HP1114
LD 1511
First Regular Session - 125th Maine Legislature
C "A", Filing Number H-617, Sponsored by
LR 882
Item 2
Bill Tracking, Additional Documents Chamber Status

Amend the bill by striking out the title and substituting the following:

‘An Act To Impose a Lifetime Maximum on the Receipt of TANF Assistance’

Amend the bill by striking out all of sections 2, 3, 4 and 5 and inserting the following:

Sec. 2. 22 MRSA §3762, sub-§18  is enacted to read:

18 Lifetime limit on assistance.   Beginning October 1, 2011, receipt of TANF assistance under this chapter is subject to the maximum lifetime time limit provisions of this subsection. The department shall adopt rules to implement this subsection. Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules as defined by Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
A An adult may not receive TANF assistance for longer than 60 months in the aggregate unless the adult has received an exemption or an extension under rules adopted by the department.
B When an adult has received TANF assistance for 60 months and has not received an extension or exemption pursuant to paragraph A, the adult and the family of the adult are ineligible for continued TANF assistance beyond that 60-month period.

Sec. 3. Short-term TANF assistance. The Department of Health and Human Services shall provide short-term TANF assistance for a maximum of 6 months for a family that becomes ineligible between October 1, 2011 and December 31, 2011 due to the enactment of the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 22, section 3762, subsection 18 if the adult members of the family comply in all respects with TANF program rules.

Sec. 4. Rule-making authorization. The Department of Health and Human Services is authorized to adopt emergency rules under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 5, section 8054 in order to implement the provisions of this Act without the necessity of demonstrating pursuant to Title 5, section 8054, subsection 2 that immediate adoption is necessary to avoid a threat to public health, safety or general welfare.’

summary

This amendment is the majority report of the committee. It removes the municipal general assistance provision and the effective date from the bill. Beginning October 1, 2011, it limits the length of time an adult may receive TANF assistance to 60 months in the aggregate, subject to exemptions and extensions according to rules adopted by the Department of Health and Human Services, and imposes disqualification on a family when an adult in that family has received benefits for 60 months. For a family that becomes ineligible between October 1, 2011 and December 31, 2011 due to the enactment of the 60-month limit, the amendment provides for 6 months of benefits in some circumstances. It designates the rules adopted by the Department of Health and Human Services as routine technical rules. The amendment authorizes the Department of Health and Human Services to adopt emergency rules to implement the provisions of the legislation without the necessity of demonstrating that immediate adoption is necessary to avoid a threat to public health, safety or general welfare.

FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED
(See attached)


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