December 7, 2011

WEEKLY NOTICES OF STATE RULE-MAKING
Public Input for Proposed and Adopted Rules

Notices are published each Wednesday to alert the public regarding state agency rule-making. You may obtain a copy of any rule by notifying the agency contact person. You may also comment on the rule, and/or attend the public hearing. If no hearing is scheduled, you may request one -- the agency may then schedule a hearing, and must do so if 5 or more persons request it. If you are disabled or need special services to attend a hearing, please notify the agency contact person at least 7 days prior to it. Petitions: you can petition an agency to adopt, amend, or repeal any rule; the agency must provide you with petition forms, and must respond to your petition within 60 days. The agency must enter rule-making if the petition is signed by 150 or more registered voters, and may begin rule-making if there are fewer. You can also petition the Legislature to review a rule; the Executive Director of the Legislative Council (115 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333, phone 207/287-1615) will provide you with the necessary petition forms. The appropriate legislative committee will review a rule upon receipt of a petition from 100 or more registered voters, or from "...any person who may be directly, substantially and adversely affected by the application of a rule..." (Title 5 Section 11112). World-Wide Web: Copies of the weekly notices and the full texts of adopted rule chapters may be found on the internet at: http://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/rules. There is also a list of rule-making liaisons, who are single points of contact for each agency.

PROPOSALS: no proposals this week

ADOPTIONS


AGENCY: 02: Department of Professional and Financial Regulation (P&FR)
CHAPTER TITLE AND NUMBERS: Mortgage Lending: Guidelines for Determining Reasonable, Tangible Net Benefits
02-030 - Bureau of Consumer Protection (Ch. 550) (amended - simultaneous with)
02-029 - Bureau of Financial Institutions (Ch. 144) (repealed)
PROPOSED RULE NUMBERS: 2011-415, 416
AGENCY CONTACT PERSON: Christian D. Van Dyck, Attorney, Department of Professional and Financial Regulation, Bureau of Financial Institutions and Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection, 36 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333-0036. Telephone: (207) 624-8574. E-mail: Christian.D.VanDyck@Maine.gov .
CONCISE SUMMARY: In 2011, the Maine Legislature passed Public Law 2011, Ch. 427, "An Act to Amend the Maine Consumer Credit Code To Conform with Federal Law." As a result of this new law, supervised financial organizations and the Maine State Housing Authority are exempt from section 8-506 of the Code, which sets forth enhanced restrictions for certain creditors. One of the enhanced restrictions set forth in section 8-506 is the prohibition against knowingly or intentionally engaging in the act or practice of flipping a residential mortgage loan when making a high-cost mortgage loan or higher-priced mortgage loan. Because supervised financial organizations are no longer subject to this enhanced restriction, the Bureaus have repealed and replaced the rule with this rule that does not apply to supervised financial organizations or the Maine State Housing Authority. For this reason, the rule is no longer a joint rule administered by both Bureaus; rather, it is a rule administered by the Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection only. This rule also changes statutory cross-references as a result of the passage of Public Law 2011, Ch. 427.
EFFECTIVE DATE: December 5, 2011
WEBSITE: http://www.maine.gov/pfr/index.shtml .


AGENCY: 10-144 - Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Office for Familv Independence
CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE: Ch. 332, OFI Mainecare Eligibility Manual, Rule #257A: Part 2 Basic Eligibility Criteria, Section 3: Citizenship and Identity
ADOPTED RULE NUMBER: 2011-417
CONCISE SUMMARY: This rule implements provisions from Part KK of the State FY2012 and FY2013 Biennial Budget (P.L. 2011, Ch. 380) that eliminated state-funding of health care coverage for qualified aliens who are subject to a five year waiting period for Medicaid. This eligibility rule was implemented through emergency rulemaking on September 1, 2011.
Unless specifically exempt, qualified aliens who were lawfully admitted to the United States on or after August 22,1996 are prohibited from Medicaid during the first five years of admission to the United States.
The State has been funding health care coverage for qualified aliens who are otherwise eligible for Medicaid during the five year waiting period. This rule permanently adopts MaineCare Eligibility Manual Emergency Rule #257E which eliminated state-funded health care coverage for qualified aliens who are subject to a five year waiting period for Medicaid, with changes as noted. Individuals subject to the five year bar who meet all other basic Medicaid eligibility requirements may receive emergency services only.
Additionally, this rule made the following changes to the emergency rule:

