Oregon Protects CARES Act Relief Payments From Garnishment

Oregon prohibited garnishments of federal CARES Act relief payments under an order signed April 17 by Gov. Kate Brown (D).

Executive Order 20-18, which took effect April 17, extended the protections to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act payments that cover federal benefit payments, such as Social Security, disability, and veterans’ benefits, Brown said in a news release.

Rebates of up to $1,200 for an individual, or $2,400 for those filing a joint tax return, were made by the federal government under the CARES Act (Pub. L. 116-136), which took effect March 27.

Past-due child support still may be deducted from the CARES Act payments before they are deposited in bank accounts, the state said. Additionally, criminal actions that require restitution and judgments based on criminal convictions were not covered under the order’s garnishment protection.

Other judgments that may be collected through garnishment of the relief payments are to be specified by the state attorney general.

Oregon’s Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum (D) was among the state attorneys general who on sent a letter March 13 to Treasury Secretary Mnuchin requesting that relief payments made during the coronavirus crisis be exempt from garnishments.

To contact the reporter on this story: Christine Pulfrey in Washington at cpulfrey@bloombergtax.com

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Trimarchi at mtrimarchi@bloombergtax.com

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