An Act To Align State-funded Benefits with Federal Eligibility Standards
Maine Legislature, Session 128, LD 1873
Committee: Health and Human Services
Sponsors: SANDERSON
Amends: 22 MRSA §3104-A, 22 MRSA §3273, 22 MRSA §3762, 22 MRSA §4301

Legislative Document
No. 1873
H.P. 1306
House of Representatives, March 22, 2018
An Act To Align State-funded Benefits with Federal Eligibility 
Standards
Reference to the Committee on Health and Human Services suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative SANDERSON of Chelsea.  (GOVERNOR'S BILL)
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
PART A
Sec. A-1.  22 MRSA §3104-A, as amended by PL 2013, c. 368, Pt. OO, §§1 and 
2, is repealed.
Sec. A-2.  22 MRSA §3273, sub-§9, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 643, Pt. WW, §1, 
is repealed.
Sec. A-3.  22 MRSA §3762, sub-§3, ¶B, as amended by PL 2017, c. 284, Pt. 
NNNNNNN, §10 and c. 290, §1, is further amended to read:
B.  The department may use funds, insofar as resources permit, provided under and in 
accordance with the United States Social Security Act or state funds appropriated for 
this purpose or a combination of state and federal funds to provide assistance to 
families under this chapter.  In addition to assistance for families described in this 
subsection, funds must be expended for the following purposes:
(1)  To continue the pass-through of the first $50 per month of current child 
support collections and the exclusion of the $50 pass-through from the budget 
tests and benefit calculations;
(2)  To provide financial assistance to noncitizens legally admitted to the United 
States who are receiving assistance under this subsection as of July 1, 2011.  
Recipients of assistance under this subparagraph are limited to the categories of 
noncitizens who would be eligible for the TANF programs but for their status as 
aliens under PRWORA.  Eligibility for the TANF program for these categories of 
noncitizens must be determined using the criteria applicable to other recipients of 
assistance from the TANF program. Any household receiving assistance as of  
July 1, 2011 may continue to receive assistance, as long as that household 
remains eligible, without regard to interruptions in coverage or gaps in eligibility 
for service. A noncitizen legally admitted to the United States who is neither 
receiving assistance on July 1, 2011 nor has an application pending for assistance 
on July 1, 2011 that is later approved is not eligible for financial assistance 
through a state-funded program unless that noncitizen is:
(a)  Elderly or disabled, as described under the laws governing supplemental 
security income in 42 United States Code, Sections 1381 to 1383f (2010);
(b)  A victim of domestic violence; 
(c)  Experiencing other hardship, such as time necessary to obtain proper 
work documentation, as defined by the department by rule. Rules adopted by 
the department under this division are routine technical rules as defined by 
Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A; or
(d)  Unemployed but has obtained proper work documentation, as defined by 
the department by rule.  Rules adopted by the department under this division 
are routine technical rules as defined by Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A;
(3) To provide benefits to certain 2-parent families whose deprivation is based on 
physical or mental incapacity;
(4)  To provide an assistance program for needy children, 19 to 21 years of age, 
who are in full-time attendance in secondary school.  The program is operated for 
those individuals who qualify for TANF under the United States Social Security 
Act, except that they fail to meet the age requirement, and is also operated for the 
parent or caretaker relative of those individuals.  Except for the age requirement, 
all provisions of TANF, including the standard of need and the amount of 
assistance, apply to the program established pursuant to this subparagraph;
(5)  To provide assistance for a pregnant woman who is otherwise eligible for 
assistance under this chapter, except that she has no dependents under 19 years of 
age.  An individual is eligible for the monthly benefit for one eligible person if 
the medically substantiated expected date of the birth of her child is not more 
than 90 days following the date the benefit is received;
(6)  To provide a special housing allowance for TANF families whose shelter 
expenses for rent, mortgage or similar payments, homeowners insurance and 
property taxes equal or exceed 50% of their monthly income.  The special 
housing allowance is limited to $200 per month for each family.  For purposes of 
this subparagraph, "monthly income" means the total of the TANF monthly 
benefit and all income countable under the TANF program, plus child support 
received by the family, excluding the $50 pass-through payment;
(7)  In determining benefit levels for TANF recipients who have earnings from 
employment, the department shall disregard from monthly earnings the 
following:
(a)  One hundred and eight dollars;
(b)  Fifty percent of the remaining earnings that are less than the federal 
poverty level; and
(c)  All actual child care costs necessary for work, except that the department 
may limit the child care disregard to $175 per month per child or $200 per 
month per child under 2 years of age or with special needs;
(7-A)  In determining eligibility and benefit levels, the department may apply a 
gross income test only to applicants and not to recipients;
(7-B)  In addition to the earned income disregards provided in subparagraph (7), 
a TANF recipient who enters employment must receive a one-time employment 
incentive payment of $400 if that TANF recipient retains employment for the 
subsequent 4 months after entering employment, to be paid at the end of that 4-
month period.  This subparagraph is repealed December 31, 2018;
(8)  In cases when the TANF recipient has no child care cost, the monthly TANF 
benefit is the maximum payment level or the difference between the countable 
earnings and the standard of need established by rule adopted by the department, 
whichever is lower;
(9)  In cases when the TANF recipient has child care costs, the department shall 
determine a total benefit package, including TANF cash assistance, determined in 
accordance with subparagraph (7) and additional child care assistance, as 
provided by rule, necessary to cover the TANF recipient's actual child care costs 
up to the maximum amount specified in section 3782-A, subsection 5.  The 
benefit amount must be paid as provided in this subparagraph.
