The Maine Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee held a public hearing Monday on a bill that proposes to increase state reimbursement for municipalities and Indian tribes administering general assistance programs, and for the biggest spenders in graduated increments over the next five years.
General Assistance (GA) is a statewide, municipally administered welfare program that provides vouchers for housing, food, and other essentials to Maine’s poorest residents.
LD 978, introduced by State Rep. Samuel Zager (D-Portland), proposes raising the state’s reimbursement rate from the current 70 percent to 90 percent for most municipalities and Indian tribes starting July 1, 2026.
For the six communities with the highest reimbursements from July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2025, the bill outlines a phased reimbursement increase: 75 percent from July 1, 2026, to June 30, 2028; 80 percent from July 1, 2028, to June 30, 2030; and 90 percent from July 1, 2030.
“A community that serves people through GA does not get money on balance, the net impact is a fiscal loss for the municipality in budget terms,” Rep. Zager said introducing his bill to the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee on Monday.
“I know in this room I’m not alone, though, in viewing this as an investment in, and even an act of love for our fellow human being,” he said. “It’s an expression of what it means to live in a just society, we take care of each other in our time of greatest need.”
Zager said that although the committee previously discussed and ultimately decided against raising the GA reimbursement rate in the last legislative session, he believes the two-track approach of his bill that separates the major service provider municipalities will lessen the fiscal strain incurred by the change.
“As a good faith, bipartisan, rural, urban proposal, rebalancing the statewide GA system in this manner will cost some money, but it will be much less than prior proposals in the near term, and in the out years,” Zager said.
The bill’s fiscal note estimates that increasing the reimbursement rate from 70 to 90 percent would require general fund appropriations of $2.7 million in fiscal year 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 respectively, and $4.2 million in fiscal years 2027-2028 and 2028-2029.
LD 978 is cosponsored by Republican lawmakers Sen. Marianne Moore of Washington and Rep. Amy Arata of New Gloucester, and Democratic Sen. Rachel Talbot Ross of Cumberland.
From January 1, 2019, to June 30, 2023, Maine’s total general assistance spending reached $109.3 million, with Portland accounting for $79.6 million—72.8 percent of the state’s total, according to Maine Department of Health and Human Services (Maine DHHS) records.
The state reimbursed $55.7 million of Portland’s welfare costs, while local taxpayers covered $23.9 million. Per resident, Portland spent $1,164.93 on general assistance, compared to $171.67 in Bangor, the next highest spender, and a statewide average of $79.71. The next biggest spenders on general assistance were South Portland, Lewiston, Augusta, Westbrook and Sanford.
Rep. Zager’s bill comes as Portland grapples with significant financial strain, exacerbated by a recent state rule change that slashes funding to the city’s homeless shelters.
The financial strain on Portland’s general assistance program has intensified due to a new Maine DHHS rule, effective April 1, 2025, which cut the city’s shelter reimbursement rate from $84 to $48 per night, a change that will cost the city a projected $4.4 million.
Maine DHHS previously issued a notice of violation to the city last fall for requesting a reimbursement of $84 per shelter night, which the city has said is based on homeless shelter operating costs.
The Portland City Council met last week in executive session with the city’s attorneys concerning the Maine DHHS rulemaking and “pending litigation concerning the Department’s [Maine DHHS’] audit of the City’s general assistance program.”
Portland Corporation Counsel Michael Goldman said at the start of the April 23 Council meeting, prior to entering executive session, that the Maine DHHS audit was from September 2024. The Maine Wire has requested a copy of that audit under Maine’s Freedom of Access Act.
