AUGUSTA, Maine - The LePage administration has made no secret that it wants to continue to overhaul Maine's welfare system. In fact, many Republicans view the recent re-election of the governor and the new control by the GOP of the Maine Senate as a mandate to do so.
One of those new GOP Senate leaders is already taking aim at General Assistance for asylum seekers and other undocumented immigrants. Senate Majority Leader Garrett Mason, of Lisbon Falls, says too many Maine cities can no longer afford to provide General Assistance to asylum seekers and other immigrants. And so Mason plans to introduce a bill to change state law.
"What we plan to do is really refocus GA on how it's used," he says. "I think there's a lot of people out there that they need a little help, and that's what GA is for - maybe they're short on rent, or I've heard all kinds of reasons why people go to GA offices for help - but to be able to have a more clear set of guidelines for municipalities to follow."
The LePage administration is currently embroiled in a lawsuit in state court over its efforts to cut off reimbursements to communities that offer GA to asylum seekers and other immigrants who lack documentation. Last spring, Maine's attorney general said that the move would be unconstitutional and that the administration failed to follow the state's rulemaking process in making the change. The Maine Municipal Association and the cities of Portland and Westbrook then filed suit against the state.
"We're kind of caught right in the middle right now," says Portland Mayor Michael Brennan. "State law requires us to run a General Assistance program and state law requires us to provide financial assistance based on financial need."
Brennan says that means provide it to everyone, regardless of their immigration status. If Portland had gone along with the governor's new rule and denied GA to undocumented immigrants, Brennan says the city could have faced litigation for failing to follow the law.
But Brennan says there are other reasons to support GA for this vulnerable population - people who have fled civil wars, terrorism and trauma to get to the United States and who, by law, are not allowed to seek work for 180 days after their arrival.
"In June we passed a resolution endorsing the Charter of Compassion," he says. "It's been a national movement for the last several years. Louisville, Seattle and other cities have also endorsed the charter, but it basically says that you respect diversity, that you build a community from different perspectives, different races. But it also says that you act in a way that's compassionate toward other people."
Portland's GA program costs about $10 million in total. Brennan says about $3 million is funded by local taxpayers. The rest, $7 million, is reimbursed by the state. It's that state money that is now being withheld and is the subject of the lawsuit.
But even if the lawsuit is successful, it could become moot if Mason's bill to rewrite state law also wins passage. Lewiston Mayor Robert MacDonald is working on the legislation with Mason. The reason he supports the bill is simple, he says.
"We're a poor city and they're just flocking in here," he says. "I mean they're just flocking in here."
MacDonald says the numbers tell the whole story of how Lewiston is being affected. "July, we have 47 immigrant families come in and 42 were undocumented. In August, we had 50, 43 of which were undocumented. September, 51, again 43 undocumented."
MacDonald says the trend has continued through the end of the year. According to the city manager, Lewiston paid about $58,000 dollars to undocumented immigrants between July and November of 2014, and about $243,000 to other recipients of GA.
Robyn Merrill, executive director of the low-income advocacy group, Maine Equal Justice Partners, says passing a bill to make GA reimbursements off limits for certain immigrants and asylum seekers will only increase the burden for municipalities.
"They're not going to disappear, they're residents of Maine, they live here," Merrill says. "You take General Assistance away and these families are on the street, and then it's the community's responsibility - it's Portland, it's Lewiston that has to figure out how to support these individuals."
Sen. Mason previously introduced legislation to address General Assistance, but the effort was unsuccessful. This time, he says, Maine people have spoken loudly that they want want welfare reform because they can no longer afford to keep writing blank checks.
