An Act To Establish an Independent Citizens Oversight Committee on Maine's Welfare Programs
Maine Legislature, Session 128, LD 1408
Committee Amendment CA_A_S156 (Senate)
Amends: 22 MRSA §3109

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT «A " to S.P. 486, L.D. 1408, Bill, "An Act To 
Establish an Independent Citizens Oversight Committee on Maine's Welfare Programs" 
Amend the bill by striking out all of section 2 and inserting the following: 
'Sec. 2. 22 MRSA §3109 is enacted to read: 
§3109. 
Promoting accountable public programs that reduce child poverty and 
increase sustainable employment for low-income families with children 
The department shall implement a system of accountability to measure the 
performance of certain programs administered by the department under this subtitle by 
examining the outcomes of participating families with children on an annual basis. The 
department shall establish benchmarks to measure, over time, the extent to which these 
programs have helped to alleviate poverty and hardship among families with children 
through increased employment, earnings, education and training and the provision of 
individualized services for those with barriers to employment. 
1. Definitions. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the 
following terms have the following meanings. 
A. "Federal poverty level" has the same meaning as in section 3762, subsection 1, 
paragraph C. 
B. "TANF" has the same meaning as in section 3762, subsection 1, paragraph E. 
2. Identify measures of child and family economic security. Beginning October 
15, 2017 and annually thereafter, the department shall obtain and compile the following 
data for the State on an annual basis from those sources reasonably available to the 
department, including data collected and maintained by the department, data available 
from other state or federal agencies and such other data as can reasonably be obtained 
from other public or private sources upon request. The data must include: 
A. The number and percentage of children living at or below 100% of the federal 
poverty level; 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
do Co· 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" A" to S.P. 486, L.D. 1408 
B. The number and percentage of households headed by single parents with related 
children living at or below 100% of the federal poverty level; 
C. The number and percentage of children living at or below 50% of the federal 
poverty level; 
D. The ratio of families with children receiving T ANF cash assistance to the number 
of families with children and income at or below 100% of the federal poverty level; 
E. The ratio of families with children receiving T ANF cash assistance to the number 
of families with children and income at or below 50% of the federal poverty level; 
F. The number and percentage of households with children who are homeless; 
G. The number and percentage of individuals and children found to be food insecure 
by the United States Department of Agriculture; 
H. The number and percentage of individuals and children found to have very low 
food security by the United States Department of Agriculture; 
I. For all families that exit TANF cash assistance: 
(1) The number and percentage of families with earnings in the month of TANF 
exit and the number and percentage of exiting families with earnings that are 
below 100%, at least 100% but not more than 150%, at least 151 % but not more 
than 200% and in excess of200% of the federal poverty level; 
(2) The number and percentage of families with earnings in excess of $5,000 per 
quarter in the 2nd quarter and in the 4th quarter after the quarter of exit from 
TANF; and 
(3) The mean and median amount of earnings for families in the 2nd quarter and 
in the 4th quarter after the quarter of exit from T ANF; 
J. 
Median and mean wages for families with earnings that have children in the 
household and receive food supplement benefits pursuant to section 3104; 
K. 
The number and percentage of adult parents or caretaker relatives receiving 
TANF cash assistance that have a high school degree or have successfully completed 
a general educational development examination or its equivalent, and the number and 
percentage of those adult parents or caretaker relatives that left TANF in the prior 
year that have a high school degree or have successfully completed a general 
educational development examination or its equivalent; and 
L. 
The number and percentage of adult parents or caretaker relatives receiving 
TANF cash assistance that have a postsecondary degree or a postsecondary credential 
and the number and percentage of those adult parents or caretaker relatives that left 
TANF in the prior year that have a postsecondary degree or postsecondary credential. 
3. Benchmarks established. The department shall examine and use the data related 
to measures of child and family economic security and employment compiled pursuant to 
subsection 2 to establish proposed benchmarks on an annual basis to serve as a standard 
against which progress related to improvements in the well-being of families with 
children in the State may be measured. 
