SB0189

SENATE BILL 189

57th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2025

INTRODUCED BY

Elizabeth "Liz" Stefanics and Linda Serrato

and Linda M. Trujillo and Carrie Hamblen

AN ACT

RELATING TO PUBLIC ASSISTANCE; EXPANDING ELIGIBILITY FOR PUBLIC ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS.

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

SECTION 1. Section 27-2B-4 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1998, Chapter 8, Section 4 and Laws 1998, Chapter 9, Section 4, as amended) is amended to read:

"27-2B-4. APPLICATION--RESOURCE PLANNING SESSION--INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY PLANS--PARTICIPATION AGREEMENT--REVIEW PERIODS.--

A. Application for cash assistance or services shall be made to the department. The application shall be in writing or reduced to writing in the manner and on the form prescribed by the department. The application shall be made under oath by an applicant having custody of or residing with a dependent child who is a benefit group member and shall contain a statement of the age of the child, residence, a complete statement of the amount of property in which the applicant has an interest, a statement of all income that the applicant and other benefit group members have at the time of the filing of the application and other information required by the department.

B. The department shall assist an applicant in completing the application for cash assistance or services and shall evaluate an applicant to determine eligibility for all department programs for which the applicant is eligible. The department shall process all expedited [food stamp] supplemental nutrition assistance program benefit applications within two business days of submission, and the department shall deliver expedited [food stamps] supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits to an eligible applicant within seven days of the application.

C. At the time of application for cash assistance and services, an applicant and the department shall identify everyone who is to be counted in the benefit group. Once an application is approved, the participant shall advise the department if there are any changes in the membership of the benefit group.

D. No later than thirty days after an application is filed, the department shall provide to an applicant a resource planning session to ascertain the applicant's immediate needs, assess financial and nonfinancial options, make referrals and act on the application.

E. No later than five days after an application is approved, the department shall provide reimbursement for child care.

F. Whenever the department receives an application for assistance, a verification and record of the applicant's circumstances shall promptly be made to ascertain the facts supporting the application and to obtain other information required by the department. The verification may include a visit to the home of the applicant, as long as the department gives adequate prior notice of the visit to the applicant.

G. No later than fifteen days after an application is approved, the department shall assess the education, skills, prior work experience and employability of the participant.

H. After the initial assessment of skills, the department shall work with the participant to develop an individual responsibility plan that:

(1) sets forth an employment goal for the participant and a plan for moving the participant into employment;

(2) sets forth obligations of the participant that may include a requirement that the participant attend school, maintain certain grades and attendance, keep the participant's school-age children in school, immunize the participant's children or engage in other activities that will help the participant become and remain employed;

(3) is designed to the greatest extent possible to move the participant into whatever employment the participant is capable of handling and to provide additional services as necessary to increase the responsibility and amount of work the participant will handle over time;

(4) describes the services the department may provide so that the participant may obtain and keep employment; and

(5) may require the participant to participate in appropriate services, such as substance abuse, domestic violence or mental health services.

I. The participant and the department shall sign the participant's individual responsibility plan. The department shall not allow a participant to decline to participate in developing an individual responsibility plan. The department shall not waive the requirement that a participant develop an individual responsibility plan. The department shall emphasize the importance of the individual responsibility plan to the participant.

J. If a participant does not develop an individual responsibility plan, refuses to sign an individual responsibility plan or refuses to attend semiannual reviews of an individual responsibility plan, the participant shall be required to enter into a conciliation process pursuant to Subsection C of Section 27-2B-14 NMSA 1978. If the participant persists in noncompliance with the individual responsibility plan process after the conciliation process, the participant shall be subject to sanctions pursuant to Section 27-2B-14 NMSA 1978.

K. The participant shall also sign a participation agreement that designates the number of hours that the participant must participate in work activities to meet participation standards.

L. The department shall review the current financial eligibility of a benefit group when the department reviews [food stamp] supplemental nutrition assistance program eligibility.

M. The department shall meet semiannually with a participant to review and revise the participant's individual responsibility plan.

