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Appropriations committee reviews bill to change eligibility, benefit handling for unaccompanied homeless youth
Summary
The House Appropriations Committee discussed a miscellaneous bill (transcript reference: "age 50 6 57") that would remove an asset test and change how certain Social Security benefits for youth are handled; staff estimated a $140,000 placeholder fiscal impact for FY27 and identified a potential $700,000 FY28 exposure. Members raised concerns about shelter certification language and access to ABLE accounts; no committee vote occurred.
The House Appropriations Committee met on March 20, 2026, and took an initial review of a miscellaneous bill (referred to in the transcript as "age 50 6 57") that includes provisions affecting eligibility and benefit handling for unaccompanied homeless youth. The chair asked a fiscal staff member, Nolan, to summarize fiscal effects and program changes discussed in the bill.
A fiscal staff member said Section 1 would eliminate an asset limit currently cited in the transcript as $9,000, which could expand eligibility for the program. Using Department for Children and Families (DCF) proxy data—18 cases in fiscal 2025 in which applicants were denied because of resource limits—and an average monthly cost of $646 per case, Nolan presented a placeholder estimate of about $140,000 for fiscal 2027 if eligibility expands as described. "Currently, the asset limit is $9,000," the staff member said, and "if you use that 18 people as a proxy, it's about a…
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