An Act to Expand the General Assistance Program
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 1732
Committee: Health and Human Services
Sponsors: MEYER
Amends: 22 MRSA §4302-A, 22 MRSA §4304, 22 MRSA §4307, 22 MRSA §4311, 22 MRSA §4323

Legislative Document
No. 1732
H.P. 1111
House of Representatives, April 20, 2023
An Act to Expand the General Assistance Program
(EMERGENCY)
Reference to the Committee on Health and Human Services suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative MEYER of Eliot.
Emergency preamble.  Whereas, acts and resolves of the Legislature do not 
become effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as emergencies; and
Whereas, provisions in this legislation take effect July 1, 2023; and
Whereas, unless this legislation takes effect immediately, the provisions in the bill 
cannot be effectuated; and
Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within 
the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as 
immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, 
therefore,
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  22 MRSA §4302-A is enacted to read:
§4302-A.  Training for overseers and municipal officials
1.  Training required.  No later than the 120th day after appointment or election, an 
overseer, municipal official designated by the overseers to administer this chapter and any 
municipal official appointed to administer this chapter shall complete training on the 
requirements of this chapter.
2.  Training; minimum requirements.  The department shall ensure that all overseers 
and municipal officials have access to training required in subsection 1, at no cost to the 
overseer or municipal official, that can be completed in less than 4 hours and is accessible 
either in-person, online or via a pre-recorded video presentation. At a minimum, the 
training must include instruction on the purpose of the general assistance program and the 
laws governing its administration, procedures and requirements.  Participation in a training 
program offered by a statewide association of general assistance administrators meets the 
training requirements under subsection 1.
Sec. 2.  22 MRSA §4304, sub-§1, as amended by PL 1991, c. 209, §1, is further 
amended to read:
1.  Local office.  There must be in each municipality a general assistance office or 
designated place where any person may apply for general assistance at during regular, 
reasonable times designated by the municipal officers business hours.  Notice must be 
posted of these times, the name of the overseer available to take applications in an 
emergency at all other times, the fact that the municipality must issue a written decision on 
all applications within 24 hours and the department's toll-free telephone number for 
reporting alleged violations in accordance with section 4321.
Sec. 3.  22 MRSA §4307, sub-§4, as amended by PL 2017, c. 130, §1, is further 
amended to read:
4.  Special circumstances.  Overseers of a municipality may not move or transport an 
applicant or recipient into another municipality to relieve their municipality of 
responsibility for that applicant's or recipient's support.  The municipality of responsibility 
for relocations and institutional settings is as follows.
A.  When an applicant or recipient requests relocation 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 continues to be responsible for the 
support of the recipient for 30 days, including processing applications and determining 
eligibility for assistance, unless otherwise agreed upon by the affected municipalities, 
for 6 months after relocation.  As used in this paragraph, "assist" includes:
(1)  Granting financial assistance to relocate; and
(2)  Making arrangements for a person to relocate.
B.  If an applicant is in a group home, shelter, rehabilitation center, nursing home, 
hospital or other institution at the time of application and has either been in that 
institution for 6 12 months or less, or had a residence immediately prior to entering the 
institution which that the applicant had maintained and to which the applicant intends 
to return, the municipality of responsibility is the municipality where the applicant was 
a resident immediately prior to entering the institution and that municipality continues 
to be responsible for the support of the recipient, including processing applications and 
determining eligibility for assistance, unless otherwise agreed upon by the affected 
municipalities.  For the purpose of this paragraph, a hotel, motel or similar place of 
temporary lodging is considered an institution when a municipality:
(1)  Grants financial assistance for a person to move to or stay in temporary 
lodging;
(2)  Makes arrangements for a person to stay in temporary lodging;
(3)  Advises or encourages a person to stay in temporary lodging; or
(4)  Illegally denies housing assistance and, as a result of that denial, the person 
stays in temporary lodging.
Sec. 4.  22 MRSA §4311, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2015, c. 267, Pt. SSSS, §1, is 
further amended to read:
1.  Departmental reimbursement.  When a municipality incurs net general assistance 
costs in any fiscal year prior to July 1, 2015 in excess of .0003 of that municipality'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 of Health and Human Services shall reimburse the 
municipality for 90% of the amount in excess of these expenditures when the department 
finds that the municipality has been in compliance with all requirements of this chapter.  If 
a municipality elects to determine need without consideration of funds distributed from any 
municipally-controlled municipally controlled trust fund that must otherwise be considered 
for purposes of this chapter, the department shall reimburse the municipality for 66 2/3% 
of the amount in excess of such expenditures when the department finds that the 
municipality has otherwise been in compliance with all requirements of this chapter.
