* § 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 18 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 18 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 § 111-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 § 358-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 2 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