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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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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Group faces uphill climb on citizens’ veto on GA for immigrants
LEWISTON — The organizer of a people’s veto referendum aimed at repealing a law that allows cities and towns to pay General Assistance benefits to asylum-seeking immigrants for up to two years said he hopes to start collecting signatures soon. But the question could face competition from another proposal for a ballot measure being sought […]
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Maine benefit bartering. Growing form of fraud: EBT cards to buy drugs
But also in Robinson’s possession that day were six state-issued electronic benefit transfer cards — essentially debit cards loaded with welfare benefits, with some benefits available as cash — from state and federal programs meant to help poor families and children. Those cards had been reported lost or stolen by their owners 114 times and re-issued […]
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Drug testing for welfare recipients off to slow start in Maine
AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage hailed drug screenings for certain welfare recipients as a way to protect taxpayer dollars. But since the program was launched a few months ago, only a handful of recipients have been ordered to take tests and most people who have lost their assistance have done so because they failed to show […]
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Diaper dilemma that shouldn’t be
A worrisome trend in this country illustrates in the starkest terms how a mother’s income affects not only her baby’s health but hers, too. Child Trends — a nonprofit, nonpartisan research center — reported in 2013 that low-income parents, especially single mothers, have higher rates of depression and depressive symptoms than mothers with higher incomes. […]
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Paul LePage argues Maine Legislature adjourned but experts disagree
AUGUSTA — Pundits and experts Wednesday were scratching their heads over why Republican Gov. Paul LePage didn’t sign or veto a set of 19 bills when the Legislature took a break at the end of June. A number of lawmakers and others say the bills became law without LePage’s signature because he failed to act […]
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Maine House says, ‘yes’ to General Assistance for immigrants
AUGUSTA — The Maine House approved a bill Monday allowing asylum-seeking immigrants to collect up to 24 months of General Assistance payments from cities and towns. The bill faces additional hurdles in the Legislature and a likely veto from Republican Gov. Paul LePage. The House of Representatives, controlled by Democrats, largely split along party lines. […]
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Middle-class economics spoken here
I want to invite people to attend a Baldacci Spaghetti Supper beginning at 5 p.m. on Friday, June 26, at the Elks Lodge, 1675 Lisbon Road in Lewiston. Noted local and statewide speakers will discuss the minimum wage and middle-class economics. The dinner will be an opportunity for local and state leaders to celebrate unity […]
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GOP-controlled Maine Senate OKs welfare benefits for asylum seekers
AUGUSTA — Prolonged efforts by Gov. Paul LePage to eliminate General Assistance benefits for asylum seekers and other immigrants took a major hit Thursday night when the Senate voted in favor of a bill to provide the benefits for up to 24 months. The Senate also passed a separate bill to crack down on the […]