N. The department shall develop a complaint procedure to address issues pertinent to the delivery of services and other issues relating to a participant's individual responsibility plan."

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] supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits;

(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 minimum of one hundred dollars ($100) for one child and 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 as adjusted by the department 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 not exceed eighty-five percent of the federal poverty guidelines] the total countable gross earned and unearned income of the benefit group cannot exceed the federal poverty guidelines as adjusted by the department for the size of the benefit group; and

(2) net countable income that belongs to the benefit group must 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) no less than one hundred twenty-five dollars ($125) of monthly earned income and one-half of the remainder, or for a two-parent family, no less than 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. Section 27-2B-8 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1998, Chapter 8, Section 8 and Laws 1998, Chapter 9, Section 8, as amended) is amended to read:

"27-2B-8. RESOURCES.--

A. Liquid and nonliquid resources owned by the benefit group shall be counted in the eligibility determination.

B. A benefit group may at a maximum own the following resources:

(1) [two thousand dollars ($2,000)] fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) in nonliquid resources;

(2) [one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500)] fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) in liquid resources, excluding funds deposited in an individual development account established pursuant to the Individual Development Account Act or a qualified tuition program, as defined in Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986;

(3) the value of the principal residence of the participant;

(4) the value of burial plots and funeral contracts for family members; and

(5) the value of work-related equipment up to one thousand dollars ($1,000).

C. Vehicles owned by the benefit group shall not be considered in the determination of resources attributed to the benefit group."

SECTION 4. Section 27-2B-14 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1998, Chapter 8, Section 14 and Laws 1998, Chapter 9, Section 14, as amended by Laws 2003, Chapter 311, Section 5 and Laws 2003, Chapter 432, Section 5) is amended to read:

"27-2B-14. SANCTIONS.--

A. The department shall sanction a member of a benefit group for noncompliance with work requirements or child support requirements.

B. The sanction shall be applied at the following levels:

(1) twenty-five percent reduction of cash assistance for the first occurrence of noncompliance;

(2) fifty percent reduction of cash assistance for the second occurrence of noncompliance; and

(3) [termination of cash assistance and ineligibility to reapply for six months] for the third occurrence of noncompliance, the adult household member who failed to comply shall be removed from the benefit group for up to three months or until the adult household member complies. If the adult household member does not comply by the end of the third month, the cash assistance shall terminate for the entire household until the adult household member complies.

C. Prior to imposing [the first] any new sanction, if the department determines that a participant is not complying with the work participation requirement or child support requirements, the participant shall be required to enter into a conciliation process established by the department to address the noncompliance and to identify good cause for noncompliance or barriers to compliance. For each new instance of noncompliance, the conciliation process shall occur [only once] prior to the imposition of [the] a new sanction. The participant shall have ten working days from the date a conciliation notice is mailed to contact the department to initiate the conciliation process. A participant who fails to initiate the conciliation process shall have a notice of adverse action mailed to [him] the participant after the tenth working day following the date on which the conciliation notice is mailed. Participants who begin but do not complete the conciliation process shall be mailed a notice of adverse action thirty days from the date the original conciliation notice was mailed.

D. Reestablishing compliance shall allow full payment to resume.

E. Noncompliance with reporting requirements may subject a participant to other sanctions, except that an adult member of the benefit group shall not be sanctioned for the failure of a dependent child to attend school.

F. Effective October 1, 2001, the department shall not terminate the medicaid benefits of any member of a benefit group due to imposition of a sanction pursuant to the provisions of this section."

SECTION 5. Section 27-2D-3 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2003, Chapter 317, Section 3, as amended) is amended to read:

"27-2D-3. APPLICATION--RESOURCE PLANNING SESSION--INDIVIDUAL EDUCATION PLAN--REVIEW PERIODS.--

A. Application for cash assistance or services shall be made to the department. The application shall be in writing or reduced to writing in the manner and on the form prescribed by the department. The application shall be made under oath by an applicant with whom a dependent child resides and shall contain a statement of the age of the child, residence, a complete statement of the amount of property in which the applicant has an interest, a statement of all income that the applicant and other benefit group members have at the time of the filing of the application and other information required by the department.

