Gov. Paul LePage is stepping up his efforts to convince Maine cities and towns to deny General Assistance benefits to undocumented immigrants. This week, municipal leaders got letters from the governor, who says he will withhold all General Assistance reimbursement to communities that refuse to follow his directives.
First the LePage administration told cities and towns that if they wanted to extend General Assistance benefits to undocumented immigrants, those costs would not be reimbursed by the state. But on Monday, Gov. Paul LePage advised them that they would lose all of their General Assistance funds if they took such action.
In his weekly radio address he said the law is on his side. "Federal law prohibits states from providing General Assistance to illegal immigrants," LePage said. "This law was enacted in 1996, when President Clinton and the Republican Congress approved sweeping welfare reforms."
Critics say the governor has misinterpreted the 1996 law that essentially bars assistance for certain categories of people, but only if states don't take steps to allow it. They say Maine has established protocols for GA eligibility under state rulemaking.
Maine Attorney General Janet Mills has gone as far as to characterize the governor's directive as unconstitutional -- a suggestion that LePage did not find helpful or constructive.
"Attorney General Janet Mills was appointed by the Democratic-led Legislature, and she works for them," LePage said. "Mills has been working aggressively to keep giving General Assistance to illegal aliens. What about 'illegal' doesn't she understand? I find it inexplicable that the state's top law enforcement official would encourage municipalities to violate federal law."
So far, LePage's threats seem to be going nowhere. In Bangor - which deals with very few requests for General Assistance from immigrants - Rindy Fogler, the city's community services manager, says municipal administrators have consulted with legal counsel and are confident they can legally extend general assistance benefits to whomever they choose.
Fogler says the city will continue to defy the governor. "I met last night, along with the city manager, with some members of the City Council and one of the counselors said, 'I don't want to be known as a community who turns people in need away,'" she said.
In Portland, Mayor Michael Brennan said his city will also continue to ignore LePage's threats about suspending GA reimbursement - an outcome that he says could have a devastating financial effect on the city. Brennan says he remains puzzled at how LePage - a former mayor of Waterville and welfare client himself - seems to be at odds with people who share his same experiences.
"Two of the things that the governor may know the most about seems to be the areas that he is most intent on making policies that make it difficult for people that are in similar situations," Brennan said.
"The governor is not the law and the governor is not above the law," says Zach Heiden, the legal director for the American civil liberties union of Maine. "The governor has to follow the law and follow the rules, just like everybody else in this state."
Heiden agrees with the Maine Municipal Association, the Attorney General and others who say LePage's legal arguments won't pass muster.
But legal issues are secondary to the effect the governor's policy could have on the ground, according to Robin Merrill, a senior policy analyst at Maine Equal Justice Partners. The advocate for the poor says it may result in immigrants being blamed for cities and towns losing the state's reimbursement. She says it also creates confusion.
"This has created a lot of anxiety and fear in the hearts and minds of people who would be impacted, or potentially impacted - or maybe they wouldn't be impacted but they don't understand who would and who wouldn't be impacted," Merrill says.
Even if the administration follows through on its threat, a lengthy state audit process would be triggered that might not be resolved until after Election Day - an event that some of LePage's critics suggest is what's really driving the governor's welfare rhetoric.