On Wednesday, Maine's Republican Gov. Paul LePage announced that able-bodied adults without dependents will no longer be able to receive welfare benefits without fulfilling work requirements.
In the past, Maine received a waiver from the federal government that exempted welfare recipients from fulfilling the work requirements.
But no more of that. Now they'll have to work for what the get, just like everyone else.
From Portland Press Herald:
Without the waiver, able-bodied food stamp recipients in Maine will need to meet a work requirement outlined in federal law, which means they need to either work at least 20 hours a week or volunteer for a community agency.[/B]
According to the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, able-bodied recipients are defined as adults ages 18 to 49 who have no dependents, are not pregnant and are not disabled.[/B]
DHHS has identified 12,000 current recipients in Maine who fit that definition. They represent about 5 percent of all food stamp recipients and collectively receive about $15 million per year in benefits, or about 4.4 percent of all food stamp dollars that come to Maine. It's not known how many of these would fail to satisfy the work requirement.[/B]
While that's not a lot, it's certainly a start. If each state would start to implement tangible entitlement reforms and weed out the low-lifes, the country as a whole would be in better shape.
Maine is about to make welfare recipients furious
In the past, Maine received a waiver from the federal government that exempted welfare recipients from fulfilling the work requirements.
But no more of that. Now they'll have to work for what the get, just like everyone else.
From Portland Press Herald:
Without the waiver, able-bodied food stamp recipients in Maine will need to meet a work requirement outlined in federal law, which means they need to either work at least 20 hours a week or volunteer for a community agency.[/B]
According to the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, able-bodied recipients are defined as adults ages 18 to 49 who have no dependents, are not pregnant and are not disabled.[/B]
DHHS has identified 12,000 current recipients in Maine who fit that definition. They represent about 5 percent of all food stamp recipients and collectively receive about $15 million per year in benefits, or about 4.4 percent of all food stamp dollars that come to Maine. It's not known how many of these would fail to satisfy the work requirement.[/B]
While that's not a lot, it's certainly a start. If each state would start to implement tangible entitlement reforms and weed out the low-lifes, the country as a whole would be in better shape.
Maine is about to make welfare recipients furious
