating
responsibilities.

5. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the
commissioner shall enter into a cooperative agreement with the
department of health, which agreement shall provide for the utilization
of information obtained pursuant to subdivision one of this section, for
the purpose of verifying eligibility for child health insurance plan
subsidy payments and required premium payments under sections two
thousand five hundred ten and two thousand five hundred eleven of the
public health law, and for the purpose of verifying eligibility for the
program for elderly pharmaceutical insurance coverage under title three
of article two of the elder law, when requested by the department of
health.

(6) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the
commissioner shall enter into a cooperative agreement with the office of
vocational and educational services for individuals with disabilities of
the education department, the commission for the blind and any other
state vocational rehabilitation agency, which agreement shall provide
for the utilization of information obtained pursuant to subdivision one
of this section, for purposes of obtaining reimbursement from the
federal social security administration for expenditures made by such
office, commission or agency on behalf of disabled individuals who have
achieved economic self-sufficiency.

(6-a) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the
commissioner shall enter into a cooperative agreement with the New York
state higher education services corporation, which agreement shall
provide for the utilization of information obtained pursuant to
subdivision one of this section, for purposes of default prevention and
collection of defaulted education loan debt, including judgments, owed
to the federal or New York state government that is being collected by
the New York state higher education services corporation.

(6-b) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the
commissioner shall enter into a cooperative agreement with the state
comptroller, which agreement shall provide for the utilization of
information obtained pursuant to subdivision one of this section, for
purposes of determining the amount a retired member of a retirement
system or pension plan administered by the state or any of its political
subdivisions who returns to public employment has earned for the
purposes of sections one hundred two, two hundred eleven, two hundred
twelve and four hundred two of the retirement and social security law.

(7) No employer shall be subject to any civil or criminal liability by
reason of his disclosure to the department of any information required
to be disclosed pursuant to this subdivision unless such information is
knowingly and wilfully reported incorrectly.

(8) The provisions of the state freedom of information act shall not
apply to any personally identifiable information obtained by any agency
or any public official pursuant to the provisions hereof.

(9) Cross-references. (a) For the applicable penalty for failure to
comply with wage reporting requirements, see subsection (v) of section
six hundred eighty-five of this chapter.

(b) See paragraph four of subsection (a) of section six hundred
seventy-four of this chapter for requirements relating to the filing of
quarterly combined withholding, wage reporting and unemployment
insurance returns.

* NB There are 2 § 171-a's