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SENATE BILL 189
57
TH 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
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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
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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
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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
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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:
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"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;
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(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
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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
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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
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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:
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(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;
(c) has had a gross income of less than
one hundred fifty percent of the federal poverty guidelines;
and
(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;
(c) have had gross income less than one
hundred fifty percent of the federal poverty guidelines; and
(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
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(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
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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,
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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
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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."
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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.
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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.
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. 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
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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
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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
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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."
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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
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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.
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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:
(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 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:
(1) for the first two years of receiving cash
assistance or services, if a participant works over the work
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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. 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
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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
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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.
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[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
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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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