By Sen. Linda Baker
Maine people have made it clear that real welfare reform is a top priority. Over the last few years, lawmakers have been listening, and changes have finally been made that benefit Maine taxpayers, as well as those who are truly in need of basic services. During the last two years, I have been pleased to be a part of that effort in the Maine Senate.
This past legislative session, lawmakers reached a compromise that finally banned the purchase of alcohol, tobacco, and lottery tickets with welfare benefits. I was pleased to present the amendment that put real teeth into the new law and provided penalties for abusing the system. This welfare reform was the product of months of work and negotiations between both parties and thankfully we now have some common-sense rules in place. Now, Maine taxpayers have one more safeguard to prevent the misuse of benefits.
Other welfare changes include the new law to strengthen the penalties for people who abuse the General Assistance program. Municipalities are now able to deny benefits to people who are not making a good faith effort to pay back fraudulently received benefits. Previously, people only had to wait 120 days and then they were able to receive benefits again – regardless of past fraud.
In addition to the work being done by the Legislature, the executive branch has also been making policy changes that attempt to reduce the illegal trade of welfare benefits. Most recently, the Department of Health and Human Services announced that EBT cards will no longer be replaced endlessly.
EBT cards are regularly found at drug busts and are known to be used as payment for drugs. This new requirement will help to curb the trafficking of EBT cards by making it more difficult to replace them. The rule change will not punish families who unintentionally lose cards; we have all lost credit cards or driver’s licenses or keys. It is only upon the fifth EBT replacement card within a 12-month period that DHHS can withhold the card, and it will be withheld until the client makes contact with the department and provides an explanation for the volume of requested cards.
DHHS has released interesting statistics about people who have moved off of the food stamp program in recent years. Maine started requiring work, volunteer, or training requirements for able-bodied, childless food stamp recipients, and that caused the number of people using food stamps to fall. What is interesting is that as people dropped off the program, the wages for some of the former participants began to rise.
A study done by the state’s Office of Policy and Management found that those who had been on food stamps but who stopped receiving them after the work, volunteer, or training requirement was implemented in 2014 have seen their pay rise by 114 percent.
While we have made great progress in reforming Maine’s welfare system, there is certainly more to be done. If you’d like to discuss welfare reform, or any other state or legislative matter, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I can be reached at lbakerbasket@yahoo.com or 729-8381.
(Sen. Linda Baker serves the people of Senate District 23 in the Maine Senate. Senate District 23 consists of Sagadahoc County and the Lincoln County town of Dresden.)
