‘An Act To Amend the General Assistance Laws Governing Reimbursement’
Amend the bill by striking out the title and substituting the following:
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and inserting the following:
‘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 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 prior to July 1, 2020 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.
Sec. 2. 22 MRSA §4311, sub-§1-D is enacted to read:
1-D. Departmental reimbursement. Beginning July 1, 2020, the department shall reimburse each municipality for the direct costs incurred by that municipality for the general assistance program granted by that municipality if the department finds that the municipality was in compliance with all requirements of this chapter during the fiscal year for which reimbursement is sought. The department shall reimburse to each municipality an amount equal to 70% of all direct general assistance granted by the municipality equal to or below .0003, and 90% of all direct general assistance granted by the municipality 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.
Sec. 3. 22 MRSA §4311, sub-§1-E is enacted to read:
1-E. Reimbursement to Indian tribes. Beginning July 1, 2020, the department shall reimburse each Indian tribe for 100% of all direct costs for general assistance granted by the Indian tribe if the department finds that the Indian tribe was in compliance with all requirements of this chapter during the fiscal year for which reimbursement is sought. For the purposes of this subsection, "Indian tribe" has the same meaning as in section 411, subsection 8-A.
Sec. 4. Appropriations and allocations. The following appropriations and allocations are made.
HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF
General Assistance - Reimbursement to Cities and Towns 0130
Initiative: Provides funding for a 90% reimbursement rate for general assistance expenditures incurred that are in excess of .0003 of that municipality's most recent state valuation in any fiscal year.
| GENERAL FUND | 2019-20 | 2020-21 |
|
All Other
|
$1,182,268 | $1,182,268 |
 |
|
|
| GENERAL FUND TOTAL | $1,182,268 | $1,182,268 |
SUMMARY
This amendment, which is the majority report of the committee, removes the section of the bill relating to presumptive eligibility. It also grants 100% reimbursement for general assistance costs to Indian tribes. It clarifies that the municipality's most recent state valuation rather than the all state valuation is used for calculating when a municipality begins to be reimbursed 90% for general assistance costs and that the reimbursement is for gross costs rather than net costs. It establishes that the new departmental reimbursement to municipalities begins July 1, 2020.
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED
(See attached)