(a) Generally. - Public assistance shall be payable under this chapter to or on behalf of any person who is a needy blind person within the requirements of this chapter, or is a needy person over the age of 65 years within the requirements of this chapter, or is a dependent child within the requirements of this chapter, or who is permanently and totally disabled within the requirements of this chapter. No public assistance shall be payable under this chapter to or on behalf of any person who is an inmate of a public institution; except, that such assistance may be payable to or on behalf of persons who are patients in public institutions where such payments are matchable under provisions of the Federal Social Security Act; provided, that the state department shall not grant assistance to inmates of any institution, whether public or private, unless that institution conforms to requirements under the provisions of the Federal Social Security Act and applicable statutes of Alabama.

(b) Blind assistance. - Blind assistance shall be payable under this chapter to or on behalf of any person who shall comply with the other requirements of this chapter and who:

(1) Is blind according to the definition of blindness established by the state department;

(2) Has not sufficient income and resources from all sources to provide a reasonable subsistence compatible with decency and health; provided, that any earned income required by the Federal Social Security Act to be disregarded is hereby excepted;

(3) Is, at the time of filing an application for such assistance, a resident of this state;

(4) Is not receiving any other type of public assistance for which federal matching is available;

(5) Has not directly or indirectly disposed of or deprived himself of any property for the purpose of qualifying for the benefits of this chapter;

(6) Has been examined by a duly licensed ophthalmologist or a licensed physician skilled in the diseases of the eye or a licensed optometrist, whichever the individual may select. The examiner shall certify to the county department in writing the results of the examination upon forms prescribed by the state department; and

(7) Shall not during the period of receiving assistance publicly solicit alms. The term 'publicly solicit alms' shall be construed to mean either wearing, carrying or exhibiting signs denoting blindness, for the securing of alms, or the carrying of receptacles for the purpose of securing alms or the doing of the same by proxy, or stationary or house-to-house begging or any other means of securing alms.

(c) Old age pensions. - Old age pensions shall be payable under this chapter to or on behalf of any needy person who has attained the age of 65 years, who shall comply with the other requirements of this chapter and who:

(1) Is, at the time of filing an application for an old age pension, a resident of this state;

(2) Has not sufficient income and resources from all sources to provide a reasonable subsistence compatible with decency and health;

(3) Has not directly or indirectly disposed of or deprived himself of any property for the purpose of qualifying for the benefits of this chapter; and

(4) Is not receiving any other type of public assistance for which federal matching is available.

(d) Aid to dependent children. - Aid to dependent children shall be payable under this chapter on behalf of any needy child who is a dependent child as defined in the Federal Social Security Act or amendments thereto who shall comply with the applicable requirements of this chapter, and who:

(1) Has not sufficient income and resources from all sources to provide a reasonable subsistence compatible with decency and health;

(2) Is, at the time application for such aid is filed, making his home in this state;

(3) Has not directly or indirectly disposed of or deprived himself of any property for the purpose of qualifying for the benefits of this chapter; and

(4) Is not receiving any other type of public assistance for which federal matching is available. Any person having knowledge that any child is dependent and in need and if the interest of the public requires that such child be granted aid may bring such fact to the attention of the county department in the county where the child resides.

(e) Aid to permanently and totally disabled. - Aid to the permanently and totally disabled shall be payable under this chapter to or on behalf of any needy person 18 years of age or older who shall comply with the other requirements of this chapter and who:

(1) Is permanently and totally disabled according to the definition of permanent and total disability established by the state department and whose needy condition is primarily due to these limitations so that he is unable to provide himself with the necessities of life;

(2) Has not sufficient income and resources from all sources to provide a reasonable subsistence compatible with decency and health;

(3) Is, at the time of filing an application for such aid, a resident of this state;

(4) Has not directly or indirectly disposed of or deprived himself of any property for the purpose of qualifying for the benefits of this chapter; and

(5) Is not receiving any other type of public assistance for which federal matching is available.

(a) Applications for assistance shall be made to the county department in the manner prescribed by the state department and shall contain such information as the state department may require; provided, that nothing contained in this chapter shall be construed as requiring the signing of a pauper's oath on the part of any person making application for assistance hereunder. An investigation and record shall be promptly made by the county department of the circumstances of the applicant. Upon the completion of the investigation the county director shall determine whether the applicant is eligible for assistance under the provisions of this chapter and the rules and regulations of the state department and the amount of assistance he shall receive. The county director shall give notice in writing to the applicant of the action taken on his application or any subsequent change in payments.

(b) Within maximum matchable payments in which the federal government will participate as prescribed in the Federal Social Security Act, the amount of assistance to which any person described in Section 38-4-1 shall be entitled shall, under the rules and regulations of the state department, be determined upon the basis of the amount of total income and resources received by such person, except as provided in Section 38-4-1, and such other conditions existing in each case as will determine the need for assistance for such person as provided in this chapter. The amount of such assistance shall be determined with due regard to the conditions existing in each case, subject to the funds available, and the rules and regulations and standards of the state department and the provisions of this chapter.

(c) No provision of this section shall affect in any manner the amount paid to a widow of a Confederate veteran now or hereafter placed on the pension rolls of this state.

