Here we go again. Janet Mills wants you to say “thank you” for $300 while MaineCare burns.
In her final State of the State, Mills said she’s “putting tax dollars back in your pockets,” then punctuated it with the quiet part out loud: “You’re welcome.”
Right on cue came the headline-grabber: $300 “Affordability Relief” checks for roughly 725,000 people, pulled from the Rainy-Day Fund she says is at its “legal maximum.”
Let’s not pretend this is a governing breakthrough. It’s the oldest trick in the political playbook: create pain, deny responsibility, then toss out a one-time check and demand applause.
Because $300 isn’t “relief.” It’s a single CMP bill for plenty of households. It’s one grocery cart that used to cost half as much. It’s a token offered at the exact moment voters are finally paying attention.
And Mills is absolutely paying attention; she’s now a candidate for U.S. Senate and she’s losing ground to Graham Platner every day.
So, call it what it looks like: a vote-for-me check.
Now here’s the part she didn’t say out loud: MaineCare oversight is a mess.
While Mills is pitching checks, Maine is getting slapped with the consequences of years of lax controls in the biggest taxpayer-funded program in the state.
The HHS Office of Inspector General found Maine made at least $45.6 million in improper Medicaid payments tied to autism-related services in 2023 and recommended the state refund of $28.7 million (the federal share).
That’s not a partisan talking point. That’s the federal inspector general stating, in plain English, that Maine’s payments did not fully comply with requirements, and the feds want their money back.
Now layer that on top of the scandal Mills didn’t want to talk about: Gateway Community Services.
Maine DHHS cut off MaineCare payments after a state audit found Gateway overbilled more than $1 million. Reporting also describes prior audits finding hundreds of thousands more in overbilling. And in her State of the State, Mills said nothing about Gateway at all. This is fraud, but let’s also call it what it is: theft. Theft from the taxpayers
