An Act to Prohibit the Use of General Assistance as a Replacement for Available Resources
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 0364
Committee: Health and Human Services
Sponsors: BRAKEY, GUERIN, HARRINGTON, BOYER, CAMPBELL, FREDERICKS, GRIFFIN, HYMES, LIBBY
Amends: 22 MRSA §4301, 22 MRSA §4317, 22 MRSA §4317-A

Legislative Document
No. 364
S.P. 171
In Senate, January 31, 2023
An Act to Prohibit the Use of General Assistance as a Replacement 
for Available Resources
Reference to the Committee on Health and Human Services suggested and ordered printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator BRAKEY of Androscoggin.
Cosponsored by Senators: GUERIN of Penobscot, HARRINGTON of York, Representatives: 
BOYER of Poland, CAMPBELL of Orrington, FREDERICKS of Sanford, GRIFFIN of 
Levant, HYMES of Waldo, LIBBY of Auburn.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  22 MRSA §4301, sub-§12-B is enacted to read:
12-B.  Potential resource.  "Potential resource" means any resource that may be 
available, including, but not limited to, any state or federal assistance programs, 
employment benefits, governmental or private pension programs, available trust funds, 
support from legally liable relatives, child support payments and jointly held resources in 
which the applicant or recipient share may be available to the individual.
Sec. 2.  22 MRSA §4317, first ¶, as amended by PL 1993, c. 410, Pt. AAA, §11, is 
further amended to read:
An applicant or recipient must make a good faith effort to secure any potential resource 
that may be available, including, but not limited to, any state or federal assistance program, 
employment benefits, governmental or private pension programs, available trust funds, 
support from legally liable relatives, child-support payments and jointly held resources 
where the applicant or recipient share may be available to the individual. Assistance may 
not be withheld pending receipt of such resource as long as application has been made or 
good faith effort is being made to secure the resource.
Sec. 3.  22 MRSA §4317, 3rd ¶, as amended by PL 1993, c. 410, Pt. AAA, §11, is 
further amended to read:
An applicant who refuses to utilize potential resources without just cause, after 
receiving a written 7-day notice, is disqualified from receiving assistance until the applicant 
has made a good faith effort to secure the resource.  It is the responsibility of the applicant 
to establish the presence of just cause pursuant to section 4317-A, subsection 4.
Sec. 4.  22 MRSA §4317-A is enacted to read:
§4317-A.  Use of available resources
1.  Definition.  For the purposes of this section, "available resource" means any 
resource that is immediately available or can be secured without delay, including but not 
limited to cash on hand or in bank accounts, support from relatives, any state, federal or 
nonprofit health or social service provider assistance or any housing, employment or 
unemployment assistance that an applicant is receiving or is immediately eligible to 
receive.
2.  Abandonment or refusal to use available resource.  An applicant who abandons 
or refuses to use an available resource without just cause is not eligible to receive general 
assistance to replace the abandoned or refused resource for a period of 120 days from the 
date the applicant abandoned or refused to use the resource.  A resource is considered 
abandoned if the applicant without just cause voluntarily terminates receipt of an available 
resource.  It is the responsibility of the applicant to establish the presence of just cause 
pursuant to subsection 4.
3.  Forfeiture of benefits.  An applicant who forfeits receipt of or causes a reduction 
in benefits from an available resource because of fraud, misrepresentation or a knowing or 
intentional violation of a rule governing an available resource or a refusal to comply with 
a rule governing an available resource without just cause is not eligible to receive general 
assistance to replace the forfeited benefits for the duration of a sanction imposed on the 
applicant for violation of a rule governing an available resource or 120 days, whichever is 
greater.  It is the responsibility of the applicant to establish the presence of just cause 
pursuant to subsection 4.
4.  Just cause.  For the purposes of this section, just cause must be found when there 
is reasonable and verifiable evidence of:
A.  An unreasonable requirement placed on the applicant or applicant's household by 
the provider of the available resource that interferes with any right secured by the 
United States Constitution or the Constitution of Maine;
B.  Discrimination on the basis of actual or perceived race, color, sex, sexual 
orientation, gender identity, physical or mental disability, religion, ancestry or national 
origin, age or familial status;
C.  The use of the available resource jeopardizing the health or safety of an applicant 
or applicant's household;
D.  A natural disaster that makes the available resource uninhabitable or unavailable;
E.  Abandonment of shelter housing in order to obtain permanent housing;
F.  Inability to access available resources due to a lack of public or private 
transportation or medical illness or injury;
G.  Just cause as defined in section 4316-A, subsection 5; or
H.  Any other evidence that is reasonable and appropriate.
Failure of an otherwise eligible person to comply with this section may not affect the 
general assistance eligibility of any member of the person's household.
SUMMARY
This bill makes an applicant for general assistance who voluntarily abandons or refuses 
to use an available resource without just cause ineligible to receive general assistance to 
replace the abandoned resource for a period of 120 days from the date the applicant 
abandons the resource.  The bill defines "available resource" as a resource that is 
immediately available or can be secured without delay.  The bill also makes an applicant 
who forfeits receipt of or causes a reduction in benefits from an available resource due to 
fraud, misrepresentation or intentional violation or refusal to comply with rules without 
just cause ineligible to receive general assistance to replace the forfeited or reduced benefits 
for the duration of the sanction imposed on the applicant for violation of a rule or 120 days, 
whichever is greater.  The bill identifies circumstances relating to use of an available 
resource under which just cause must be found.