1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to human services programs; requiring the 
  1.3             commissioner of human services to deny benefits to 
  1.4             individuals with prior felony convictions; amending 
  1.5             Minnesota Statutes 1995 Supplement, sections 256.73, 
  1.6             subdivision 3a; 256D.03, subdivision 3; and 256D.05, 
  1.7             subdivision 7; proposing coding for new law in 
  1.8             Minnesota Statutes, chapter 256B. 
  1.9   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.10     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1995 Supplement, section 
  1.11  256.73, subdivision 3a, is amended to read: 
  1.12     Subd. 3a.  [PERSONS INELIGIBLE.] No assistance shall be 
  1.13  given under sections 256.72 to 256.87:  
  1.14     (1) on behalf of any person who is receiving supplemental 
  1.15  security income under title XVI of the Social Security Act 
  1.16  unless permitted by federal regulations; 
  1.17     (2) for any month in which the assistance unit's gross 
  1.18  income, without application of deductions or disregards, exceeds 
  1.19  185 percent of the standard of need for a family of the same 
  1.20  size and composition; except that the earnings of a dependent 
  1.21  child who is a full-time student may be disregarded for six 
  1.22  months per calendar year and the earnings of a dependent child 
  1.23  that are derived from the Jobs Training and Partnership Act 
  1.24  (JTPA) may be disregarded for six months per calendar year.  
  1.25  These two earnings disregards cannot be combined to allow more 
  1.26  than a total of six months per calendar year when the earned 
  1.27  income of a full-time student is derived from participation in a 
  2.1   program under the JTPA.  If a stepparent's income is taken into 
  2.2   account in determining need, the disregards specified in section 
  2.3   256.74, subdivision 1a, shall be applied to determine income 
  2.4   available to the assistance unit before calculating the unit's 
  2.5   gross income for purposes of this paragraph.  If a stepparent's 
  2.6   needs are included in the assistance unit as specified in 
  2.7   section 256.74, subdivision 1, the disregards specified in 
  2.8   section 256.74, subdivision 1, shall be applied. 
  2.9      (3) to any assistance unit for any month in which any 
  2.10  caretaker relative with whom the child is living is, on the last 
  2.11  day of that month, participating in a strike; 
  2.12     (4) on behalf of any other individual in the assistance 
  2.13  unit, nor shall the individual's needs be taken into account for 
  2.14  any month in which, on the last day of the month, the individual 
  2.15  is participating in a strike; 
  2.16     (5) on behalf of any individual who is the principal earner 
  2.17  in an assistance unit whose eligibility is based on the 
  2.18  unemployment of a parent when the principal earner, without good 
  2.19  cause, fails or refuses to accept employment, or to register 
  2.20  with a public employment office, unless the principal earner is 
  2.21  exempt from these work requirements; 
  2.22     (6) on behalf of any individual who has been convicted 
  2.23  under the laws of this state or any other state, or under 
  2.24  federal law, of a crime which would be a felony under section 
  2.25  609.02, subdivision 2, unless five years have elapsed since the 
  2.26  individual's sentence was discharged. 
  2.27     Sec. 2.  [256B.0551] [PERSONS INELIGIBLE.] 
  2.28     No medical assistance benefits shall be provided to any 
  2.29  person who has been convicted under the laws of this state or 
  2.30  any other state, or under federal law, of a crime which would be 
  2.31  a felony under section 609.02, subdivision 2. 
  2.32     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1995 Supplement, section 
  2.33  256D.03, subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  2.34     Subd. 3.  [GENERAL ASSISTANCE MEDICAL CARE; ELIGIBILITY.] 
  2.35  (a) General assistance medical care may be paid for any person 
  2.36  who is not eligible for medical assistance under chapter 256B, 
  3.1   including eligibility for medical assistance based on a 
  3.2   spenddown of excess income according to section 256B.056, 
  3.3   subdivision 5, and: 
  3.4      (1) who is receiving assistance under section 256D.05 or 
  3.5   256D.051, or who is having a payment made on the person's behalf 
  3.6   under sections 256I.01 to 256I.06; or 
  3.7      (2)(i) who is a resident of Minnesota; and whose equity in 
  3.8   assets is not in excess of $1,000 per assistance unit.  No asset 
  3.9   test shall be applied to children and their parents living in 
  3.10  the same household.  Exempt assets, the reduction of excess 
  3.11  assets, and the waiver of excess assets must conform to the 
  3.12  medical assistance program in chapter 256B, with the following 
  3.13  exception:  the maximum amount of undistributed funds in a trust 
  3.14  that could be distributed to or on behalf of the beneficiary by 
  3.15  the trustee, assuming the full exercise of the trustee's 
  3.16  discretion under the terms of the trust, must be applied toward 
  3.17  the asset maximum; and 
  3.18     (ii) who has countable income not in excess of the 
  3.19  assistance standards established in section 256B.056, 
  3.20  subdivision 4, or whose excess income is spent down pursuant to 
  3.21  section 256B.056, subdivision 5, using a six-month budget 
  3.22  period, except that a one-month budget period must be used for 
  3.23  recipients residing in a long-term care facility.  The method 
  3.24  for calculating earned income disregards and deductions for a 
  3.25  person who resides with a dependent child under age 21 shall be 
  3.26  as specified in section 256.74, subdivision 1.  However, if a 
  3.27  disregard of $30 and one-third of the remainder described in 
  3.28  section 256.74, subdivision 1, clause (4), has been applied to 
  3.29  the wage earner's income, the disregard shall not be applied 
  3.30  again until the wage earner's income has not been considered in 
  3.31  an eligibility determination for general assistance, general 
  3.32  assistance medical care, medical assistance, or aid to families 
  3.33  with dependent children for 12 consecutive months.  The earned 
  3.34  income and work expense deductions for a person who does not 
  3.35  reside with a dependent child under age 21 shall be the same as 
  3.36  the method used to determine eligibility for a person under 
  4.1   section 256D.06, subdivision 1, except the disregard of the 
  4.2   first $50 of earned income is not allowed; or 
  4.3      (3) who would be eligible for medical assistance except 
  4.4   that the person resides in a facility that is determined by the 
  4.5   commissioner or the federal health care financing administration 
  4.6   to be an institution for mental diseases. 