When a recipient dies before delivery or negotiation of his assistance check for the month in which his death occurs, endorsement of such check without recourse by the county director of human resources to the spouse or to a person, either relative or nonrelative, named by the recipient shall be sufficient authority to the drawee bank to pay such check.

If at any time the recipient of public assistance, or the husband or wife of such recipient, shall become possessed of any income or resources in excess of that owned or being received at the date of the application, it shall be the duty of the recipient immediately to notify the county department of the facts in the case. The county department, upon the notification or upon otherwise learning the facts, shall, after investigation, continue, reduce or cancel the amount of the grant as the facts may warrant. Its action in this respect shall be subject to appeal and review as provided in this chapter. For the purposes of this section, where aid to dependent children is the form of public assistance involved, the near relative, as defined in the Federal Social Security Act, shall report the acquisition of income and resources.

In the event a person is denied the right to apply for public assistance, or his application is not acted upon with reasonable promptness or is denied, or assistance is not granted promptly following establishment of eligibility, or in case the amount or terms of an award or of any modification thereof is deemed unjust, he may appeal to the state department for a hearing of his case. Notice and opportunity for a fair hearing shall be given the applicant by the state department and at this hearing any party at interest may appear and present any relevant facts. The action of the state department on any appeal shall be final and binding and shall be complied with.

The state department and the county department shall have the power to issue subpoenas for witnesses and compel their attendance and the production of papers and writings and duly authorized employees of said departments may administer oaths and examine witnesses under oath.

All amounts paid or payable as public assistance to needy persons shall be exempt from any tax levied by the state or any subdivision thereof and shall be exempt from levy, garnishment, attachment or any other process whatsoever and shall be inalienable, and in the case of bankruptcy, shall not pass to the trustee or other person acting on behalf of the creditors of the recipient of public assistance.

In the event an applicant or recipient of an old age pension under this chapter is so physically incapacitated that it is necessary for him to be hospitalized, the county department is authorized to endeavor to make such arrangements as are necessary to secure such hospitalization, even though the amount to be expended exceeds the maximum assistance grant for which federal matching is available.

The county board shall have the power to require a report of the finding and award of the county department in each case, to review such finding and award and either to approve, disapprove or amend such award in relation to federal and state laws and requirements.

Any widow of a Confederate veteran entitled to a pension under the provisions of the laws authorizing the payment of such pensions to Confederate widows, who may also be eligible for old age assistance under the terms of this chapter, shall be required to make application for assistance as provided in this chapter. Any assistance actually received by any such person under the terms of this chapter shall be deducted from the pension due such person under the provisions of said Confederate pension laws. Nothing herein contained, however, shall ever under any circumstances be construed or allowed to cause any said widow to receive less than she would but for the provisions of this chapter.

(a) Except as provided in subsection (b), there is appropriated, beginning with the fiscal year ending September 30, 1998, to the state department, for old age pension purposes, out of the proceeds from the levy of the one mill tax for the relief of needy Confederate soldiers and sailors and their widows, a sum not to exceed $20,773,500 annually of the surplus or residue from the tax after the payment in full of the pensions to the widows of Confederate soldiers and sailors, other charges against the fund set out in the laws authorizing the payment of the pensions to the widows, and annually to the Department of Revenue, as a first charge against the proceeds of the one mill tax, funds for the annual costs of the Department of Revenue for administering the tax. In making this appropriation, it is declared to be the legislative policy that the Department of Human Resources shall expend its portion of the surplus or residue hereby appropriated and all moneys received by it from the federal government as matching funds for all funds expended for Confederate pensions or as matching funds for the surplus or residue hereby appropriated under this section, for old age pension purposes exclusively insofar as is possible under existing laws and the rules and regulations of the federal government and of the Department of Human Resources in regard thereto, before any part thereof may be expended for any other purposes of the Department of Human Resources.

(b) Beginning with the fiscal year ending September 30, 1997, all of the remaining surplus or residue from the tax provided in (a) above, after deducting the amounts appropriated to the Department of Human Resources and the Department of Revenue under the annual appropriations act for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1997, and under subsection (a) of this section for each year thereafter, is hereby appropriated to the State Veterans' Assistance Fund to be expended for veterans' programs approved by the State Board of Veterans' Affairs, including expenditures for emergencies and needs in the state's veterans' nursing homes.

(a) There is hereby created in the State Treasury a fund to be known as the Alabama Veterans' Assistance Fund, into which shall be deposited receipts from the one mill ad valorem tax as authorized in Section 38-4-12. The expenditure of all monies deposited into the fund shall be budgeted and allotted pursuant to the Budget Management Act and Article 4 of Title 41.

(b) All of the surplus or residue of the one mill tax for the relief of needy Confederate soldiers and sailors and their widows remaining from its appropriation for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1996, shall be transferred and deposited into the Alabama Veterans' Assistance Fund established by subsection (a).

There is hereby created a state public welfare trust fund. All receipts of the State Department of Human Resources shall be deposited in the state treasury to the credit of this trust fund, including general fund appropriations, sales tax receipts, liquor profit receipts, the surplus of the Confederate pension fund, federal funds and all other receipts, income or gifts to the state department. Disbursements from the state public welfare trust fund shall be made on warrants drawn by the state comptroller on the state treasury, upon the authorization of the State Commissioner of Human Resources.