Wendee Crofoot lost her job as a fundraiser for a nonprofit in 2011. After exhausting her savings and giving up her Mountain View, California, apartment she ended up working part-time as a restaurant cashier. The low pay qualified her for food stamps,so she signed up. “It wasn’t something I imagined would ever happen,” said Crofoot, […]
welfare
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine GOP wont submit welfare-tax petitions for 2016 ballot
AUGUSTA — The Maine Republican Party’s effort to lower income taxes and reform welfare won’t appear on Maine’s ballot in 2016, but a spokesman said Friday the party will push for a vote next year. It was always a strong possibility that the GOP’s bid to get more than 61,000 signatures from Maine voters by […]
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Posted inMaine, sj-web
Group says DHHS misinterprets General Assistance for immigrants
AUGUSTA — New rules proposed by the Department of Health and Human Services for the disbursement of General Assistance to immigrants and asylum seekers defy the intent of a law enacted earlier this year, according to numerous speakers who testified against the rules Thursday at the State House complex. The proposed rules are the latest […]
Posted inMaine
Lottery tickets and payouts going to Maine residents on welfare
AUGUSTA — Maine residents on public assistance have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on lottery tickets — enough to win more than $22 million in prizes between 2010 and 2014, including eight jackpots worth at least $500,000 each. The data on winnings come from a Maine Department of Health and Human Services memo obtained […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
USDA says Maine is too slow to process SNAP applications
AUGUSTA — The United States Department of Agriculture says Maine is the slowest state in the country at processing applications for food stamps. Officials with the USDA sent a letter to the Maine Department of Health and Human Services on Dec. 7 that says data for the first six months of this year show the […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Lewiston looks to use state welfare rules for refugee eligibility
LEWISTON — The city will hitch its General Assistance eligibility requirements to state rules, councilors agreed Tuesday. City Administrator Ed Barrett said it makes more sense for the city to simply refer to the state’s requirements than to create its own set of requirements. “I would not be surprised if once again this year, there […]
Posted inLetters
Let’s take care of our own
Does anybody in City Hall have the honesty to tell Lewiston residents how many taxpayers make up the population of Lewiston? What is the ratio between taxpayers and welfare recipients, or immigrants? Every year, Lewiston taxpayers face tax increases. When you see what’s going on here, it’s a real insult to the homeless population. While […]
Posted inLetters
Stop the liberal agenda
Ben Chin, a progressive, admitted that there were big differences between himself and current Lewiston mayor Robert Macdonald. I agree — Macdonald is against the city giving out free stuff. The number of Lewiston residents on welfare is out of control and the cost is killing the city. Lewiston has become a dumping ground of […]
Posted inLetters
Lewiston now the welfare city
My husband and I are hard-working individuals who work 40 to 50 hours a week, yet we struggle financially. In Lewiston, people on welfare get free food, free housing, free medical and lots of money to use, however they wish. That is ridiculous. People on welfare should not get cash. The Lewiston City Council has […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Maine
Lewiston officials decline to call Joe Dunne a slumlord
LEWISTON — The call for Lewiston’s Fire Department on Wednesday morning should have been relatively routine. A furnace was malfunctioning at 37 Jefferson St. and emitting fumes and smoke into the building, according to the call from a resident. There was no fire when firefighters arrived minutes later and as they do in most of […]