An Act To Improve General Assistance Reimbursements
Maine Legislature, Session 128, LD 1109
Committee: Health and Human Services
Sponsors: CHIPMAN, HAMANN, LIBBY, DENNO, HYMANSON, JORGENSEN, MADIGAN, PARKER, PERRY, TALBOT ROSS
Amends: 22 MRSA §4307

Legislative Document
No. 1109
S.P. 363
In Senate, March 21, 2017
An Act To Improve General Assistance Reimbursements
Reference to the Committee on Health and Human Services suggested and ordered printed.
HEATHER J.R. PRIEST
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator CHIPMAN of Cumberland.
Cosponsored by Representative HAMANN of South Portland and
Senator: LIBBY of Androscoggin, Representatives: DENNO of Cumberland, HYMANSON of 
York, JORGENSEN of Portland, MADIGAN of Waterville, PARKER of South Berwick, 
PERRY of Calais, TALBOT ROSS of Portland.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  22 MRSA §4307, sub-§2, as repealed and replaced by PL 1987, c. 349, 
Pt. H, §15, is repealed and the following enacted in its place: 
2.  Municipal responsibility.  Except as provided in subsection 4, a municipality is 
responsible for the general assistance support of eligible persons as provided in this 
subsection. 
A.  The municipality of record is responsible for the general assistance support of 
eligible persons.  For the purposes of this subsection, "the municipality of record" is 
the municipality where the applicant was an occupant of a house, apartment or other 
dwelling unit immediately prior to applying for assistance, as verified by a lease, 
utility bill or other means that establishes the individual as maintaining a residence in 
that municipality. 
B.  If an eligible person is not a resident of any municipality, the municipality to 
which that person first applies is responsible for support until a new residence is 
established. 
C.  If a municipality of record cannot be established or verified pursuant to paragraph 
A, the municipality to which an eligible person applies is responsible for providing 
assistance if the eligible person is a resident of that municipality. 
For the purposes of this section, "resident" means a person who is physically present in a 
municipality with the intention of remaining in that municipality to maintain or establish 
a home and who has no other residence. 
Sec. 2.  22 MRSA §4307, sub-§4, ¶A, as corrected by RR 2009, c. 2, §58, is 
amended to read: 
A.  When an applicant or recipient requests relocation relocates to another 
municipality and the overseers of a municipality assist that person to relocate to 
another municipality, the municipality from which that person is moving relocating 
continues to be responsible for the support of the recipient for 30 days after 
relocation.  As used in this paragraph, "assist" includes:  
(1)  Granting financial assistance to relocate; and or 
(2)  Making arrangements for a person to relocate. 
SUMMARY 
This bill amends the municipal general assistance laws to provide a different method 
of determining the residence of an applicant and the municipality responsible for 
providing general assistance to that applicant, including an applicant relocating from 
another municipality.  The bill provides that the municipality of record, which is defined 
as the municipality in which the applicant resided immediately prior to applying for 
assistance, is the responsible municipality.