127th MAINE LEGISLATURE
		LD 1268		LR 1547(02)
	An Act To Reform Welfare by Establishing Bridges to Sustainable Employment
	Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment " "
	Committee: Health and Human Services
	Fiscal Note Required: Yes
Fiscal Note
			FY 2015-16	FY 2016-17	Projections  FY 2017-18	Projections  FY 2018-19
Appropriations/Allocations
	Federal Block Grant Fund		$0	$28,952,909	$27,733,119	$27,775,901
Revenue
	Federal Block Grant Fund		$0	$28,952,909	$27,733,119	$27,775,901
Fiscal Detail and Notes
	This bill includes a Federal Block Grant Fund allocation to the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) of $28,952,909 in fiscal year 2016-17 to establish a service delivery model with different pathways that are based on the levels of education, work experience, family physical and mental health and other conditions that affect a person’s ability to work, to establish a Transitional Jobs Program for families unable to find employment through conventional means and collect performance data on the program and to change the eligibility for the Parents as Scholars program so that families that do not qualify for TANF but earn no more than 150% of the federal poverty level qualify. It also will require the DHHS to enhance some technologies to collect data related to the performance of the TANF program, including reducing poverty rates and food insecurity, improving educational attainment, employment and income levels and to set benchmarks to measure improvement and success of the TANF program. Finally, it establishes an independent citizen oversight committee to monitor the DHHS’s progress with respect to meeting benchmarks for success of the TANF program. This bill requires any administrative, technological or other costs associated with the changes to the TANF program outlined in this bill to be funded by utilizing the federal funding within the State Family Assistance Grant of the TANF program.
	The Maine State Housing Authority expects that the costs to administer the housing assistance program will be covered by the provisions included in this legislation and no General Fund appropriations will be required.