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An Act To Prioritize Use of Available Resources in General Assistance Programs
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  22 MRSA §4301, sub-§12-B  is enacted to read:
 
12-B.  Potential resource.     "Potential resource" means any resource that may be available, including, but not limited to, any state or federal assistance program, employment benefits, governmental or private pension programs, available trust funds, support from legally liable relatives, child support payments and jointly held resources in which the applicant or recipient share may be available to the individual.
Sec. 2. 22 MRSA §4317, first ¶, as amended by PL 1993, c. 410, Pt. AAA, §11, is further amended to read:
An applicant or recipient must make a good faith effort to secure any potential resource that may be available, including, but not limited to, any state or federal assistance program, employment benefits, governmental or private pension programs, available trust funds, support from legally liable relatives, child-support payments and jointly held resources where the applicant or recipient share may be available to the individual. Assistance may not be withheld pending receipt of such resource as long as application has been made or good faith effort is being made to secure the resource.
Sec. 3. 22 MRSA §4317, 3rd ¶, as amended by PL 1993, c. 410, Pt. AAA, §11, is further amended to read:
An applicant who refuses to utilize potential resources without just cause, after receiving a written 7-day notice, is disqualified from receiving assistance until the applicant has made a good faith effort to secure the resource. It is the responsibility of the applicant to establish the presence of just cause.
Sec. 4.  22 MRSA §4317-A  is enacted to read:
§ 4317-A. Use of available resources
 
1.  Definition.     For the purposes of this section, "available resource" means any resource that is immediately available or can be secured without delay, including but not limited to cash on hand or in bank accounts, support from relatives, any state, federal or nonprofit health or social service provider assistance or any housing, employment or unemployment assistance that an applicant is receiving or immediately eligible to receive.
 
2.  Abandonment and refusal to use available resource.     An applicant who abandons or refuses to use an available resource without just cause is not eligible to receive general assistance to replace the abandoned or refused resource for a period of 120 days from the date the applicant abandoned or refused to use the resource. A resource is considered abandoned if the applicant without just cause voluntarily terminates receipt of an available resource. It is the responsibility of the applicant to establish the presence of just cause.
 
3.  Forfeiture of benefits.     An applicant who forfeits receipt of or causes reduction in benefits from an available resource because of fraud, misrepresentation or a knowing or intentional violation of a rule governing an available resource or a refusal to comply with a rule governing an available resource without just cause is not eligible to receive general assistance to replace the forfeited benefits for the duration of a sanction imposed on the applicant for violation of a rule governing an available resource or 120 days, whichever is greater. It is the responsibility of the applicant to establish the presence of just cause.
 
4.  Just cause.     For the purposes of this section, just cause must be found when there is reasonable and verifiable evidence of:
 
A.  An unreasonable requirement placed on the applicant or applicant's family by the provider of the available resource that interferes with any right secured by the United States Constitution or secured by the Constitution of Maine;
 
B.  Discrimination on the basis of religion, ethnicity, age, race, color, gender, sexual orientation, national origin or disability;
 
C.  The use of the available resource jeopardizing the health or safety of an applicant or applicant's family;
 
D.  A natural disaster that makes the available resource uninhabitable or unavailable;
 
E.  Abandonment of shelter housing in order to obtain permanent housing;
 
F.  Inability to access available resources due to a lack of public or private transportation or medical illness or injury;
 
G.  Just cause as defined in section 4316-A, subsection 5; or
 
H.  Any other evidence that is reasonable and appropriate.
 
Failure of an otherwise eligible person to comply with this section may not affect the general assistance eligibility of any member of the person's household.
 
SUMMARY
This bill makes an applicant for general assistance who voluntarily abandons or refuses to use an available resource without just cause ineligible to receive general assistance to replace the abandoned resource for a period of 120 days from the date the applicant abandons the resource. The bill defines "available resource" as a resource that is immediately available or can be secured without delay. The bill also makes an applicant who forfeits an available resource due to fraud, misrepresentation or intentional violation or refusal to comply with rules without just cause ineligible to receive general assistance to replace the forfeited resource for the duration of the sanction imposed on the applicant for violation of a rule or 120 days, whichever is greater. The bill identifies circumstances relating to use of an available resource under which just cause must be found.