Governor Janet Mills’ (D-Maine) controversial $300 “affordability” checks, ostensibly intended to provide financial relief to struggling Mainers, are now going out to dead people.
[RELATED: Controversial $300 Affordability Checks Begin Arriving in Maine Mailboxes…]
A reader reached out to The Maine Wire claiming that she received one of the checks addressed to the estate of her dead mother-in-law.
She provided a photograph of the check, confirming that the check was mailed out to a now-deceased person.
The check also confirms that the state was aware that the recipient was dead at the time the check was issued, because it is addressed to her estate rather than just her name, as a check meant for a living person would be.
The check, bearing the signatures of Gov. Mills, State Controller Douglas Cotnoir, and State Treasurer Joseph Perry, comes with an attached description claiming that “payment is being provided to eligible Maine residents to assist with the cost of living.”
It is not clear how many other “cost-of-living” checks were addressed to the dead, or why the estates of dead people were ever evaluated as possible recipients.
The checks were meant to go to any single adults making under $50,000 or married adults making less than $100,000 annually.
The checks caused significant controversy when they were being considered in the legislature, and even drew criticism from some Democrats who pointed out that $300 would do little to alleviate economic stress.
The funds were drawn from the state’s rainy day fund, intended for use during unexpected disasters and emergencies. In the final version, the checks were expected to draw $155 million from the rainy day fund.
Republicans pushed for alternative affordability measures, such as a temporary suspension of the gas tax, but their efforts proved unsuccessful.
The checks, approved while Mills was still running for Senate, also drove speculation that they were a calculated effort from the governor to essentially buy votes.
The fact that the checks were mailed out physically bearing Mills’ signature rather than issued via direct deposit only added fuel to those speculations.
I bet she’s on the voter rolls, too.
They raise taxes and fees 33 times then give out $300 checks to dead people. This has bellows fingerprints all over it. Unbelievable
Well, the dead people probably voted so they should get paid!!
Illegals and inmates are also receiving checks. Nice of her to give us back our own money