AUGUSTA — Republican Gov. Paul LePage says Maine faces more than $7 million in federal fines because it’s not meeting work participation requirements for welfare recipients.
LePage said Thursday that Maine needed an overall work participation rate of 47.5 percent and 87.5 percent for two-parent families in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program in 2011, but fell far short of that.
He chided Democrats for failing to approve his proposals to overhaul the state’s welfare programs this session, which he says would have helped boost Maine’s rates.
But Chris Hastedt of Maine Equal Justice Partners says the governor’s proposals would have had no impact on whether the state met the participation rate in 2011. She says Maine is now meeting the overall rate, which will help it appeal past penalties.
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