RUMFORD — A public hearing to discuss the upcoming vote for the General Assistance budget is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. today at the Rumford Falls Auditorium. Selectmen will meet at 6:30 p.m. and hold another public hearing on whether to amend an appendix of the town’s General Assistance Ordinance. During their June 19 meeting, selectmen […]
general assistance
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Macdonald meets with Lewiston asylum seekers
LEWISTON — Mayor Robert Macdonald met with a group of asylum-seeking immigrants for two hours Wednesday afternoon discussing ways to preserve city General Assistance payments. Macdonald said he expects the City Council will vote on whether to change city policy and begin denying payments to undocumented immigrants at its next meeting. The council’s next scheduled […]
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Posted inAdvertiser Democrat, Oxford Hills
General Assistance costs drop in Norway, Paris
NORWAY — The General Assistance administrator for Norway, Paris and West Paris said undocumented immigrants seeking assistance are not a problem but she must be diligent in weeding out ineligible applicants. The Maine Department of Health and Human Services recently notified municipalities that they should stop giving undocumented immigrants General Assistance or forfeit the state […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Lewiston mayor reacts to immigrants’ protest
LEWISTON — Mayor Robert Macdonald released a statement Tuesday evening blasting protesters in Portland who oppose efforts by Gov. Paul LePage to cut General Assistance to asylum-seekers and undocumented immigrants. “The governor’s actions were labeled ‘morally indefensible’ and ‘unconscionable’ by church leaders,” Macdonald said. “Is it also morally indefensible and unconscionable to increase the burden […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine Municipal Association to sue state over General Assistance controversy
AUGUSTA, Maine — A group representing Maine’s towns and cities will ask a Superior Court judge to weigh in on the legality of a controversial order from Gov. Paul LePage’s administration directing municipalities to stop distributing General Assistance funds to undocumented immigrants. The Maine Municipal Association revealed its plan to file the lawsuit in a […]
Posted inLetters
A. Esposito: Thankful for general assistance
This is in response to a story printed in the Sun Journal (June 25) that reported that Gov. Paul LePage is “doubling down” with regard to denying basic shelter and civilized care to those people who are undocumented. That attitude stinks, and it seems LePage is on a gambling spree. Being a bully does not […]
Posted inOp-Eds
Michael Lachance: Patch the holes in Maine’s welfare boat
The recent actions taken by Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services and Gov. Paul LePage have brought to light many issues involving General Assistance and those applying for such benefits. While claims of welfare abuse have been a hot button topic in Lewiston for a number of years, they typically have been met with […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Immigrant community, advocates decry ‘morally indefensible’ LePage proposal to cut assistance for refugees, asylum seekers
PORTLAND — Members of the immigrant community and their advocates gathered Saturday in Deering Oaks Park to protest a mandate by Gov. Paul LePage to end General Assistance to refugees, asylum seekers and undocumented immigrants. As faith leaders called the order “unconscionable” and “morally indefensible,” the mayors of three Maine cities said they would not […]
Posted inMaine
LePage threatens to stop GA to towns that aid undocumented immigrants
On this page: Read Gov. Paul LePage’s letter to town administrators. AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage has doubled down on new state guidelines barring undocumented immigrants from receiving General Assistance, decreeing that any municipality that bucks the new rule will see all state reimbursement for the program cut off. That’s a shift from previous announcements […]
Posted inRiver Valley
Rumford board grapples with General Assistance budget
RUMFORD — After learning that the town has been underfunding the General Assistance budget for the past five years by several thousand dollars, selectmen agreed to continue that trend. They unanimously approved a budget of $65,000, which is $28,406 less than the selectmen’s initial proposal of $93,406 that voters defeated June 10 at the town […]