* The emergency rule and proposed rules noted above inadvertently left out a group of aliens who are eligible for full MaineCare benefits because they are lawfully residing pregnant women and children under the age of 21. Under Section 214 of the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA), Public Law 111-3, the State opted to cover certain children and pregnant women who are lawfully residing in the United States. This rule includes an additional non-citizen group (#16) in the chart in Section 3.4, I to include lawfully residing pregnant women and children under the age of 21.
* The emergency and proposed rules contained an error in regards to Iraqi and Afghani special immigrants, non-citizen groups #14 and #15 in the table in Section 3.4, I. A U.S. Department of Defense bill in 2009 gave special immigrant Iraqis and Afghanis the same status as refugees, and erased the eight month rule. This rule includes this correction.
* This rule includes the following technical changes:
* 
Section 3.2, II, A is changed to include passport cards as primary evidence of citizenship and identity;
* 
Section 3.2, III is changed to include an additional acceptable verification of citizenship:
�
o 
Evidence of meeting the automatic criteria for U.S. citizenship under the provisions of the INA in effect on the person's birthdate or adoption date, if the person's birthdate or adoption date was prior to the Feb. 27, 2001 enactment date of the Child Citizenship Act of 2000 (citizenship laws are not retroactive, so the law applicable at the time the person was born or adopted applies, even if that law was subsequently repealed and replaced by a new section).
* 
 Changes are made to the tables in Section 3.4 to specify that a legal permanent resident whose prior status is a person whose deportation was withheld is not subject to the five year waiting period for MaineCare.
This rule will have no effect on the administrative burdens of small businesses.
EFFECTIVE DATE: December, 5, 2011
AGENCY CONTACT PERSON: Doreen McDaniel, MaineCare Program Manager, Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Family Independence, 11 State House Station, 442 Civic Center Drive, Augusta, ME 04333-0011. Telephone: (207) 287-4076. TTY: (800) 606-0215. E-mail: Doreen.McDaniel@Maine.gov .
WEBSITE: http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/ofi/ .


AGENCY: 10-144 - Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Office for Familv Independence
CHAPTER NUMBER AND TITLE: Ch. 607, OFI Maine ASPIRE/TANF Program Rules, Rule #16A: ASPIRE Program Updates
ADOPTED RULE NUMBER: 2011-418
CONCISE SUMMARY: This rule includes changes in definitions of the 12 work activities that count for the Federal Work Participation Rate, a mandate that States must report the actual verified hours of participation in work activities, and a mandate that States establish and maintain work participation verification procedures. This rule also reflects changes in the alignment of the Child Care Market Rate Caps and procedural requirements with those used by the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Child and Family Services. The changes are mandated by amendments to the work requirement provisions of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) portion of the Social Security Act, which went into effect with the passage of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. These affect Maine's TANF-ASPIRE Program. Federal regulations in support of the amendments outlined with specificity the increased work participation requirements of states for receipt of TANF Block Grant funds, and implemented a penalty for non-compliance by the State.
EFFECTIVE DATE: December 5, 2011
AGENCY CONTACT PERSON: Liz Ray, ASPIRE Program Manager, Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Family Independence, 11 State House Station, 442 Civic Center Drive, Augusta, ME 04333-0011. Telephone: (207) 287-4733. TTY: (800) 606-0215. E-mail: Liz.Ray@Maine.gov .
WEBSITE: http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/ofi/ .