(a)  Before the first month in which child care assistance is available to an 
ASPIRE-TANF recipient under this paragraph and periodically thereafter, the 
department shall notify the recipient of the total benefit package and the 
following options of the recipient: to receive the total benefit package 
directly; or to have the department pay the recipient's child care assistance 
directly to the designated child care provider for the recipient and pay the 
balance of the total benefit package to the recipient.
(b)  If an ASPIRE-TANF recipient notifies the department that the recipient 
chooses to receive the child care assistance directly, the department shall pay 
the total benefit package to the recipient.
(c)  
If an ASPIRE-TANF recipient does not respond or notifies the 
department of the choice to have the child care assistance paid directly to the 
child care provider from the total benefit package, the department shall pay 
the child care assistance directly to the designated child care provider for the 
recipient.  The department shall pay the balance of the total benefit package 
to the recipient;
(10)  Child care assistance under this paragraph must be paid by the department 
in a prompt manner that permits an ASPIRE-TANF recipient to access child care 
necessary for work; and
(11)  The department shall adopt rules pursuant to Title 5, chapter 375 to 
implement this subsection.  Rules adopted pursuant to this subparagraph are 
routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
Sec. A-4.  Appropriations and allocations.  The following appropriations and 
allocations are made.
HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF
Food Supplement Administration Z019
Initiative:  Reduces funding in the General Fund in the Food Supplement Administration 
program by eliminating state-funded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits 
for noncitizens who do not meet federal eligibility requirements.
State Supplement to Federal Supplemental Security Income 0131
GENERAL FUND
2017-18
2018-19
All Other
$0
($1,396,164)
GENERAL FUND TOTAL
$0
($1,396,164)
Initiative:  Reduces funding in the General Fund in the State Supplement to Federal 
Supplemental Security Income program by aligning state policy with federal policy and 
discontinuing state supplemental income cash benefits for noncitizens beyond the level of 
support the Federal Government already provides.
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families 0138
Initiative:  Reduces funding in the General Fund in the Temporary Assistance for Needy 
Families program by discontinuing the award of state-funded Temporary Assistance for 
Needy Families benefits to noncitizens beyond the level of support the Federal 
Government provides.
PART B
Sec. B-1.  22 MRSA §4301, sub-§3, as amended by PL 2015, c. 324, §1, is 
further amended to read:
3.  Eligible person.  "Eligible person" means a person who is qualified to receive 
general assistance from a municipality according to standards of eligibility determined by 
the municipal officers whether or not that person has applied for general assistance.  
"Eligible person" does not include a person who is a fugitive from justice as defined in 
Title 15, section 201, subsection 4 and does not include noncitizens who are not eligible 
for federal benefits pursuant to 8 United States Code, Sections 1621 and 1641.  Beginning 
July 1, 2015, in accordance with 8 United States Code, Section 1621(d), "eligible person" 
means a person who is lawfully present in the United States or who is pursuing a lawful 
process to apply for immigration relief, except that assistance for such a person may not 
exceed 24 months.
GENERAL FUND
2017-18
2018-19
All Other
$0
($1,435,038)
GENERAL FUND TOTAL
$0
($1,435,038)
GENERAL FUND
2017-18
2018-19
All Other
$0
($799,517)
GENERAL FUND TOTAL
$0
($799,517)
HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, 
DEPARTMENT OF
DEPARTMENT TOTALS
2017-18
2018-19
GENERAL FUND
($0)
($3,630,719)
DEPARTMENT TOTAL - ALL FUNDS
($0)
($3,630,719)
Sec. B-2.  Appropriations and allocations.  The following appropriations and 
allocations are made.
HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF
General Assistance - Reimbursements to Cities and Towns 0130
Initiative:  
Reduces funding in the General Fund in the General Assistance - 
Reimbursements to Cities and Towns program by discontinuing reimbursement for 
general assistance benefits for noncitizens who do not meet federal eligibility 
requirements.
SUMMARY
Part A of this bill does the following:
1.  It repeals the provision that requires the Department of Health and Human 
Services to provide a food supplement program benefit to noncitizens who would be 
eligible for federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits but for their 
status as aliens under the federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity 
Reconciliation Act of 1996;
2.  It repeals the provision that requires the Department of Health and Human 
Services to provide state supplemental security income for noncitizens who would be 
eligible for federal supplemental security income but for their status as aliens under the 
federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996;
3. It repeals the provision that requires the Department of Health and Human Services 
to provide financial assistance to individuals who would be eligible for Temporary 
Assistance to Needy Families benefits but for their status as aliens under the federal 
Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996; and
4.  It includes an appropriations and allocations section.
Part B of this bill does the following:
1.  It amends the definition of "eligible person" in the municipal general assistance 
laws to repeal the provision in state law that affirmatively provides that a person who is 
lawfully present in the United States or who is pursuing a lawful process to apply for 
immigration relief is eligible for municipal general assistance for up to 24 months and to 
instead state that these noncitizens are not eligible for state-funded general assistance; and
2.  It includes an appropriations and allocations section.
GENERAL FUND
2017-18
2018-19
All Other
$0
($2,433,947)
GENERAL FUND TOTAL
$0
($2,433,947)