1998 Minnesota Code
Chapters 245 - 267 Public Welfare and Related Activities
Chapter 256J Minnesota Family Investment Program--statewide
Section 256J.43 Interstate payment standards.

256J.43 Interstate payment standards.

Subdivision 1. Payment. (a) Effective July 1, 1997, the amount of assistance paid to an eligible unit in which all members have resided in this state for fewer than 12 consecutive calendar months immediately preceding the date of application shall be the lesser of either the interstate transitional standard that would have been received by the assistance unit from the state of immediate prior residence, or the amount calculated in accordance with AFDC or MFIP-S standards. The lesser payment must continue until the assistance unit meets the 12-month requirement. An assistance unit that has not resided in Minnesota for 12 months from the date of application is not exempt from the interstate payment provisions solely because a child is born in Minnesota to a member of the assistance unit. Payment must be calculated by applying this state's budgeting policies, and the unit's net income must be deducted from the payment standard in the other state or in this state, whichever is lower. Payment shall be made in vendor form for shelter and utilities, up to the limit of the grant amount, and residual amounts, if any, shall be paid directly to the assistance unit.

(b) During the first 12 months an assistance unit resides in this state, the number of months that a unit is eligible to receive AFDC or MFIP-S benefits is limited to the number of months the assistance unit would have been eligible to receive similar benefits in the state of immediate prior residence.

(c) This policy applies whether or not the assistance unit received similar benefits while residing in the state of previous residence.

(d) When an assistance unit moves to this state from another state where the assistance unit has exhausted that state's time limit for receiving benefits under that state's TANF program, the unit will not be eligible to receive any AFDC or MFIP-S benefits in this state for 12 months from the date the assistance unit moves here.

(e) For the purposes of this section, "state of immediate prior residence" means:

(1) the state in which the applicant declares the applicant spent the most time in the 30 days prior to moving to this state; or

(2) the state in which an applicant who is a migrant worker maintains a home.

(f) The commissioner shall annually verify and update all other states' payment standards as they are to be in effect in July of each year.

(g) Applicants must provide verification of their state of immediate prior residence, in the form of tax statements, a driver's license, automobile registration, rent receipts, or other forms of verification approved by the commissioner.

(h) Migrant workers, as defined in section 256J.08, and their immediate families are exempt from this section, provided the migrant worker provides verification that the migrant family worked in this state within the last 12 months and earned at least $1,000 in gross wages during the time the migrant worker worked in this state.

Subd. 2. Temporary absence from Minnesota. (a) For an assistance unit that has met the requirements of section 256J.12, the number of months that the assistance unit receives benefits under the interstate payment standards in this section is not affected by an absence from Minnesota for fewer than 30 consecutive days.

(b) For an assistance unit that has met the requirements of section 256J.12, the number of months that the assistance unit receives benefits under the interstate payment standards in this section is not affected by an absence from Minnesota for more than 30 consecutive days but fewer than 90 consecutive days, provided the assistance unit continues to maintain a residence in Minnesota during the period of absence.

Subd. 3. Exceptions to the interstate payment policy. Applicants who lived in another state in the 12 months prior to applying for assistance are exempt from the interstate payment policy for the months that a member of the unit:

(1) served in the United States armed services, provided the person returned to Minnesota within 30 days of leaving the armed forces, and intends to remain in Minnesota;

(2) attended school in another state, paid nonresident tuition or Minnesota tuition rates under a reciprocity agreement, provided the person left Minnesota specifically to attend school and returned to Minnesota within 30 days of graduation with the intent to remain in Minnesota; or

(3) meets the following criteria:

(i) a minor child or a minor caregiver moves from another state to the residence of a relative caregiver;

(ii) the minor caregiver applies for and receives family cash assistance;

(iii) the relative caregiver chooses not to be part of the MFIP-S assistance unit; and

(iv) the relative caregiver has resided in Minnesota for at least 12 months from the date the assistance unit applies for cash assistance.

Subd. 4. Ineligible mandatory unit members. Ineligible mandatory unit members who have resided in Minnesota for 12 months immediately before the unit's date of application establish the other assistance unit members' eligibility for the MFIP-S transitional standard.

HIST: 1997 c 85 art 1 s 33; 1997 c 203 art 12 s 13; 1998 c 407 art 6 s 80