Escalating a feud with the federal government, Gov. Paul LePage said Maine would pull out of the food stamp program, potentially cutting off benefits for 190,000 residents, if not allowed to ban purchase of junk food. An aide said LePage “did not threaten to end the program, he threatened to stop administering it … so the feds would be forced to administer it in Maine.”
Food stamps, formally named the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), is a federal program administered by states, who share some of the administrative costs. USDA, which oversees food stamps, says it has neither the funding nor authority to run a state-level program, so if a state decides not to operate a food stamp program, “their citizens will not receive these nutrition assistance benefits.”
“We are literally talking about taking the food off the table of Maine families struggling to make ends meet,” said Maine Rep. Chellie Pingree.
In a fiery letter, the Republican LePage said “I will be pursuing options to implement reform unilaterally or cease Maine’s administration of the food stamp program altogether. You (USDA) maintain such a broken system that I do not want my name attached to it. I suggest you start browsing the Maine classifieds for commercial real estate leases.” The letter did not set a deadline.
LePage complained that USDA was unfair in refusing to allow Maine to conduct a demonstration project that would ban purchase of candy and sugar-sweetened beverages with food stamps as a step against obesity. In the past 20 years, obesity and diabetes rates have doubled in Maine, he said. “I can only think of one reason why the federal government would refuse to eliminate junk food from the (food stamp) menu: Special interests.”
USDA said Maine’s proposal was flawed as a research tool, because It would not gather enough data to generate credible results on food consumption patterns or obesity levels. As an example, USDA said the state has no agreement with retailers to track what items are purchased by food-stamp families with their own money.
Maine Public Broadcasting said “the state would likely have difficulty implementing the ban on its own because authorized SNAP retailers are bound by law to operate in accordance with federal policy.”
One in seven Mainers is on food stamps, said the antihunger group Food Research and Action Center. “Gov LePage is gambling with the federal food money Mainers need.”
Elected in 2010, LePage has tried to re-mold Maine’s public assistance programs, said the Portland Press Herald. “Recently, he has turned his attention to food stamps. He has tried several times to push legislation that would restrict what recipients can buy but hasn’t found enough support for many of his proposals, even among members of his own party.”
Under LePage, Maine has taken a hard-nosed approach to food stamps. In 2015, it ended a waiver, designed to ease the impact of high unemployment rates, that allowed able-bodied adults without children to receive more than 90 days of benefits in a three-year period. And it ruled that households without children could not receive food stamps if they have more than $5,000 in assets, not counting a home and one vehicle. Before people turn to the government for help, “they should sell non-essential assets and use their savings,” LePage said announcing the rule.
The state health commissioner, Mary Mayhew, clashed with USDA over Maine’s proposal to make a photo ID mandatory on the EBT cards that dispense food stamp benefits. Maine said it would prevent fraud. USDA rejected the idea. Experts say photo IDs are expensive and have dubious returns.
Last December, USDA said Maine was the slowest of any state in processing food-stamp applications, said the Press Herald.