AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage will meet legislative leaders to discuss what action the state may take against the Alexander Group in the wake of allegations the Rhode Island consultant plagiarized its recent report on reforming Maine’s welfare system. Peter Steele, the governor’s communications director, said Thursday that LePage would meet with the top Democratic […]
welfare
Posted inMaine
LePage efforts to recoup payments for plagiarized report could prove fruitless
LEWISTON — The state may have a difficult time recovering any of the more than $500,000 it has paid a private consultant to develop a study and analysis of Maine’s welfare system following the revelation that parts of the study contained plagiarized material, a Maine law professor said Wednesday. Gov. Paul LePage has said the […]
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Posted inMaine, sj-web
LePage suspends payments for welfare report
AUGUSTA – Republican Gov. Paul LePage said he was concerned about accusations of plagiarism by the controversial Alexander Group and would take immediate action against the company, if warranted, after getting a full report of the facts. LePage said in an interview Friday that payments had already been suspended to the Alexander Group on Wednesday, […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Attorney General rules Maine can’t deny General Assistance to immigrants
AUGUSTA — Maine Attorney General Janet Mills has ruled that a proposal by Gov. Paul LePage to bar immigrants and asylum seekers from receiving General Assistance is illegal and unconstitutional. The proposed new rule, which was unveiled late last year by the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, was meant to align qualification for […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Author of report from which Alexander Group lifted text: ‘It’s literally two pages of text’
AUGUSTA — A portion of a report by the Alexander Group, which Gov. Paul LePage’s administration commissioned as part of its welfare reform efforts, was copied from work done by a liberal Washington, D.C., think tank. That revelation caused the Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday to request resubmission of portions of the […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
LePage administration releases Alexander Group’s welfare study after months-long delay
AUGUSTA — The Maine Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday released a much-anticipated study by a controversial consultant, which presented analysis of and recommendations for the state’s welfare programs. The 228-page analysis was the result of months of work by the Rhode Island-based Alexander Group, which received a $925,000 no-bid contract for consulting […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Alexander Group releases welfare report recommending changes
AUGUSTA — The Maine Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday released a much-anticipated study by a controversial consultant, which presented analysis of and recommendations for the state’s welfare programs. The 228-page analysis was the result of months of work by the Rhode Island-based Alexander Group, which received a $925,000 no-bid contract for consulting […]
Posted inMaine
Remaining four parts of nearly $1 million welfare study all past due
AUGUSTA — The final portion of a controversial five-part study of the state’s welfare system that’s costing Maine taxpayers $925,200 is due Thursday, but, according to state officials, only the first part of the study — due Dec. 1, 2013 — has been turned in. Maine has paid the Rhode Island-based Alexander Group $501,760, more […]
Posted inMaine
Maine blocks EBT cards at 44 ATMs in strip clubs, bars and liquor stores
AUGUSTA — Continuing its efforts to block the use of welfare benefits on prohibited products or services, Republican Gov. Paul LePage’s administration announced Monday that it has blocked the use of state-issued electronic benefit transfer cards at 44 ATM locations across Maine. Examples of ATMs in strip joints, liquor stores, night clubs and bars were […]
Posted inLetters
In rebuttal, G. Mathews: Job creation, not welfare expansion
This is in response to Laurie Kane-Lewis’ guest column, “Embrace opportunity to expand MaineCare” (April 30). Here we go again. Another month, another writer stating what a wonderful idea it is to add 70,000 able-bodied Mainers to the state’s welfare system. Medicaid (MaineCare) was intended as a safety net for the truly needy, not as […]