An Act To Set Aside Funds from Federal Block Grants for Certain Communities

Sec. 1. 22 MRSA §51  is enacted to read:

§ 51.  Block grant set aside; vulnerable communities and Indian tribes

Notwithstanding section 5327 or any other provision of law to the contrary, for each block grant received by the department from the Federal Government, the department shall annually set aside an amount equal to 20% of the total amount of the block grant to be awarded to the most vulnerable communities in the State, as determined by the department by rule, and an amount equal to 10% of the total amount of the block grant to be awarded to federally recognized Indian nations, tribes and bands in the State. The department shall adopt rules to implement this section. Rules adopted pursuant to this section are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.

summary

This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services to annually set aside 20% of each federal block grant it receives for the most vulnerable communities in the State and 10% of each federal block grant it receives for federally recognized Indian nations, tribes and bands in the State.