B. The department shall assist applicants in completing the application for cash assistance or services and shall evaluate applicants to determine all department programs for which the applicant may be eligible. The department shall process all expedited [food stamp] supplemental nutrition assistance program benefit applications within two business days of submission, and the department shall deliver expedited [food stamps] supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits to eligible applicants within seven days of the application.

C. At the time of application for cash assistance and services, an applicant and the department shall identify everyone who is to be counted in the benefit group. Once an application is approved, the recipient shall advise the department if there are any changes in the membership of the benefit group.

D. No later than thirty days after an application is filed, the department shall make referrals and act on the application.

E. No later than five days after an application is approved, the department shall provide reimbursement for child care.

G. The department shall work with the recipient to develop an individual educational plan that:

(1) sets forth the educational goal for the recipient, identifies barriers to that goal and identifies the steps to be taken by the recipient to achieve that goal;

(2) describes the services the department may provide so that the recipient may complete the recipient's educational goal; and

(3) provides for meetings with the recipient [every six months or] at the end of each academic term to review the eligibility of the benefit group and to review and revise the recipient's individual education plan.

H. The recipient and the department shall sign the recipient's individual education plan. The department shall:

(1) not allow a recipient to decline to participate in developing an individual education plan;

(2) not waive the requirement that a recipient develop an individual education plan; and

(3) emphasize the importance of the individual education plan to the recipient."

SECTION 6. Section 27-2D-4 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2003, Chapter 317, Section 4, as amended) is amended to read:

"27-2D-4. EDUCATION WORKS PROGRAM--ELIGIBILITY-- RESTRICTIONS--REQUIREMENTS.--

A. A person who is eligible [to] for cash assistance can receive education works services [or cash assistance] if the person demonstrates that:

(1) the person:

(a) does not have a high school diploma or high school equivalency and is seeking to obtain one;

(b) has been accepted or has been determined to be eligible to enroll in a vocational training program; or

(c) has been accepted or has been determined to be eligible to enroll in a two- or four-year post-secondary or graduate or post-graduate degree program; and

(2) the diploma, certificate or degree the person will receive will increase the person's ability to engage in full-time paid employment.

B. A recipient shall not receive cash assistance funded by the temporary assistance for needy families block grant during the period in which the recipient is receiving cash assistance pursuant to the Education Works Act.

C. A recipient shall apply for all financial aid available from the vocational school or post-secondary, graduate or post-graduate educational institution that the recipient attends.

D. During the twenty-four months of participation in the education works program, a recipient shall engage in at least twenty hours per week of class time, studying, work, work-study or volunteering. The department shall assume that a recipient spends one and one-half hours studying for every hour of class time.

E. A recipient [may participate in the education works program for no more than twenty-four months, except that a recipient may participate in the education works program for one additional academic term following the twenty-four-month participation limit, or for two additional academic terms following the twenty-four-month participation limit at the discretion of the director, if doing so will result in the recipient earning a degree] participating in the education works program to obtain a:

(1) high school equivalency or diploma may participate for no more than four months. An additional two months may be allowed at the discretion of the director, if doing so will result in the recipient obtaining the high school equivalency or diploma; or

(2) certification, two-year or four-year degree may participate for no more than twenty-four months, except that a recipient may participate in the education works program for one additional academic term following the twenty-four-month participation limit at the discretion of the director, if doing so will result in the recipient earning a degree.

F. The number of recipients enrolled in the education works program is limited to the number of recipients who can be served by the funds available.

G. For purposes of this section, "work" means work-study, training-related practicums, internships, paid employment, volunteering or any other activity approved by the department."