Beginning January 15. 2018 and annually 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" A" to S.P. 486, L.D. 1408 
thereafter, the department shall present proposed benchmarks to the joint standing 
committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over human services matters along with 
data compiled pursuant to subsection 2 for the current year and comparative data for the 3 
prior years for the committee's review. The committee's review must include the 
opportunity for public comment on the department's proposed benchmarks. After the 
committee's review and by March 15th annually, the department shall finalize 
benchmarks for the following year. 
4. Report. By January 15, 2019 and annually thereafter, the department shall report 
on its progress in meeting benchmarks established for the preceding year, along with 
proposed benchmarks for the subsequent year, to the joint standing committee of the 
Legislature having jurisdiction over human services matters. If the department does not 
successfully meet the benchmarks established for the preceding year, it shall identify 
those obstacles that prevented it from meeting the benchmarks and present a plan for 
addressing the obstacles so that the department will be more successful in meeting the 
new benchmarks proposed for the following year. 
The department's plan must be 
reviewed by both the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee established pursuant to 
section 3110 and the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over 
human services matters. 
The joint standing committee of the Legislature having 
jurisdiction over human services matters may introduce any legislation that it considers 
necessary to improve the department's ability to meet benchmarks in future years.' 
Amend the bill in section 3 in §3110 in the first paragraph in the 3rd line (page 3, line 
in L.D.) by striking out the following: "goals as described in section 3109, subsection 
1." and inserting the following: 
'those benchmarks as described in section 3109, 
subsection 3' 
Amend the bill in section 3 in §3110 in the first paragraph in the last line (page 3, line 
in L.D.) by striking out the following: "and goals" 
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Amend the bill in section 3 in §3110 in subsection 2 in the 3rd line (page 3, line 18 in 
L.D.) by striking out the following: "and goals" 
Amend the bill in section 3 in §3110 in subsection 5 in the last 2 lines (page 4, lines 9 
and 10 in L.D.) by striking out the following: "and goals established in section 3109, 
subsection 4" and inserting the following: 'established in section 3109, subsection 3' 
Amend the bill by adding after section 3 the following: 
'Sec. 4. Appropriations and allocations. 
The following appropriations and 
allocations are made. 
5 
HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF (FORMERLY DHS) 
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families 0138 
Initiative: Provides an allocation for one Statistician III position needed to accumulate 
and analyze data and performance measures in the Temporary Assistance for Needy 
Families program. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
"·~~· 
COMMIITEE AMENDMENT "A "to S.P. 486, L.D. 1408 
FEDERAL BLOCK GRANT FUND 
POSITIONS - LEGISLATIVE COUNT 
Personal Services 
All Other 
FEDERAL BLOCK GRANT FUND TOTAL 
SUMMARY 
2017-18 
2018-19 
1.000 
1.000 
$71,834 
$73,818 
$8,926 
$8,994 
$80,760 
$82,812 
This amendment, which is the majority report of the committee, makes minor 
changes to the data and benchmarks that must be collected by the Department of Health 
and Human Services and reviewed by the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee, 
which is established in the bill. 
This amendment also adds an appropriations and allocations section to provide 
funding for a position in the Department of Health and Human Services to analyze the 
data. 
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Approved: 05/23/17 feac:.. 
LD 1408 
LR 1569(02) 
An Act To Establish an Independent Citizens Oversight Committee on Maine's Welfare Programs 
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment 'A' l S ~ ) Slo) 
Committee: Health and Human Services 
Appropriations/ Allocations 
Federal Block Grant Fund 
Revenue 
Federal Block Grant Fund 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
FY 2017-18 
FY 2018-19 
$80,760 
$82,812 
$80,760 
$82,812 
Projections 
FY 2019-20 
$84,731 
$84,731 
Projections 
FY 2020-21 
$86,847 
$86,847 
The bill includes Federal Block Grant Fund allocations to the Department of Health and Human Services of $80,760 
in fiscal year 2017-18 and $82,812 in fiscal year 2018-19 for one Statistician III position needed to accumulate and 
analyze data and perfo1mance measures in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. 
LR1569(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1