Amend the bill by striking out the title and substituting the following:
‘Resolve, Directing the Department of Health and Human Services To Implement Administrative Changes To Ensure, within Existing Law and Resources, Access to Assistance by Certain Noncitizens’
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the title and inserting the following:
‘Sec. 1. Access to assistance by certain noncitizens. Resolved: That, within available resources, the Department of Health and Human Services shall take steps to ensure the ability to meet basic needs, including housing and food, for any person who is:
1. Lawfully present in the United States with the knowledge and permission of the United States Department of Homeland Security and whose departure is not required by the United States Department of Homeland Security, including a person described in 45 Code of Federal Regulations, Section 152.2, Subsections (1) to (7) or a person with deferred action under the United States Department of Homeland Security's deferred action for childhood arrivals process; or
2. Pursuing a lawful process to apply for immigration relief under the federal Immigration and Nationality Act and has submitted to the Federal Government a completed application for immigration relief or provides an affidavit or other objective verification that the person is taking all reasonable steps to complete the application process.
The Department of Health and Human Services shall implement administrative rule changes as necessary to ensure that persons described in subsections 1 and 2 who are otherwise eligible are able to access general assistance to the extent allowable pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 22, section 4301, subsection 3; food supplement program benefits in accordance with Title 22, section 3104-A; and temporary assistance for needy families in accordance with Title 22, section 3762, subsection 3. In the case of general assistance, the terms of subsections 1 and 2 reflect the intent of the Legislature in enacting Public Law 2015, chapter 324, section 1, and the department is directed to immediately begin rulemaking to conform the existing general assistance rule to those terms.
The Department of Health and Human Services shall adopt emergency rules under Title 5, section 8054 to implement this section. Rules adopted pursuant to this section are routine technical rules as defined by Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.