An Act To Update Terms and Make Changes in Child Care and Transportation Benefits under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program
Sec. 1. 22 MRSA §3104, as amended by PL 2001, c. 598, §1, is further amended to read:
§ 3104. Statewide food supplement program
(1) Shall the authorization to purchase food stamps under this section exceed 30 days from the date that the applicant receives the authorizing card; and
(2) Shall there be further food stamp issuance to the applicant's household until full verification has been obtained which confirms the eligibility of the household.
The authorization to receive food supplement program benefits under this section may not exceed 30 days from the date that the applicant receives the authorizing card. Additional food supplement program benefits may not be issued to the applicant's household until full verification has been obtained that confirms the eligibility of the household.
In those areas of the State where the department can document evidence of significant diminution of client demand or of loss of significant numbers of coupons, the department may, after notice and hearing, establish an alternative system of food stamp issuance.
In carrying out its outreach activities, the department shall insure that all applicants and recipients are informed of their right to have the requirement for a face-to-face interview waived as provided by federal regulations.
The department shall mail issue that supplemental allotment within 5 working days of the date that the change in circumstances was reported.
Sec. 2. 22 MRSA §3104-A, as amended by PL 1999, c. 401, Pt. S, §2, is further amended to read:
§ 3104-A. Food supplement program for legal aliens
Sec. 3. 22 MRSA §3762, sub-§1, ¶B-1 is enacted to read:
Sec. 4. 22 MRSA §3762, sub-§3, as amended by PL 2007, c. 539, Pt. XX, §1, is further amended to read:
(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 and medical assistance to certain noncitizens legally admitted to the United States. Recipients of assistance under this subparagraph are limited to the categories of noncitizens who would be eligible for the TANF or Medicaid programs but for their status as aliens under PRWORA. Eligibility for the TANF and Medicaid programs for these categories of noncitizens must be determined using the criteria applicable to other recipients of assistance from these programs;
(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 75% of their monthly income. The special housing allowance is limited to $100 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;
(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. 5. 22 MRSA §3762, sub-§8, as amended by PL 2007, c. 539, Pt. XX, §2, is further amended to read:
(1) The department shall provide transitional Medicaid to families whose average gross monthly earnings, less costs to the family for child care necessary for employment, do not exceed 185% of the federal poverty guidelines in accordance with PRWORA and this subsection. In order to receive transitional Medicaid as the result of increased earnings or number of hours worked, a family must have received Medicaid assistance for at least 3 of the last 6 months, except as provided in subparagraph (2).
(2) The department shall provide transitional Medicaid for families whose eligibility for Medicaid assistance terminated due to employment obtained through work search activities pursuant to this chapter, in which case the family must have received Medicaid assistance for at least one of the last 3 months.
(3) To continue to receive transitional Medicaid assistance following the first 6 months of coverage, a family entering the transitional Medicaid program with income above 133% of the federal poverty guidelines must pay premiums in accordance with rules adopted by the department.
(5) The department shall provide transitional Medicaid for 4 months to families whose eligibility for Medicaid assistance terminated due to an increase in the amount of child support received by the family.
(6) The department shall require reporting of income or circumstances for the purpose of determining eligibility and premium payments, copayments or other methods of cost sharing for benefits under this paragraph in accordance with rules adopted by the department.
(7) The scope of services provided under this paragraph must be the same as the scope of services provided when a family received Medicaid assistance.
Sec. 6. 22 MRSA §3769, sub-§3 is enacted to read:
The department shall provide to the joint standing committees of the Legislature having jurisdiction over appropriations and financial affairs and health and human services matters a report twice per year on the amount of funds transferred and the number of ASPIRE-TANF program participants entering employment.
Sec. 7. 22 MRSA §3769-C, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 1999, c. 461, §1, is repealed.
Sec. 8. 22 MRSA §3788, sub-§4-A, as amended by PL 1997, c. 530, Pt. A, §26, is further amended to read:
Sec. 9. 22 MRSA §3788, sub-§6, as amended by PL 1997, c. 530, Pt. A, §26, is further amended to read:
(1) Poor credit as determined by the educational funding source; or
(2) The consideration by the educational funding source of resources from past years that are not actually available to the participant;
When a substantially similar postsecondary education or training program of comparable quality is available at both a public and private institution, within a reasonable commuting distance for the participant, the department may choose to approve the program offered at the public institution if the participant's program can be completed at less cost at the institution.
Sec. 10. 22 MRSA §3788, sub-§10, as amended by PL 2005, c. 480, §1, is further amended to read:
The department may approve a job skills or occupational training activity longer than 24 months provided the participant agrees to perform a minimum of 20 hours a week of work site experience by no later than the end of the 24-month period. Qualifying work site experience may include, but is not limited to, paid employment, workforce-MaineServe, ASPIRE-Plus, work study, training-related practicums or any other such work site approved by the department. The 24-month period does not include periods of nonactivity in which good cause has been determined.
For individuals who are satisfactorily participating in an education or training program prior to the work evaluation, the department must determine the acceptability of the activity for purposes of meeting the participation requirements of this chapter using the same criteria as is used for any individual in the ASPIRE-TANF program.
Sec. 11. Transitional child care services; fiscal year 2009-10. Notwithstanding the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 22, section 3762, subsection 8, for fiscal year 2009-10, the Department of Health and Human Services may establish maximum income eligibility limits that are not less than 200% of the federal poverty guidelines for transitional child care services to families that lose eligibility for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families pursuant to Title 22, chapter 1053-B. Income eligibility limits established pursuant to this section are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
Sec. 12. Change of food stamp program to food supplement program. The Department of Health and Human Services shall submit to the Second Regular Session of the 124th Legislature, no later than December 15, 2009, legislation to amend the Maine Revised Statutes to reflect the change in the name of the statewide food stamp program under Title 22, section 3104 to the food supplement program and the name change of the benefits under that program in accordance with this Act.
summary
This bill makes the following changes relating to the food stamp program and to the TANF and ASPIRE-TANF programs:
It changes the terms "food stamp" to "food supplement" and "food stamp program" to "food supplement program." It changes references to mailing food stamps or coupons to the issuance of food allotments by an electronic benefits transfer system. It eliminates the requirement to print brochures in other languages and to print announcements in French.
It adds cross-references to the federal Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 in the statute that authorizes the administration of the TANF program and the ASPIRE program.
It eliminates a requirement that transitional transportation benefits be given for 90 days and inserts a maximum benefit duration of 12 months. For transitional child care benefits, it eliminates references to income standards and rates of payment and authorizes the department instead to establish those by rule.
It reinstates authority to transfer certain funds and a reporting requirement that were mistakenly repealed during the First Regular Session of the 123rd Legislature.
It eliminates a reporting requirement comparing TANF benefit levels to those in other New England states; the provision was intended to have been repealed in the First Regular Session of the 123rd Legislature.
It eliminates a minimum participation requirement in the ASPIRE program to require the department to operate the ASPIRE program in accordance with the federal Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 requirements.
It allows the Department of Health and Human Services to establish maximum eligibility limits, for fiscal year 2009-10 only, that are not less than 200% of the federal poverty guidelines for certain families for transitional child care services.
It requires the Department of Health and Human Services to report back with legislation correcting the Maine Revised Statutes to reflect the change in the name of the food stamp program and benefits.