An Act To Bring Fairness to General Assistance Programs by Changing the Method of Municipal Reimbursement
Maine Legislature, Session 126, LD 0389
Committee: Health and Human Services
Sponsors: PARRY, SAVIELLO, BENNETT, CHASE, HARVELL, LIBBY, SANDERSON, SIROCKI, WILLETTE
Amends: 22 MRSA §4311

Legislative Document 
No. 389 
H.P. 264 
House of Representatives, February 12, 2013 
An Act To Bring Fairness to General Assistance Programs by 
Changing the Method of Municipal Reimbursement 
Reference to the Committee on Health and Human Services suggested and ordered printed. 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative PARRY of Arundel. 
Cosponsored by Senator SAVIELLO of Franklin and 
Representatives: BENNETT of Kennebunk, CHASE of Wells, HARVELL of Farmington, 
LIBBY of Waterboro, McCLELLAN of Raymond, SANDERSON of Chelsea, SIROCKI of 
Scarborough, WILLETTE of Mapleton. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  22 MRSA §4311, sub-§1, as amended by PL 1993, c. 410, Pt. AAA, §7 
and PL 2003, c. 689, Pt. B, §6, is repealed and the following enacted in its place: 
1.  Departmental reimbursement.  The department shall reimburse each 
municipality or Indian tribe for a portion of the direct costs of paying benefits through its 
general assistance program if the department finds that the municipality or Indian tribe 
was in compliance with all requirements of this chapter during the fiscal year for which 
reimbursement is sought. 
A.  The amount of reimbursement for a municipality is the greater of: 
(1)  Fifty percent of all general assistance granted by that municipality; and 
(2)  Three dollars multiplied by the population of the municipality as determined 
by the most recent Federal Decennial Census. 
B.  For an Indian tribe that incurs net general assistance costs in any fiscal year in 
excess of .0003 of that tribe's most recent state valuation relative to the state fiscal 
year for which reimbursement is being issued, as determined by the State Tax 
Assessor in the statement filed as provided in Title 36, section 381, the department 
shall reimburse the Indian tribe for 90% of the amount by which the tribe's general 
assistance direct costs exceed reimbursement under paragraph A.  In addition, the 
department shall reimburse the tribe for 10% of all general assistance granted by that 
tribe. 
As used in this subsection, "Indian tribe" has the same meaning as in section 411, 
subsection 8-A. 
Sec. 2.  22 MRSA §4311, sub-§2, as amended by PL 1991, c. 9, Pt. U, §9, is 
further amended to read: 
2.  Submission of reports.  Municipalities and Indian tribes, as defined in subsection 
1, shall submit monthly reports as follows of general assistance benefits paid on forms 
provided by the department. 
A.  For purposes of this section, those municipalities that received reimbursement at 
90% during the previous fiscal year of the State and those municipalities that expect 
to receive reimbursement at 90% during the current fiscal year of the State must 
submit monthly reports on forms provided by the department. 
B.  Those municipalities that did not receive reimbursement at 90% during the 
previous fiscal year and do not expect to receive reimbursement at 90% for the 
current fiscal year must submit quarterly or semiannual reports on forms provided by 
the department. 
SUMMARY 
This bill changes the reimbursement of general assistance to municipalities so that 
they receive either a 50% reimbursement rate from the Department of Health and Human 
Services or a block grant equal to $3.00 multiplied by the population of the municipality, 
whichever is the greater.  It repeals the requirement that municipalities incurring net 
general assistance costs in excess of .0003 of the municipality's most recent state 
valuation receive a 90% reimbursement rate but maintains this reimbursement rate for the 
Indian tribes.