The governor’s proposed budget does not create pathways to opportunity for people in Maine. I am a single mom with three children. My youngest has Down Syndrome. I had to flee my country for fear of our safety. We belong to an ethnic group that is brutally discriminated against in my home country. The decision […]
welfare
Posted inMaine
Opponents speak out against LePage cuts to immigrant welfare
AUGUSTA — The Legislature’s budget-writing committee on Tuesday heard from scores of people opposed to Gov. Paul LePage’s proposal to eliminate welfare programs that help asylum-seeking immigrants. Speaking in French, Vincent Mwamba, 70, told the Appropriations Committee that he was a judge in his home country of the Congo, but when he refused to find an innocent […]
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Posted inMaine
Maine DHHS questions Portland’s spending on General Assistance
LEWISTON — A proposal by Republican Gov. Paul LePage to revamp the way the state reimburses cities and towns for General Assistance payments takes clear aim at Maine’s biggest city. Under the proposed change, Portland would lose at least $4.4 million in reimbursements, although Portland officials estimate the figure could be as high as $6 […]
Posted inLetters
N. Smith: Making it difficult for the poor
This is in response to Patti Gagne’s letter, “Poor people do vote,” published Jan. 24. I would point out to her that the fastest growing segment of Maine’s population consists of senior citizens. These are folks, many of whom no longer hold a valid driver’s license, who live in an apartment or assisted living facility […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine DHHS says it’s ready to drug test TANF applicants
AUGUSTA — Republican Gov. Paul LePage’s administration has the green light to begin drug testing some welfare applicants. A spokesman for Attorney General Janet Mills said Tuesday that her office has given final approval to the governor’s proposed rule and submitted it to the secretary of state’s office. Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner […]
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 inLewiston-Auburn, Maine
Lewiston mayor wants legislation to change General Assistance rules
AUGUSTA — The mayor of Lewiston is working with a pair of state senators from Auburn and Lisbon on a bill that would change the rules for dishing out city-controlled General Assistance, a state- and city-funded program for the poor facing financial hardships. Mayor Robert Macdonald said immigrants who are seeking asylum in his city […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
DHHS says EBT card photo fight could lead to loss of SNAP benefits
AUGUSTA — The roughly 249,000 Mainers who receive federal funds to help them buy food could see that aid vanish if an ongoing dispute between state and federal agencies over a new program that urges recipients to put their photos on the cards they use to buy groceries. Food and Nutrition Service — the U.S. […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
LePage administration defends photo EBT cards
AUGUSTA (AP) — Gov. Paul LePage’s administration is firing back at the federal government over its policy of putting welfare recipients’ photos on the cards used to access food stamps, which federal officials have warned could cause Maine to lose some program funding. In a Dec. 18 letter to the Food and Nutrition Service obtained […]
Posted inMaine
Maine’s DHHS Commissioner urges AG action on welfare drug-test law
AUGUSTA — Maine’s commissioner for the state Department of Health and Human Services said Monday she is still waiting on the state’s top lawyer before moving forward on a law that’s nearly three years old. A federal law passed in 1996 prohibits distributing Temporary Assistance for Needy Families to individuals who have been previously convicted […]