The Maine Municipal Association says it will file a lawsuit over a new state directive that requires cities and towns to deny General Assistance to undocumented immigrants.
Geoff Herman, the director of state and federal relations, says the MMA wants a judge to review the process undertaken by the LePage administration to change the rules around General Assistance without a public hearing or legislative approval, and after the attorney general advised that doing so would be unconstitutional.
"We're authorized to go forward to actually initiate a legal action - a lawsuit - in order to get in front of a judge, I think the right term is declaratory judgment, to find out and to give direction to the towns and cities about whether these new directives from the department and the governor are enforceable," Herman says. "Were they properly implemented and are they legally enforceable?"
Herman says the MMA is also hiring a law firm to research federal law and whether it is consistent with recent Maine rules and practice that permitted GA to be given to undocumented immigrants. He says both actions are solely intended to provide clarity to municipal leaders.
