INVESTIGATION AND DETERMINATION OF ELIGIBILITY.

(a) On receipt of an application for assistance authorized by this chapter, the commission shall investigate and record the applicant's circumstances in order to ascertain the facts supporting the application and to obtain other information it may require.

(b) After completing its investigation, the commission shall determine whether the applicant is eligible for the assistance, the type and amount of assistance, the date on which the assistance shall begin, and the manner in which payments shall be made.

(c) The commission shall promptly notify the applicant of its final action.

(d) In determining whether an applicant is eligible for assistance, the commission shall exclude from the applicant's available resources:

(1) $1,000 for the applicant's household, including a household in which there is a person with a disability or a person who is at least 60 years of age; and

(2) the fair market value of the applicant's ownership interest in a motor vehicle, but not more than $5,000 plus or minus an amount to be determined annually beginning on October 1, 1997, to reflect changes in the new car component of the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

(e) If federal regulations governing the maximum allowable resources under the supplemental nutrition assistance program, 7 C.F.R. Part 273, are revised, the executive commissioner shall adjust the standards that determine available resources under Subsection (d) to reflect those revisions.