An Act to Increase General Assistance Reimbursement for
Maine Legislature, Session 132, LD 0978
Sponsors: ZAGER, MOORE
Amends: 22 MRSA §4311

Legislative Document
No. 978
H.P. 638
House of Representatives, March 11, 2025
An Act to Increase General Assistance Reimbursement for 
Municipalities and Indian Tribes
Received by the Clerk of the House on March 7, 2025.  Referred to the Committee on 
Health and Human Services pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant to Joint 
Rule 401.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative ZAGER of Portland.
Cosponsored by Senator MOORE of Washington and
Representative: ARATA of New Gloucester, Senator: TALBOT ROSS of Cumberland.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  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 before July 1, 2026 
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, 2026, the department shall reimburse each municipality and Indian tribe 
as follows:
A.  For the 6 municipalities or Indian tribes receiving the highest amount of state 
reimbursement for the period beginning July 1, 2021 and ending June 30, 2025:
(1)  Beginning July 1, 2026, the department shall reimburse each municipality and 
each Indian tribe 75% of the direct costs incurred by that municipality or tribe for 
costs incurred on or after July 1, 2026 and before July 1, 2028;
(2)  Beginning July 1, 2028, the department shall reimburse each municipality and 
each Indian tribe 80% of the direct costs incurred by that municipality or tribe for 
costs incurred on or after July 1, 2028 and before July 1, 2030; and
(3)  Beginning July 1, 2030, the department shall reimburse each municipality and 
each Indian tribe 90% of the direct costs incurred by that municipality or tribe for 
costs incurred on or after July 1, 2030; and
B.  For all other municipalities and Indian tribes, beginning July 1, 2026, the 
department shall reimburse each municipality and each Indian tribe 90% of the direct 
costs incurred by that municipality or tribe for costs incurred on or after July 1, 2026.
For the purposes of this subsection, "Indian tribe" or "tribe" has the same meaning as in 
section 411, subsection 8‑A.
SUMMARY
This bill increases, from 70% to 90%, the amount of state reimbursement for the costs 
of general assistance incurred by each municipality and Indian tribe. The bill incrementally 
increases state reimbursement, reaching 90% of the direct costs incurred by that 
municipality or tribe by July 1, 2030, for the 6 municipalities or Indian tribes receiving the 
highest amount of state reimbursement for the period beginning July 1, 2021 and ending 
June 30, 2025. For other municipalities and tribes, it increases state reimbursement to 90% 
of the direct costs incurred by that municipality or tribe for costs incurred on or after July 
1, 2026.