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An Act To Build Accountability into the General Assistance Laws
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 22 MRSA §4308, sub-§1, as amended by PL 1993, c. 410, Pt. AAA, §6, is further amended to read:
 
1. Initial and subsequent applications.   Except as provided in section 4316-A, subsection 1-A and section 4317-A, a person who makes an application for assistance, who has not applied for assistance in that or any other municipality must have that person's eligibility determined solely on the basis of need. All applications for general assistance that are not initial applications are repeat applications. The eligibility of repeat applicants must be determined on the basis of need and all other conditions of eligibility established by this chapter and municipal ordinance.
Sec. 2. 22 MRSA §4308, sub-§2, ¶A, as enacted by PL 1985, c. 489, §§5 and 14, is amended to read:
 
A.  A person who is currently disqualified from general assistance for a violation of section 4315, 4316-A or, 4317 or 4317-A is ineligible for emergency assistance under this subsection.
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, 4th ¶, as amended by PL 1993, c. 410, Pt. AAA, §11, is repealed.
Sec. 5.  22 MRSA §4317-A  is enacted to read:
§ 4317-A. Use of available resources
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. A resource is considered abandoned if the applicant without just cause voluntarily terminates receipt of an available resource. Available resources include but are not limited to any private, local, regional or county-based assistance, state or federal assistance, housing, employment, unemployment benefits or food assistance program that the applicant is receiving or immediately eligible to receive. Available resources also include services, commodities or facilities made available by private organizations when the services, commodities or facilities are available and offered at no cost to the applicant.
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 available resource rules, or a refusal to comply with available resource rules without just cause, is not eligible to receive general assistance to replace the forfeited benefits for either the duration of the forfeiture or 120 days, whichever is greater. It is the responsibility of the applicant to establish the presence of just cause.
 
SUMMARY
This bill makes both initial and repeat applicants for general assistance who voluntarily abandon government or private resources without just cause ineligible to receive general assistance to replace the abandoned assistance for a period of 120 days from the date the applicant abandons the resource. The bill also makes an applicant who forfeits government or private resources due to fraud, misrepresentation or intentional violation or refusal to comply with program rules without just cause ineligible to receive general assistance to replace the forfeited assistance for the duration of the forfeiture or 120 days, whichever is greater. Current law provides that an applicant who forfeits government resources is ineligible to receive general assistance for the duration of the forfeiture.