The department shall reimburse each municipality and each Indian tribe 70% of the direct 
costs incurred by that municipality or tribe on or after July 1, 2015 and until June 30, 2023 
for the general assistance program granted by that municipality or tribe.  For the purposes 
of this subsection, "Indian tribe" has the same meaning as in section 411, subsection 8‑A.
Beginning July 1, 2023, the department shall reimburse each municipality and each Indian 
tribe 90% of the direct costs incurred by that municipality or tribe for the general assistance 
program granted by that municipality or tribe. If a municipality elects to determine need 
without consideration of funds distributed from any municipally controlled trust fund that 
must otherwise be considered for purposes of this chapter, the department shall reimburse 
the municipality for 66 2/3% of the amount in excess of such expenditures when the 
department finds that the municipality has otherwise been in compliance with all 
requirements of this chapter.
For the purposes of this subsection, "Indian tribe" has the same meaning as in section 411, 
subsection 8‑A.
Sec. 5.  22 MRSA §4311, sub-§1-A, as amended by PL 1995, c. 696, Pt. A, §39, is 
repealed and the following enacted in its place:
1-A.  Municipalities reimbursed.  The department shall reimburse municipalities as 
follows:
A.  One hundred percent of the expenses approved pursuant to section 4313 for hospital 
inpatient or outpatient care at any hospital on behalf of any person who is otherwise 
eligible and who would have been entitled to receive payments for hospital care if that 
care had been rendered prior to May 1, 1984 for services under the catastrophic illness 
program in section 3185;
B.  One hundred percent of the expenses for emergency general assistance pursuant to 
this chapter that exceed the maximum levels of assistance established by that 
municipality;
C.  One hundred percent of the expenses for temporary housing; 
D.  One hundred percent of the expenses for interpreter services necessary to ensure 
compliance with this chapter; and
E.  Five percent of the direct costs incurred for general assistance granted by that 
municipality for administrative expenses.  
For purposes of this subsection, "temporary housing" means a hotel, motel or similar place 
of temporary lodging.
Sec. 6.  22 MRSA §4323, sub-§6 is enacted to read:
6.  Education and training.  The department shall require state employees responsible 
for oversight of the general assistance program and employees of the Human Services 
Fraud Investigation Unit, established pursuant to section 13, to receive annual training on 
the administration, implementation and enforcement of the relevant statutes, rules and 
responsibilities for assisting overseers in administering the general assistance program.
Sec. 7.  22 MRSA §4323, sub-§7 is enacted to read:
7.  Twenty-four-hour assistance.  The department shall provide in-person technical 
assistance to overseers 24 hours a day.
Sec. 8.  22 MRSA §4323, sub-§8 is enacted to read:
8.  Written decisions.  Within 24 hours of receiving an inquiry under subsection 7, the 
department shall provide an overseer with a written decision, including a reference to the 
relevant statutes or rules used to issue the decision.
Sec. 9.  22 MRSA §4323, sub-§9 is enacted to read:
9.  Database.  Beginning on July 1, 2025, the department shall provide overseers access 
to an Internet-based, real-time database containing the information necessary to properly 
determine an applicant’s eligibility.
Sec. 10.  Application. That section of this Act that enacts the Maine Revised 
Statutes, Title 22, section 4302-A applies to all overseers and municipal officials serving 
on and after the effective date of this Act.
Emergency clause.  In view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this legislation 
takes effect when approved.
SUMMARY
This bill changes the municipal general assistance program in the following ways: 
1.  It requires overseers and designated or appointed municipal officials administering 
the program to complete training within 120 days of election or appointment; 
2.  It requires municipalities to accept applications for general assistance during regular 
business hours; 
3.  It amends provisions governing the municipality of responsibility to increase the 
provision of assistance from 30 days to 6 months when a municipality assists an applicant 
in relocating to another community and from 6 months to 12 months when an applicant is 
residing in a group home, shelter, rehabilitation center, nursing home or hospital or in a 
hotel, motel or other temporary housing; 
4.  It increases, from 70% to 90%, the amount of state reimbursement for the costs of 
general assistance incurred by each municipality and Indian tribe. It also provides that, if a 
municipality elects to determine need without consideration of funds from a municipally 
controlled trust, the State is required to reimburse the municipality for 66 2/3% of the 
amount in excess of expenditures;
5.  It provides state reimbursement for additional program costs, including emergency 
general assistance, temporary housing, interpreter services and administrative expenses; 
and 
6.  It requires the Department of Health and Human Services to provide the services 
necessary to support municipalities, including education and training for certain state 
employees, 24-hour technical assistance, written decisions and a database.