Bills to Watch: Welfare Reform (LDs 182 & 183)

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Sen. Eric Brakey (R-Androscoggin) is the lead sponsor of a pair of bills that would impose new limitations on the duration and eligibility of welfare benefits in Maine.

LD 182, “An Act to Create a 9-month Time Limit on General Assistance Benefits for Able-bodied Adults Without Dependents,” would establish a nine-month limit on benefits in the General Assistance program for adults who do not have dependents. The full text of the bill is as follows: 

LD 183, “An Act to Incorporate Time Limits on the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program into Municipal General Assistance Programs,” would make changes to the eligibility rules and administration of General Assistance program benefits.

Under LD 183, an individual who has exhausted the 60-month lifetime limit on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program benefits would be ineligible to receive benefits under the General Assistance program, except in certain circumstances. The full text of the bill can be read below: 

Both measures were referred to the Health and Human Services Committee on January 17. Neither bill has been scheduled for a public hearing.