AUGUSTA, Maine - Senate President Mike Thibodeau, a Republican from Winterport, is calling on Congress to give the states more flexibility in programs that are funded by both Congress and the Legislature.
Thibodeau says Maine could create what he calls a common sense welfare system if Congress would allow it.
"Things in D.C. are broken, and that we need - and folks down there need - to get their act together," he says. "They need to give the states the opportunity to make real changes."
For example, he says efforts to make sure welfare programs are only going to those that truly need help are often stymied by federal rules or legislation that prevent state action, or require a federal waiver of some rule to implement.
