Poll: Should Maine deny food stamps to applicants with more than $5,000 in assets? AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage has announced new rules for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps. LePage’s administration said any person applying for SNAP benefits would be ineligible if they had more than $5,000 in personal assets. […]
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Posted inMaine, sj-web
Poll: Should Maine deny food stamps to applicants with more than $5,000 in assets?
Maine Department of Health and Human Services announced a new rule that any person applying for SNAP benefits would be ineligible if they had more than $5,000 in personal assets. But advocates for the poor said Wednesday the proposal wasn’t real welfare reform but more of the same from Gov. Paul LePage’s administration. Should Maine deny […]
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Rumford man pleads guilty to water-dumping scam
RUMFORD — A Rumford man pleaded guilty Monday in Rumford District Court to scamming state benefits by returning dumped water bottles for deposit. Richard J. Maloy, 49, of Waldo Street, was convicted of trafficking in benefits, fined $200 by Justice Nancy Carlson and ordered to pay $20.94 restitution by Aug. 3 to the Maine Department […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Work waiver for some food stamp users passes Maine House
AUGUSTA — Maine’s Democratic-controlled House of Representatives backed a bill Wednesday to waive work requirements for some food stamp recipients, but the measure doesn’t appear to have enough support to survive a near certain veto from Republican Gov. Paul LePage. Since October, healthy adults without children have had to work at least 20 hours a week, […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Gov. LePage wants to dramatically expand drug testing of welfare recipients
PORTLAND (AP) — Gov. Paul LePage wants to further crack down on drug use by welfare recipients by eliminating food stamps and cash payments to families for recipients with a drug conviction. He also wants to require screenings that could result in drug testing for all participants in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. […]
Posted inBusiness, sj-web
Junk food ban: Maine lawmakers endorse food stamp restriction
AUGUSTA — A bid to prohibit the purchase of junk food with food stamps in Maine came out of a legislative committee Monday afternoon with a positive recommendation — twice. In an unusual series of events, Republican Sen. Roger Katz’s bill, LD 526, heads to the full Legislature after having been approved twice by the […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine to help food stamp recipients find volunteer opportunities
AUGUSTA — Maine is trying to help food recipients meet the volunteer requirement Republican Gov. Paul LePage’s administration began enforcing last year. The Department of Health and Human Services said Wednesday that it’s partnering with LearningWorks to connect food stamp recipients with volunteer opportunities. It’s also encouraging Temporary Assistance for Needy Families recipients to participate. […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine reports that work requirements cut 9,300 recipients from food stamps
AUGUSTA — More than 9,000 Maine residents have been removed from the state’s food stamp program since Republican Gov. Paul LePage’s administration began enforcing work and volunteer requirements late last year, officials said. The number of people that have been dropped from the program has exceeded even the administration’s expectations. About 12,000 adults who aren’t disabled […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Lewiston woman admits to welfare fraud
AUBURN — A Lewiston woman who claimed her daughter was living with her so she could collect welfare was sentenced Friday to spend three months in jail. Prosecutors said Jessica Jordan, 36, of 75 Summer St. lied on state documents to indicate her now-16-year-old daughter had lived with her from August 2013 to February 2014, […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
6,500 Mainers to lose food stamps in January
AUGUSTA (AP) — More than 6,000 Maine residents will lose their food stamps benefits next month under newly enforced rules that require some recipients to have a job, Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Mary Mayhew said. Republican Gov. Paul LePage’s administration began in October to enforce a three-month limit on benefits for childless […]