SB 192-FN - AS INTRODUCED
2003 SESSION
05/01
SENATE BILL 192-FN
This bill provides that a person shall be eligible for assistance under RSA 165, aid to assisted persons, from the person's town of residence or last known address.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
03-1161
05/01
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Three
AN ACT relative to domicile for persons needing assistance.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Aid to Assisted Persons; Who Entitled; Residency Required. Amend RSA 165:1, I to read as follows:
I. Whenever a person in any town is poor and unable to support himself or herself, [he] the person shall be relieved and maintained by the overseers of public welfare of [such town, whether or not he has residence there] the person's town of residence or last known address. For the purposes of this chapter the term "residence" shall have the same definition as in RSA 21:6-a.
2 Aid to Assisted Persons; Nonresidents; Temporary Assistance to Return to Place of Residence. Amend RSA 165:1-c to read as follows:
165:1-c Nonresidents. Any person, poor and unable to support himself or herself, who is temporarily in a town or city which is not his or her residence, and who does not intend to make it his or her residence, shall be provided such temporary assistance as is reasonable and necessary by such town or city[. Such town or city may, if requested, cause] so that such person [to] may be returned to his or her place of residence or last known address.
3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2004.
LBAO
03-1161
Revised 2/28/03
SB 192 FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT relative to domicile for persons needing assistance.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Department of Health and Human Services determined this bill will increase state expenditures by an indeterminable amount and have an indeterminate impact on local expenditures and revenue in FY 2004 and in each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on state and county revenue or county expenditures.
METHODOLOGY:
The Department stated that 6,805 individuals were provided temporary housing in 2001. The Department assumed the majority of those served were not residents of the town in which a shelter is located, and many of the towns in New Hampshire do not have temporary housing. As a result, non-resident homeless people would receive limited services, no services, or seek help through state programs. The Department assumed state contracted outreach and hotline workers would receive more requests for services, resulting in an increase in the cost of state-funded programs including the community mental health centers, New Hampshire Hospital and the Philbrook Center. According to the Department, schools would be impacted since homeless children would enter or leave districts more frequently and some local welfare offices would experience increased costs while others would experience a decrease in costs. The Department could not predict the local impact on schools and town welfare offices.
The New Hampshire Municipal Association was not able to determine the fiscal impact of this bill on local governments. The Association indicated that those seeking assistance often have no legal residence, and municipalities would still be responsible for providing assistance or determining legal residence.