SB0119

SENATE BILL 119

54th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2019

INTRODUCED BY

Pat Woods

AN ACT

RELATING TO PUBLIC ASSISTANCE; AMENDING AND ENACTING SECTIONS OF THE NEW MEXICO WORKS ACT TO PROVIDE FOR REIMPLEMENTATION OF THE EMPLOYMENT RETENTION AND ADVANCEMENT BONUS INCENTIVE PROGRAM AND TO ESTABLISH WORK PARTICIPATION OUTCOME REQUIREMENTS AND REPORTING; MAKING AN APPROPRIATION.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

SECTION 1. Section 27-2B-5 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1998, Chapter 8, Section 5 and Laws 1998, Chapter 9, Section 5, as amended) is amended to read:

"27-2B-5. WORK REQUIREMENTS--WORK PARTICIPATION RATES.--

A. The following qualify as work activities:

(1) unsubsidized employment, including self-employment;

(2) subsidized private sector employment, including self-employment;

(3) subsidized public sector employment;

(4) work experience;

(5) on-the-job training;

(6) job search and job readiness;

(7) community service programs;

(8) vocational education;

(9) job skills training activities directly related to employment;

(10) education directly related to employment;

(11) satisfactory attendance at a secondary school or course of study leading to a high school equivalency credential in the case of a participant who has not completed secondary school or received such a certificate; and

(12) the provision of child care services to a participant who is participating in a community service program.

B. The department shall recognize community service programs and job training programs that are operated by an Indian nation, tribe or pueblo.

C. The department [may] shall not require a participant to work more than four hours per week over the work requirement rate set pursuant to the federal act.

D. The department shall require a parent, caretaker or other adult who is a member of a benefit group to engage in a work activity.

E. Where best suited for the participant to address barriers, the department may require the following work activities:

(1) participating in parenting classes, money management classes or life skills training;

(2) participating in a certified alcohol or drug addiction program;

(3) in the case of a homeless benefit group, finding a home;

(4) in the case of a participant who is a victim of domestic violence, residing in a domestic violence shelter or receiving counseling or treatment or participating in criminal justice activities directed at prosecuting the domestic violence perpetrator for no longer than twenty-four weeks; and

(5) in the case of a participant who does not speak English, participating in a course in English as a second language.

F. Subject to the availability of funds, the department, in cooperation with the workforce solutions department, Indian affairs department and other appropriate state agencies, may develop projects to provide for the placement of participants in work activities, including the following:

(1) participating in unpaid internships with private and government entities;

(2) refurbishing publicly assisted housing;

(3) volunteering at a head start program or a school;

(4) weatherizing low-income housing; and

(5) restoring public sites and buildings, including monuments, parks, fire stations, police buildings, jails, libraries, museums, auditoriums, convention halls, hospitals, buildings for administrative offices and city halls.

G. If a participant is engaged in full-time vocational education studies or an activity set out in Paragraphs (9) through (11) of Subsection A of this section, the participant shall engage in another work activity at the same time. Additionally, for two-parent families that receive federally funded [child-care] child care assistance, the participant's spouse shall engage in a work activity set out in Paragraphs (1) through (5) or (7) of Subsection A of this section unless the participant suffers from a temporary or complete disability that bars the participant from engaging in a work activity or the participant is barred from engaging in a work activity because the participant provides sole care for a person with a disability.

H. A participant engaged in vocational education studies shall make reasonable efforts to obtain a loan, scholarship, grant or other assistance to pay for costs and tuition, and the department shall disregard those amounts in the eligibility determination.

I. For as long as the described conditions exist, the following are exempt from the work requirement:

(1) a participant barred from engaging in a work activity because the participant has a temporary or permanent disability;

(2) a participant over age sixty;

(3) a participant barred from engaging in a work activity because the participant provides the sole care for a person with a disability;

(4) a single custodial parent caring for a child less than twelve months old for a lifetime total of twelve months;

(5) a single custodial parent caring for a child under six years of age if the parent is unable to obtain child care for one or more of the following reasons:

(a) unavailability of appropriate child care within a reasonable distance from the parent's home or work as defined by the children, youth and families department;

(b) unavailability or unsuitability of informal child care by a relative under other arrangements as defined by the children, youth and families department; or

(c) unavailability of appropriate and affordable formal [child-care] child care arrangements as defined by the children, youth and families department;

(6) a pregnant woman during her last trimester of pregnancy;

(7) a participant prevented from working by a temporary emergency or a situation that precludes work participation for thirty days or less;

(8) a participant who demonstrates by reliable medical, psychological or mental reports, court orders or police reports that family violence or threat of family violence effectively bars the participant from employment; and

(9) a participant who demonstrates good cause of the need for the exemption.

