2006 New Mexico Statutes - Section 27-2B-7 — Financial standard of need.

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.   

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)     fifty dollars ($50.00) of collected child support passed through to the participant by the department's child support enforcement program; 

(11)     earned income deposited in a family opportunity account by a member of the benefit group or money received as matching funds for allowable uses by the owner of the family opportunity account pursuant to the Family Opportunity Accounts Act [ 58-30-1 NMSA 1978]; 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 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 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)     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 [ 27-2B-1 NMSA 1978], one hundred percent of the income earned by the participant beyond that rate; 

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

(3)     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; 

(4)     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; 

(5)     costs of self-employment income; and 

(6)     business expenses.   

F.     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.