Welfare Reform – Maine

Lawmakers want to change welfare, but are the changes constitutional?, By Kevin Miller, April 21, 2011, Bangor Daily News: “Fixing welfare is easy enough to talk about on the campaign trail. But when it comes to actually revamping the social service programs created to help those in need, reform efforts often run up against federal restrictions, constitutional prohibitions and, in some cases, the fact that reality is different than political perception. On Monday, a legislative committee will take up a number of bills dealing with welfare, MaineCare and other social services. Although a perennial issue, welfare reform efforts gained momentum with the election last November of Gov. Paul LePage and a new Republican majority in the Legislature. LePage has pushed forward with his reform agenda by incorporating changes into his two-year, $6.1 billion budget now in the hands of the Legislature’s budget-writing committee. But lawmakers have introduced their own proposals, some more contentious than others. A few of the measures on Monday’s agenda in the Health and Human Services Committee are repeats from previous years that critics hope will suffer a similar fate…”