PLEASE NOTE: Legislative Information cannot perform research, provide legal advice, or interpret Maine law. For legal assistance, please contact a qualified attorney.
Amend the bill by striking out the title and substituting the following:
‘An Act Relating to the Costs of Administering General Assistance’
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and before the summary 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 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.  Municipal administrative expenses.     Each municipality and Indian tribe is responsible for 30% of the costs incurred for its general assistance program. Costs accrued by the municipality or the tribe for administering its general assistance program must be included in the municipality's or tribe's 30% of costs as long as the department determines that the costs are appropriate. The department shall adopt rules to determine appropriate costs for administration. Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A. For the purposes of this subsection, "Indian tribe" has the same meaning as in section 411, subsection 8-A.
Sec. 3. Appropriations and allocations. The following appropriations and allocations are made.
 
HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF (FORMERLY DHS)
 
General Assistance - Reimbursement to Cities and Towns 0130
 
Initiative: Provides funding to account for increased costs to the State for the general assistance program due to the inclusion of administrative costs in the 30% of general assistance costs that are the responsibility of municipalities.

GENERAL FUND	2017-18	2018-19	
All Other	$3,433,962	$3,433,962	
			
GENERAL FUND TOTAL	$3,433,962	$3,433,962	
 
’
 
SUMMARY
This amendment, which is the majority report of the committee, replaces the bill and changes the title. It requires a municipality or Indian tribe to be responsible for 30% of the costs of its general assistance program and specifies that the costs incurred by the municipality or Indian tribe for administering the program count toward the 30%. It requires the Department of Health and Human Services to adopt routine technical rules to establish appropriate costs for administration.
This amendment also provides funding for increased costs to the State for the general assistance program.
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED
(See attached)