SF4389

Purpose

This bill would change who can receive several state benefits by adding a ban for people convicted of a “crime of violence” from several programs, and it would adjust how medical assistance (MA) and MinnesotaCare treat people who are or have been in correctional facilities. It also repeals an older provision related to vendor payments tied to certain drug offenses.

Main Provisions

• Ineligibility for benefits for violence offenders

  • People convicted of a crime of violence (defined as a crime listed in 624.712 subdivision 5, or equivalent out-of-state or federal statutes) would be disqualified from receiving MFIP (Minnesota’s welfare-to-work program), medical assistance, broad economic assistance and food support, and MinnesotaCare.

• Medical assistance changes related to inmates and incarceration

  • Inmates who are conditionally released and housed in a halfway house, a community correction center, or under house arrest with electronic monitoring, could be eligible for MA if they meet all other MA requirements.
  • An inmate who is charged with a crime and incarcerated for less than 12 months would have MA eligibility suspended during incarceration and reinstated automatically on release (without reapplication), if otherwise eligible.
  • Any individual who is considered an “inmate of a public institution” would not be eligible for MA, except for inpatient services, with security costs handled by the institution’s managing entity.
  • MA would not cover an individual convicted of a crime of violence, consistent with the violence-related ineligibility described above.

• Other program adjustments

  • The violence-conviction ineligibility would also apply to MA under a separate subdivision (clarifying that a person convicted of a crime of violence is not eligible for medical assistance).
  • The bill adds a similar ineligibility provision to another MA-related program (MinnesotaCare) and to the separate MA-related rules under a different statute (likely to ensure consistency across programs).

• Repeal of older “vendor payments” provision

  • The bill repeals the former 142G.18 subdivision 1 (the “persons ineligible vendor payments” section) and the corresponding appendix text that previously described Drug Offense-related vendor payment rules, including drug-testing and conditions tied to felony-level drug offenses. The repeal means those vendor-payment-based rules would no longer apply.

Significant Changes to Existing Law

• Broad ineligibility tied to violence crimes

  • Expands ineligibility across MFIP, MA, SNAP/food benefits, and MinnesotaCare for individuals convicted of violence crimes, rather than limiting penalties to a narrower set of offenses.

• MA eligibility for inmates

  • Introduces automatic MA reinstatement on release after short incarcerations and allows MA for certain released individuals in halfway houses or under monitored release, while extending MA exclusions for violent offenders.

• Repeal of drug-offense vendor rules

  • Removes the older framework that conditioned vendor payments and potential drug testing on drug offenses, including cannabis-related provisions.

What This Bill Aims to Accomplish (Plain-Language Summary)

• Limit access to several major government benefit programs for people with violent-crime convictions.
• Tighten or clarify MA eligibility rules for people who are in or recently released from correctional facilities, including automatic reinstatement and location-based restrictions.
• Remove an older, drug-offense-based set of vendor-payment rules from current law.

Potential Impacts to Watch

• Access to MFIP, MA, SNAP, and MinnesotaCare could be reduced for a group of individuals with violence convictions.
• States’ handling of MA eligibility for inmates and those under supervised release could become more uniform and potentially stricter.
• The phase-out of the vendor-payments provisions may remove a layer of administration related to drug-offense penalties.

Relevant Terms - crime of violence - 624.712 subdivision 5 - MFIP (Minnesota Family Investment Program) - medical assistance (MA) - MinnesotaCare - SNAP / food support - ineligible / eligibility - inmate / public institution - halfway house / community correction center - house arrest / electronic surveillance - 42 CFR 435.1010 - inpatient services - reinstatement (automatic) - securities costs / security issues - 241.26, 244.065, 631.425 (incarceration and release references) - 256B.055, 256D.024, 256L.04 (MA and related program statutes) - 142G.18 (repealed subdivision) - vendor payments (drug offenses)