Connecticut General Statutes
Chapter 319t - State-Administered General Assistance
Section 17b-198. (Formerly Sec. 17b-78). - Adoption of regulations concerning the state-administered general assistance program.

The Commissioner of Social Services shall adopt regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, to implement policies and procedures necessary to carry out the purposes of sections 17b-131, 17b-191 to 17b-194, inclusive, and 17b-197. The Commissioner of Social Services shall implement such policies and procedures while in the process of adopting such policies and procedures as regulations, or amending existing regulations provided notice of intent to adopt or amend the regulations is published in the Connecticut Law Journal within twenty days of implementation, and such policies and procedures shall be valid until the time final regulations are effective. The commissioner shall also amend any regulations in existence on August 20, 2003, to conform to the provisions of this section and sections 17b-131, 17b-191 to 17b-194, inclusive, and 17b-197.

(1961, P.A. 345, S. 2; February, 1965, P.A. 540, S. 1; 1969, P.A. 730, S. 32; June, 1971, S.A. 1, S. 17; P.A. 73-218, S. 1, 2; P.A. 75-420, S. 4, 6; P.A. 77-614, S. 608, 610; P.A. 83-535, S. 2, 3; 83-575, S. 4, 10; P.A. 84-464, S. 2; 84-546, S. 51, 173; P.A. 85-564, S. 2, 12; P.A. 88-156, S. 8; 88-317, S. 68, 107; P.A. 91-401, S. 16, 20; May Sp. Sess. P.A. 92-16, S. 2, 89; P.A. 93-262, S. 1, 87; 93-418, S. 2, 41; P.A. 95-194, S. 8, 33; 95-351, S. 3, 30; P.A. 96-268, S. 21, 34; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-2, S. 28, 165; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-2, S. 30, 69; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-9, S. 129, 131; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-3, S. 45.)
History: 1965 act added words “mandatory minimum” to describe standards and allowed withholding of reimbursement if uniform standards not complied with within grace period; 1969 act added provisions re incentive earnings program; 1971 act deleted word “minimum” to describe standards, deleted “recommended” modifying procedures and deleted provisions re incentive earnings program; P.A. 73-218 deleted word “uniform” to describe standards; P.A. 75-420 replaced welfare commissioner with commissioner of social services; P.A. 77-614 replaced social services commissioner with commissioner of income maintenance, effective January 1, 1979; P.A. 83-535 added the requirement that the standards be established by regulation; P.A. 83-575 required that the commissioner adopt regulations and that standards be established for the granting of medical assistance as well as general assistance, and added provisions for uniform application and billing forms and time limits for determining eligibility and payment for medical bills; P.A. 84-464 added language allowing an appeal to superior court; P.A. 84-546 made technical grammatical change; P.A. 85-564 made the existing section Subsec. (a), removed language in Subsec. (a) on withholding reimbursement, and added Subsecs. (b), (c) and (d) re audits and adoption of regulations re recovery of reimbursements and withholding of reimbursements; P.A. 88-156 added language re minimum level of assistance provided at the expense of a town subject to Sec. 17-2(b), 17-12f and 17-82n and added words “financial aid” to describe type of aid granted in Subsec. (a); P.A. 88-317 amended references to Ch. 54 and Sec. 4-177 in Subsec. (d) to include new sections added to Ch. 54, effective July 1, 1989, and applicable to all agency proceedings commencing on or after that date; P.A. 91-401 amended Subsec. (b) by adding “Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 4-230 to 4-236, inclusive,”; May Sp. Sess. P.A. 92-16 amended Subsec. (a) by setting standard of financial assistance for single employable person at $314 per month and standard for single unemployable person at $356 per month; P.A. 93-262 authorized substitution of commissioner and department of social services for commissioner and department of income maintenance, effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 93-418 reduced the general assistance flat grant from $314 to $300 for a single employable person, effective July 1, 1993; Sec. 17-3a transferred to Sec. 17b-78 in 1995; P.A. 95-194 amended Subsec. (a) by reducing the financial assistance to be provided by a town to a maximum of $300 per month for a single employable person and a maximum of $350 per month for a single unemployable person and added Subdivs. (1) to (4), inclusive, requiring regulations to include provisions for an earned monthly gross income disregard, a central distribution location for financial assistance, an identification card for recipients and a prohibition against a town charging a fee for distributing financial assistance and added Subsec. (b) requiring the department to adopt regulations to establish reduced levels of financial assistance based on rental obligations, effective July 1, 1995; P.A. 95-351 amended Subdiv. (1) of Subsec. (a) by requiring the earned monthly gross income disregard be “up to” $150, effective July 1, 1995; P.A. 96-268 amended Subsec. (a) to exclude job-ready employable persons from general assistance financial benefits, effective July 1, 1996; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-2 amended Subsec. (a) by deleting an obsolete reference to the financial assistance available to an employable person who is not job-ready, adding a provision effective no later than August 31, 1997, requiring the state or town to make available $200 per month for a transitional individual required to pay for shelter and $150 per month for such individual not required to pay for shelter, deleted Subsec. (b) requiring the commissioner to adopt regulations establishing reduce levels of financial assistance to a single employable person with no rental obligation or a shared rental obligation and relettered the remaining Subsecs. accordingly, effective July 1, 1997; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-2 amended Subsec. (b) to limit scope of regulations to general assistance programs in towns “where the commissioner has determined an audit shall be conducted”, and made a technical change, effective July 1, 2001; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-9 revised effective date of June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-2 but without affecting this section; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-3 replaced former Subsecs. (a) to (d) with provisions requiring commissioner to adopt or amend regulations to implement policies and procedures necessary to carry out operation of the state-administered general assistance program, effective August 20, 2003; Sec. 17b-78 transferred to Sec. 17b-198 in 2005.
Annotations to former section 17-3a:
Cited. 206 C. 1; 229 C. 664.
Cited. 42 CS 323.
Annotations to former section 17b-78:
Cited. 233 C. 370; Id., 557.

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