J. As a condition of the exemptions identified in Subsection I of this section, the department may establish participation requirements; provided that these requirements are specific to the participant's condition or circumstances [such as]; and provided further that these participation requirements are individualized and limited to those specific to substance abuse services, mental health services, domestic violence services, pursuit of disability benefits, job readiness or education directly related to employment. The activities are established to improve the participant's capacity to improve income and strengthen family support."

SECTION 2. Section 27-2B-7 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1998, Chapter 8, Section 7 and Laws 1998, Chapter 9, Section 7, as amended) is amended to read:

"27-2B-7. FINANCIAL STANDARD OF NEED.--

A. The secretary shall adopt a financial standard of need based upon the availability of federal and state funds and based upon appropriations by the legislature of the available federal temporary assistance for needy families grant made pursuant to the federal act in the following categories:

(1) cash assistance;

(2) child care services;

(3) other services; and

(4) administrative costs.

The legislature shall determine the actual percentage of each category to be used annually of the federal temporary assistance for needy families grant made pursuant to the federal act. Within the New Mexico works program, the department may provide cash assistance or services to specific categories of benefit groups from general funds appropriated to cash assistance or services. The department may exclude these funds from temporary assistance for needy families maintenance of effort. The department shall identify alternative state spending to claim as maintenance of effort and make necessary arrangements to allow reporting of that spending.

B. The following income sources are exempt from the gross income test, the net income test and the cash payment calculation:

(1) medicaid;

(2) food stamps;

(3) government-subsidized foster care payments if the child for whom the payment is received is also excluded from the benefit group;

(4) supplemental security income;

(5) government-subsidized housing or housing payments;

(6) federally excluded income;

(7) educational payments made directly to an educational institution;

(8) government-subsidized child care;

(9) earned income that belongs to a person seventeen years of age or younger who is not the head of household;

(10) child support passed through to the participant by the child support enforcement division of the department in the following amounts:

[(a) fifty dollars ($50.00) per month through December 31, 2008; and

(b) no later than January 1, 2009]

(a) a minimum of one hundred dollars ($100) for one child; and

(b) two hundred dollars ($200) for two or more children as based on the availability of state or federal funds;

(11) earned income deposited in an individual development account by a member of the benefit group or money received as matching funds for allowable uses by the owner of the individual development account pursuant to the Individual Development Account Act; and

(12) other income sources as determined by the department.

C. The total countable gross earned and unearned income of the benefit group cannot exceed eighty-five percent of the federal poverty guidelines for the size of the benefit group.

D. For a benefit group to be eligible to participate:

(1) gross countable income that belongs to the benefit group [must] shall not exceed eighty-five percent of the federal poverty guidelines for the size of the benefit group; and

(2) net countable income that belongs to the benefit group [must] shall not equal or exceed the financial standard of need after applying the disregards set out in Paragraphs (1) through (4) of Subsection E of this section.

E. Subject to the availability of state and federal funds, the department shall determine the cash payment of the benefit group by applying the following disregards to the benefit group's earned income and then subtracting that amount from the benefit group's financial standard of need:

(1) one hundred twenty-five dollars ($125) of monthly earned income and one-half of the remainder, or for a two-parent family, two hundred twenty-five dollars ($225) of monthly earned income and one-half of the remainder for each parent;

(2) monthly payments made for child care at a maximum of two hundred dollars ($200) for a child under two years of age and at a maximum of one hundred seventy-five dollars ($175) for a child two years of age or older;

(3) costs of self-employment income; and

(4) business expenses.

F. In addition to the disregards specified in Subsection E of this section, [and between June 28, 2007 and June 30, 2008, or until implementation of the employment retention and advancement bonus program described in Subsection G of this section] the department shall apply the following income disregards to the benefit group's earned income and then subtract that amount from the benefit group's financial standard of need:

(1) for the first two years of receiving cash assistance or services, if a participant works over the work requirement rate set by the department pursuant to the New Mexico Works Act, one hundred percent of the income earned by the participant beyond that rate; and

(2) for the first two years of receiving cash assistance or services, for a two-parent benefit group in which one parent works more than thirty-five hours per week and the other works more than twenty-four hours per week, one hundred percent of income earned by each participant beyond the work requirement rate set by the department.

