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. […]
food stamps
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 […]
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Posted inLocal & State, 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 inLocal & State, 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 inLocal & State, 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 […]
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
Food stamp changes to have slight effect on Maine LIHEAP
WASHINGTON — Cuts to the nation’s food stamp program enacted this year are only affecting four states, far from the sweeping overhaul that Republicans had pushed, an Associated Press review has found. As a result, it’s unclear whether the law will realize the estimated $8.6 billion in savings over 10 years that the GOP had […]
Posted inLocal & State
Advocates decry LePage proposal to meet federal work requirements for food stamps
AUGUSTA — A proposed rule change by Gov. Paul LePage that could see about 12,000 food stamp recipients lose eligibility for the program on Jan. 1 was decried by advocacy groups Tuesday during a public hearing held by the Department of Health and Human Services. Representatives from various soup kitchens and food pantries, as well […]
Posted inLetters
J. Baird: Work requirement just common sense
It is about time that Gov. LePage and officials at the Department of Health and Human Services followed the federal guidelines requiring work, training or volunteering in order to receive what was formerly known as food stamps. Years ago, when people came to Ellis Island, N.Y., they didn’t depend on food stamps — they worked. […]
Posted inLetters
G. Bennett: Maintain work requirement
I commend officials of the Department of Health and Human Services for not asking for a waiver to eliminate the work requirement for Food Stamps. I am afraid that the Democrats I have seen on the news do not understand that it is a federal requirement (as it should be). It is not wrong for […]