  4.7      (b) Eligibility is available for the month of application, 
  4.8   and for three months prior to application if the person was 
  4.9   eligible in those prior months.  A redetermination of 
  4.10  eligibility must occur every 12 months. 
  4.11     (c) General assistance medical care is not available for a 
  4.12  person who has been convicted under the laws of this state or 
  4.13  any other state, or under federal law, of a crime which would be 
  4.14  a felony under section 609.02, subdivision 2, unless five years 
  4.15  have elapsed since the person's sentence was discharged.  
  4.16  General assistance medical care is not available for persons in 
  4.17  a correctional facility unless the person is detained by law for 
  4.18  less than one year in a county correctional or detention 
  4.19  facility as a person accused or convicted of a crime, or 
  4.20  admitted as an inpatient to a hospital on a criminal hold order, 
  4.21  and the person is a recipient of general assistance medical care 
  4.22  at the time the person is detained by law or admitted on a 
  4.23  criminal hold order and as long as the person continues to meet 
  4.24  other eligibility requirements of this subdivision.  
  4.25     (d) General assistance medical care is not available for 
  4.26  applicants or recipients who do not cooperate with the county 
  4.27  agency to meet the requirements of medical assistance. 
  4.28     (e) In determining the amount of assets of an individual, 
  4.29  there shall be included any asset or interest in an asset, 
  4.30  including an asset excluded under paragraph (a), that was given 
  4.31  away, sold, or disposed of for less than fair market value 
  4.32  within the 60 months preceding application for general 
  4.33  assistance medical care or during the period of eligibility.  
  4.34  Any transfer described in this paragraph shall be presumed to 
  4.35  have been for the purpose of establishing eligibility for 
  4.36  general assistance medical care, unless the individual furnishes 
  5.1   convincing evidence to establish that the transaction was 
  5.2   exclusively for another purpose.  For purposes of this 
  5.3   paragraph, the value of the asset or interest shall be the fair 
  5.4   market value at the time it was given away, sold, or disposed 
  5.5   of, less the amount of compensation received.  For any 
  5.6   uncompensated transfer, the number of months of ineligibility, 
  5.7   including partial months, shall be calculated by dividing the 
  5.8   uncompensated transfer amount by the average monthly per person 
  5.9   payment made by the medical assistance program to skilled 
  5.10  nursing facilities for the previous calendar year.  The 
  5.11  individual shall remain ineligible until this fixed period has 
  5.12  expired.  The period of ineligibility may exceed 30 months, and 
  5.13  a reapplication for benefits after 30 months from the date of 
  5.14  the transfer shall not result in eligibility unless and until 
  5.15  the period of ineligibility has expired.  The period of 
  5.16  ineligibility begins in the month the transfer was reported to 
  5.17  the county agency, or if the transfer was not reported, the 
  5.18  month in which the county agency discovered the transfer, 
  5.19  whichever comes first.  For applicants, the period of 
  5.20  ineligibility begins on the date of the first approved 
  5.21  application. 
  5.22     (f)(1) Beginning October 1, 1993, an undocumented alien or 
  5.23  a nonimmigrant is ineligible for general assistance medical care 
  5.24  other than emergency services.  For purposes of this 
  5.25  subdivision, a nonimmigrant is an individual in one or more of 
  5.26  the classes listed in United States Code, title 8, section 
  5.27  1101(a)(15), and an undocumented alien is an individual who 
  5.28  resides in the United States without the approval or 
  5.29  acquiescence of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. 
  5.30     (2) This subdivision does not apply to a child under age 
  5.31  18, to a Cuban or Haitian entrant as defined in Public Law 
  5.32  Number 96-422, section 501(e)(1) or (2)(a), or to an alien who 
  5.33  is aged, blind, or disabled as defined in United States Code, 
  5.34  title 42, section 1382c(a)(1). 
  5.35     (3) For purposes of paragraph (f), "emergency services" has 
  5.36  the meaning given in Code of Federal Regulations, title 42, 
  6.1   section 440.255(b)(1), except that it also means services 
  6.2   rendered because of suspected or actual pesticide poisoning. 
  6.3      Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1995 Supplement, section 
  6.4   256D.05, subdivision 7, is amended to read: 
  6.5      Subd. 7.  [INELIGIBILITY FOR GENERAL ASSISTANCE.] No person 
  6.6   shall be eligible for general assistance during a period of 
  6.7   disqualification because of sanctions, from any federally aided 
  6.8   assistance program; or if the person could be considered an 
  6.9   essential person under section 256.74, subdivision 1.  General 
  6.10  assistance benefits shall not be provided to a person who has 
  6.11  been convicted under the laws of this state or any other state, 
  6.12  or under federal law, of a crime which would be a felony under 
  6.13  section 609.02, subdivision 2, unless five years have elapsed 
  6.14  since the person's sentence was discharged. 
  6.15     Sec. 5.  [WAIVER AUTHORITY.] 
  6.16     The commissioner of human services shall seek federal 
  6.17  waivers as necessary to implement sections 1 to 4.