G. [No later than July 1, 2008] New Mexico employment incentives shall be as follows:

(1) the department shall implement an employment retention and advancement bonus program based on availability of state or federal funds that includes financial incentives to encourage a participant to:

(a) leave the New Mexico works program and move into an employment retention and advancement bonus incentive program;

(b) maintain a minimum of thirty hours per week employment; and

(c) leave the employment retention and advancement bonus incentive program due to increased earnings above the income eligibility standard and continue employment;

(2) the employment retention and advancement bonus incentive program shall provide a cash bonus and employment services to a former participant who, upon application:

(a) is currently engaged in paid work for a minimum of thirty hours per week;

(b) has received cash assistance for at least three months and one of the last three months;

(d) has participated in the employment retention and advancement bonus incentive program for no longer than eighteen months;

(3) for continued eligibility in the employment retention and advancement bonus incentive program, a participant shall:

(a) be engaged in paid work for thirty hours per week for at least one of the past three months;

(b) be engaged in paid work for thirty hours per week for at least four of the past six months;

(d) have participated in the program no more than eighteen months;

(4) the department shall provide employment services to assist participants in gaining access to available work supports, maintain employment and advance to higher-paying employment; and

(5) the department shall:

(a) establish the amount of bonus to be paid to participants in the employment retention and advancement bonus program based on availability of state and federal funds;

(b) propose rules to implement the employment retention and advancement bonus incentive program of this subsection no later than January 1, 2008; and

(c) begin implementation of the employment retention and advancement bonus incentive program of this subsection no later than July 1, 2008.

H. The department may recover overpayments of cash assistance on a monthly basis not to exceed fifteen percent of the financial standard of need applicable to the benefit group.

I. Based upon the availability of funds and in accordance with the federal act, the secretary may establish a separate temporary assistance for needy families cash assistance program that may waive certain New Mexico Works Act requirements due to a specific situation.

J. Subject to the availability of state and federal funds, the department may limit the eligibility of benefit groups that are eligible because a legal guardian is not included in the benefit group."

SECTION 3. A new section of the New Mexico Works Act is enacted to read:

"[NEW MATERIAL] WORK PARTICIPATION--PERFORMANCE MEASURES.--

A. By December 31, 2019, the secretary shall adopt and promulgate rules to establish performance measures for New Mexico Works Act work participation outcomes. The performance measures shall include, at a minimum:

(1) the following performance measures recorded for each fiscal year related to adult recipients who are not deemed exempt from work participation requirements pursuant to Subsection I of Section 27-2B-5 NMSA 1978:

(a) the number of recipients who have become ineligible for cash assistance due to new work-related income;

(b) the average wage for former recipients who have become ineligible for cash assistance due to work-related income;

(d) the number of two-parent-family recipients who meet work participation requirements;

(e) the number of other recipients who meet work participation requirements;

(f) the number of recipients who are having cash assistance benefits reduced or eliminated due to failure to meet work participation requirements;

(g) the number of recipients who receive child care assistance;

(h) the number of recipients who receive transportation assistance; and

(i) the number of recipients who receive supports other than or in addition to transportation and child care assistance and the type of supports they are receiving; and

(2) the following performance measures recorded for each fiscal year related to adult recipients who are exempt from work participation pursuant to Subsection I of Section 27-2B-5 NMSA 1978:

(a) the number of recipients who meet an exemption from work participation;

(b) a listing of the number of recipients per each reason for exemption provided pursuant to Subsection I of Section 27-2B-5 NMSA 1978;

(d) the number of recipients who receive supports other than or in addition to transportation and child care assistance and the type of supports they are receiving;

(e) the number of exempt recipients who receive child care assistance; and

(f) the number of recipients who have been identified as exempt under Paragraph (1) of Subsection I of Section 27-2B-5 NMSA 1978 who have become ineligible for cash assistance on the basis of receipt of permanent disability income.

B. The secretary shall publish on the department's website in a publicly accessible manner and on the state's sunshine portal website any evaluation that the department performs of work participation outcomes, including those achieved by work participation contractors.

C. The secretary shall establish by rule:

(1) outcome measures for the provision of job placement assistance, educational assistance, transportation assistance, child care assistance and other supports and services that the department specifies for any contractor to achieve through New Mexico Works Act work participation; and

(2) sanctions that the department shall impose on New Mexico Works Act work participation contractors that do not meet department outcome requirements."

SECTION 4. APPROPRIATION.--One million dollars ($1,000,000) is appropriated from the general fund to the human services department for expenditure in fiscal year 2020 to fund the employment retention and advancement bonus incentive program established pursuant to Section 27-2B-7 NMSA 1978. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2020 shall revert to the general fund.

- 17 -