SECTION 7. Section 27-2D-5 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2003, Chapter 317, Section 5, as amended) is amended to read:

"27-2D-5. FINANCIAL STANDARD OF NEED.--

A. The secretary shall adopt a financial standard of need based upon the availability of state funds.

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] supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits;

(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 minimum of one hundred dollars ($100) for one child and two hundred dollars ($200) for two or more children as based on availability of state and federal funds; and

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

C. The total countable gross earned and unearned income of the benefit group shall not exceed [eighty-five percent of] the federal poverty guidelines as adjusted by the department for the size of the benefit group.

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

(1) the total countable gross earned and unearned income [that belongs to] of the benefit group shall not exceed [eighty-five percent of] the federal poverty guidelines as adjusted by the department for the size of the benefit group; and

(2) earned and unearned income that belongs to the benefit group 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 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:

(2) monthly payments made for child care at a maximum of two hundred dollars ($200) for a child under two years of age and 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 in the New Mexico Works Act, 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:

G. 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.

H. 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 8. Section 27-2D-6 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2003, Chapter 317, Section 6, as amended) is amended to read:

"27-2D-6. RESOURCES.--

A. Liquid and nonliquid resources owned by the benefit group shall be counted in the eligibility determination.

B. A benefit group may at a maximum own the following resources:

(1) [two thousand dollars ($2,000)] fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) in nonliquid resources;

(2) [one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500)] fifteen thousand ($15,000) in liquid resources, excluding funds deposited in an individual development account established pursuant to the Individual Development Account Act or a qualified tuition program, as defined in Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986;

(3) the value of the principal residence of the participant;

(4) the value of burial plots and funeral contracts for family members; and

(5) the value of work-related equipment up to one thousand dollars ($1,000).

C. Vehicles owned by the benefit group shall not be considered in the determination of resources attributed to the benefit group."

SECTION 9. Section 27-2D-9 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2003, Chapter 317, Section 9) is amended to read:

"27-2D-9. SATISFACTORY PARTICIPATION.--

A. To maintain satisfactory participation in the education works program, a recipient shall:

(1) be a full-time student as defined by the school that the recipient attends if the recipient is attending a two-year, four-year or post-graduate school program; or

(2) follow the terms agreed upon with a high school equivalency, technical or vocational training institution if the recipient is participating in a high school equivalency, technical or vocational training program.

B. A recipient may demonstrate good cause for failure to maintain satisfactory participation in the education works program, and must work with the department to address the barrier, in any month of participation for the following reasons:

(1) extended illness or injury of the recipient;

(2) the recipient is the primary caretaker for a special needs child or an ill or aging parent; or

(3) the recipient has been assessed to have a learning disability or a mental or physical health problem.

C. If a recipient falls below the academic standard of the school in one academic term, [he] the recipient shall be placed on probationary status for one academic term to improve [his] the recipient's grades. If a recipient's overall grade point average falls below 2.0 based on a four-point system, the department shall place [him] the recipient on probation for a maximum of two academic terms to allow [him] the recipient to bring up [his] the recipient's overall grade point average.

D. If a recipient fails to complete necessary educational requirements, the department shall remove the recipient from the education works program.

[D.] E. A recipient shall:

(1) attend classes as scheduled and participate as required by the standard of the school;

(2) report to the department a change that may affect the benefit group's eligibility for or anything that may affect the [recipients] recipient's ability to participate in the education works program;

(3) provide the department with copies of any financial aid award letters; and

(4) provide the department with copies of [his] the recipient's grades as they become available.

[E.] F. If a recipient does not comply with Subsection C of this section or with the provisions of the Education Works Act, the department may require the recipient to apply for public assistance pursuant to the New Mexico Works Act. This decision shall be made in writing, and the recipient shall have the opportunity to appeal the decision."

SECTION 10. CONTINGENT EFFECTIVE DATE.--The provisions of this act become effective upon enactment into law of an appropriation for expanding eligibility for the public assistance programs created by the New Mexico Works Act and the Education Works Act in the General Appropriation Act of 2025, the General Appropriation Act of 2026 or the General Appropriation Act of 2027. The secretary of health care authority shall notify the New Mexico compilation commission and the director of the legislative council service by July 1, 2027 that the authority has received the necessary appropriation in one of those acts.

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