Legislative Session number- 81

Bill Name: SF1526

Modifying certain provisions relating to the Minnesota family investment
program-statewide; providing for funding of the food stamp employment and
training program under general assistance (GA), requiring the commissioner of
human services to reimburse the actual costs of county agencies and employment
and training service providers for provision of the services and providing for
allocation; making the Minnesota food assistance program for legal noncitizens
under general assistance permanent; requiring the commissioner to review the
denial of applications for maintenance benefits and require recipients to file
an appeal under certain conditions; defining and redefining certain terms under
MFIP-S and changing certain references to MFIP-S to MFIP; updating the provision
providing eligibility for the food portions for noncitizens and clarifying the
eligibility of legal noncitizens for state funded benefits in general;
clarifying the residency requirement and modifying certain exceptions to the
requirement; clarifying the requirement for the payment of benefits in the form
of protective payments for minor parents; excluding certain vehicles and related
equipment from the motor vehicle property limit and clarifying the mobile home
exclusion for eligibility purposes; excluding reimbursement for informal
carpooling arrangements relating to employment from income determination and
modifying the exclusion for income earned by a minor caregiver or child;
modifying the earned income disregard for initial and ongoing eligibility
determination purposes and clarifying a certain requirement for assistance
payment suspension relating to monthly income; clarifying the required
composition of an assistance unit and eliminating the exclusion from MFIP
eligibility of individuals living at home while performing court imposed
community service work due to criminal conviction; modifying or clarifying
certain assistance standards; requiring the commissioner to adjust the MFIP
earned income disregard to ensure continued eligibility until reaching a certain
percentage of the federal poverty guidelines; modifying the eligibility of
convicted drug offenders; modifying the procedure for handling incomplete
household report forms and certain change reporting and notice of adverse action
requirements; providing for the continued accrual of months of eligibility for
child care and medical assistance (MA) by participants choosing to discontinue
the receipt of cash assistance; modifying certain factors to be verified by the
county agency at application and expanding eligibility recertification
requirements; requiring county agencies to use prospective budgeting for a
certain amount of time for persons applying to be added to an assistance unit;
providing for supplemental assistance payments in lieu of budget adjustments for
significant changes in gross income; including the interstate payment standard
in the calculation of the assistance amount; modifying the deemed income and
assets of sponsors of noncitizens; changing references to the transitional
standard to the applicable MFIP standard in certain provisions providing for the
treatment of unearned income and lump sums, the recovery of overpayments,
ineligible mandatory unit members and certain sanctions; clarifying the
application of the 60 month time limit; exempting certain caregivers exempt from
employment and training requirements from orientation requirements; expanding
eligibility for emergency assistance; modifying the requirement for counties to
provide employment and training services, eliminating the option to provide the
services to certain exempt caretakers; imposing a sanction for failure to attend
the overview of employment and training services without good cause; authorizing
job counselors to require the completion of a professional medical substance
abuse or psychological assessment as a component of a secondary assessment and
imposing a sanction for failure to complete the assessment; requiring both
parents in two parent families to choose the same employment and training
service provider, exception; requiring certain caregivers exempt from employment
and training requirements to apply for supplemental security income or social
security disability benefits; providing for allocation of employment and
training services money to eligible tribal providers and for the allocation of
caseload based funds; limiting concurrent eligibility for benefits; requiring
commissioner periodic reports to counties on performance and specifying certain
measures development requirements and certain requirements for cases of
performance failure; authorizing counties to request commissioner review of
county administrative aid determinations for inaccurate or incomplete
information, requiring adjustment under certain conditions; modifying the
allocation of the aid; requiring the commissioner to regularly review county
eligible expenditures compared to allocation, authorizing reallocation of funds
among counties; requiring the commissioner to by a certain date submit to the
legislature recommendations relating to the implementation of extensions of
assistance to MFIP families including adult caregivers receiving 60 months of
cash assistance funded by the TANF block grant; repealing certain provisions
relating to food stamp employment and training program service costs, the state
plan for the Minnesota food assistance program, support from parents of minor
caregivers living apart and the guaranteed floor and certain allocations of the
county employment and training services block grant (mk)