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An Act To Expand Transitional Assistance for Families
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 22 MRSA §3762, sub-§8, ¶B, as amended by PL 2009, c. 291, §6, is further amended to read:
 
B. The department shall provide limited transitional transportation benefits to meet employment-related costs to ASPIRE-TANF program participants who lose eligibility for TANF assistance due to employment. The department may also make transitional transportation benefits available to families in which one or both adults are working and who, although they remain financially eligible for TANF benefits, request that their benefits be terminated. Benefits may be provided for up to 12 months following loss of TANF eligibility. The department may adopt rules that impose a weekly limit on available transitional transportation benefits and that require a contribution from each participant toward the cost of transportation.
Sec. 2. Rules on transitional transportation assistance. The Department of Health and Human Services shall amend the rules on transitional transportation assistance for families who lose eligibility for benefits under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program due to increased employment income. The amended rules must allow those families up to one year after termination from TANF assistance to apply for transitional transportation assistance. Rules adopted pursuant to this section are routine technical rules as defined in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
 
Effective 90 days following adjournment of the 126th Legislature, First Regular Session, unless otherwise indicated.