HF 1617

as introduced - 82nd Legislature (2001 - 2002) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to poverty; repealing the five-year limit on 
  1.3             assistance to needy families; amending Minnesota 
  1.4             Statutes 2000, sections 256J.32, subdivision 4; and 
  1.5             256J.43, subdivision 1; repealing Minnesota Statutes 
  1.6             2000, section 256J.42. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  [ANTIPOVERTY GOAL.] 
  1.9      The state shall set policies and use its resources to put a 
  1.10  time limit on poverty, instead of a time limit on assistance for 
  1.11  families living in poverty.  The state will eliminate the time 
  1.12  limit on welfare and ensure that not one child or family living 
  1.13  in poverty is without needed assistance.  The state shall work 
  1.14  to bring all families out of poverty by creating livable wage 
  1.15  jobs, affordable housing, affordable child care, affordable 
  1.16  education, and health care for all. 
  1.17     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 256J.32, 
  1.18  subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
  1.19     Subd. 4.  [FACTORS TO BE VERIFIED.] The county agency shall 
  1.20  verify the following at application: 
  1.21     (1) identity of adults; 
  1.22     (2) presence of the minor child in the home, if 
  1.23  questionable; 
  1.24     (3) relationship of a minor child to caregivers in the 
  1.25  assistance unit; 
  1.26     (4) age, if necessary to determine MFIP eligibility; 
  2.1      (5) immigration status; 
  2.2      (6) social security number according to the requirements of 
  2.3   section 256J.30, subdivision 12; 
  2.4      (7) income; 
  2.5      (8) self-employment expenses used as a deduction; 
  2.6      (9) source and purpose of deposits and withdrawals from 
  2.7   business accounts; 
  2.8      (10) spousal support and child support payments made to 
  2.9   persons outside the household; 
  2.10     (11) real property; 
  2.11     (12) vehicles; 
  2.12     (13) checking and savings accounts; 
  2.13     (14) savings certificates, savings bonds, stocks, and 
  2.14  individual retirement accounts; 
  2.15     (15) pregnancy, if related to eligibility; 
  2.16     (16) inconsistent information, if related to eligibility; 
  2.17     (17) medical insurance; 
  2.18     (18) burial accounts; 
  2.19     (19) school attendance, if related to eligibility; 
  2.20     (20) residence; 
  2.21     (21) a claim of domestic violence if used as a basis for a 
  2.22  deferral or exemption from the 60-month time limit in section 
  2.23  256J.42 or employment and training services requirements in 
  2.24  section 256J.56; 
  2.25     (22) disability if used as an exemption from employment and 
  2.26  training services requirements under section 256J.56; and 
  2.27     (23) information needed to establish an exception under 
  2.28  section 256J.24, subdivision 9. 
  2.29     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 256J.43, 
  2.30  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  2.31     Subdivision 1.  [PAYMENT.] (a) Effective July 1, 1997, the 
  2.32  amount of assistance paid to an eligible unit in which all 
  2.33  members have resided in this state for fewer than 12 consecutive 
  2.34  calendar months immediately preceding the date of application 
  2.35  shall be the lesser of either the interstate transitional 
  2.36  standard that would have been received by the assistance unit 
  3.1   from the state of immediate prior residence, or the amount 
  3.2   calculated in accordance with MFIP standards.  The lesser 
  3.3   payment must continue until the assistance unit meets the 
  3.4   12-month requirement.  An assistance unit that has not resided 
  3.5   in Minnesota for 12 months from the date of application is not 
  3.6   exempt from the interstate transitional standards provisions 
  3.7   solely because a child is born in Minnesota to a member of the 
  3.8   assistance unit.  Payment must be calculated by applying this 
  3.9   MFIP's budgeting policies, and the unit's net income must be 
  3.10  deducted from the payment standard in the other state or the 
  3.11  MFIP transitional or shared household standard in this state, 
  3.12  whichever is lower.  Payment shall be made in vendor form for 
  3.13  shelter and utilities, up to the limit of the grant amount, and 
  3.14  residual amounts, if any, shall be paid directly to the 
  3.15  assistance unit. 
  3.16     (b) During the first 12 months an assistance unit resides 
  3.17  in this state, the number of months that a unit is eligible to 
  3.18  receive MFIP benefits is limited to the number of months the 
  3.19  assistance unit would have been eligible to receive similar 
  3.20  benefits in the state of immediate prior residence. 
  3.21     (c) This policy applies whether or not the assistance unit 
  3.22  received similar benefits while residing in the state of 
  3.23  previous residence. 
  3.24     (d) When an assistance unit moves to this state from 
  3.25  another state where the assistance unit has exhausted that 
  3.26  state's time limit for receiving benefits under that state's 
  3.27  TANF program, the unit will not be eligible to receive any MFIP 
  3.28  benefits in this state for 12 months from the date the 
  3.29  assistance unit moves here. 
  3.30     (e) (c) For the purposes of this section, "state of 
  3.31  immediate prior residence" means: 
  3.32     (1) the state in which the applicant declares the applicant 
  3.33  spent the most time in the 30 days prior to moving to this 
  3.34  state; or 
  3.35     (2) the state in which an applicant who is a migrant worker 
  3.36  maintains a home. 
  4.1      (f) (d) The commissioner shall annually verify and update 
  4.2   all other states' payment standards as they are to be in effect 
  4.3   in July of each year. 
  4.4      (g) (e) Applicants must provide verification of their state 
  4.5   of immediate prior residence, in the form of tax statements, a 
  4.6   driver's license, automobile registration, rent receipts, or 
  4.7   other forms of verification approved by the commissioner. 
  4.8      (h) (f) Migrant workers, as defined in section 256J.08, and 
  4.9   their immediate families are exempt from this section, provided 
  4.10  the migrant worker provides verification that the migrant family 
  4.11  worked in this state within the last 12 months and earned at 
  4.12  least $1,000 in gross wages during the time the migrant worker 
  4.13  worked in this state. 
  4.14     Sec. 4.  [REPEALER.] 
  4.15     Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 256J.42, is repealed.