Last Sunday, the Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson, a program that airs on national network news, did a segment on Governor LePage and his efforts to reform welfare in Maine.
Attkisson’s report highlighted an article on The Maine Wire about welfare funds spent in all 50 states, saying “LePage has launched a crackdown on fraud after discovering a shocking detail nobody else had unearthed. Millions of dollars in food stamps intended for needy Maine residents were being spent in far flung locations like Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.”
In the report, LePage says “I am the example, the poster child for the American Dream, and you don’t do it by taking, you do it by giving and earning what you have.”
LePage’s reforms highlighted within the report include: time limits for cash assistance, drug testing for benefits and changes to the food stamp program (SNAP) including work requirements.
As Attkisson pointed out, “While more people are getting on food stamps nationally, it’s the opposite in Maine. Under LePage, the state’s food stamp enrollment has dropped 23 percent, cash assistance cases are down 62 percent and the amount of food stamp money spent outside of Maine has been cut almost in half.”
Click here to view the full report.