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Think tank calls Maine No. 1 in welfare

By John Richardson jrichardson@mainetoday.com
MaineToday Media State House Writer

Maine is the most welfare-dependent state in the nation, according to a report released Thursday by the Maine Heritage Policy Center.

The conservative think tank and advocacy group said dependence has skyrocketed during the Baldacci administration, with enrollment growing 70 percent since 2003. At the same time, it said, Maine's poverty level has remained relatively flat.

"Today, one in three Mainers is on some form of welfare," said Tarren Bragdon, chief executive officer of the group and an author of the report.

That enrollment rate -- actually 29 percent, according to the report -- includes a long list of state-operated social service programs, such as Temporary Assistance For Needy Families, food stamps and the MaineCare health insurance program. It does not include Social Security or Medicare.

Maine's next governor and Legislature need to overhaul and simplify the complex system to reduce enrollment and encourage independence, according to the group.

"Maine has a welfare system that is designed for dependence," Bragdon said. "We need to focus the resources we have on the truly needy."

Brenda Harvey, commissioner of Maine's Department of Health and Human Services, criticized the report Thursday as misleading and politically motivated.

"I think the suggestion that our budget has grown exponentially under the Baldacci administration is absolutely incorrect," she said. "The general fund, the state of Maine taxpayer's money, for DHHS over the governor's eight years has seen an 8.1 percent increase," she said, while federal funding received by the department is up 28 percent since 2003.

"It seems to me that this report and the timing of this report (during the gubernatorial campaign) is clearly supporting a political agenda," Harvey said.

Bragdon said the policy center began analyzing Maine's welfare system a year ago, when U.S. census data showed the state near the top in enrollments rates. It used federal census data and information formally requested from Maine's DHHS to compare Maine with other states and to calculate the increases in spending and enrollment.

The report says:

* Maine ranks second among all states in the enrollment rate in three major programs: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, food supplements or food stamps, and Medicaid or MaineCare. It is the only state in the top 10 for all three programs.

* Total welfare spending in Maine totaled about $2.5 billion in fiscal year 2008, a 78 percent increase from $1.4 billion in 1998. That figure includes federal, state and local dollars.

* Maine has relatively liberal eligibility requirements. It is one of nine states, for example, that provide Temporary Assistance for Needy Families to convicted drug felons and one of seven to provide food stamps to new immigrants who aren't U.S. citizens.

* Maine does not adequately enforce work requirements and has weak sanctions for rules violations.

Bragdon said he also hopes the report will help dispel myths about the system, including the claim that Maine's liberal benefits attract immigrants to the state. While Maine does provide some welfare benefits to new, legal immigrants, that isn't a significant driver of the spending growth and isn't enough to attract newcomers, he said.

Among the report's recommendations is to change the name of the state's welfare division from the Office of Integrated Access and Support to Maine EMPOWER (Employing and Moving People off Welfare and Encouraging Responsibility). The acronym is borrowed from Arizona.

Harvey, the DHHS commissioner, said the report inflates enrollment numbers by including MaineCare, which provides state-subsidized health insurance to needy children and the disabled.

"Providing health care is not welfare," she said.

The report also targets programs that help welfare recipients find jobs, and Maine's successful efforts to attract more federal aid, Harvey said.

Bragdon said that spending federal money on welfare is no better than spending state money.

"The last time I checked, the feds have a $1.5 trillion deficit that Maine taxpayers and Maine children are going to have to deal with," he said.

The Maine Heritage Policy Center does not endorse political candidates or parties, Bragdon said.

Its report does point to some concerns raised during the campaign by Waterville Mayor Paul LePage, the Republican candidate for governor. It also raises new issues that the group hopes will be discussed by political leaders, Bragdon said.

The 28-page report is posted on the center's website, www.mainepolicy.org.

The DHHS posts data on a web page, www.maine.gov/dhhs/realfacts/, intended to counter some of the recurring criticisms of Maine's welfare system.

Maine's five candidates for governor, or their representatives, were asked to respond to the Maine Heritage Policy Center's report on welfare in Maine:

Republican Paul LePage has been speaking about the need for welfare reform for months, and will roll out a detailed plan soon, said Brent Littlefield, a spokesman. "Having looked at the Maine Heritage Policy Center report, it's clear that this is an important problem in the state of Maine," he said.

Democrat Libby Mitchell's spokesman, David Loughran, said he had not seen the report and could not comment on it.

Independent Eliot Cutler said, "This is a big warning sign. We need to get rid of the cliff effect that discourages people from working, we need to tighten up our standards, we need to do a much better of job of administering the system that now has thousands of agencies in it."

Shawn Moody, an independent, said the report reinforces his plan to reform the system so that everyone who asks for help isn't automatically enrolled in every program for which they qualify.

Kevin Scott, another independent, said he hadn't read the report but "in my administration, we will take a serious look at welfare reform that does not confuse the issue. ... I will not scapegoat welfare recipients," such as children and the elderly who need support.

Key conclusions of "Fix the System: Freeing Maine's families from Welfare Dependency," by the Maine Heritage Policy Center:

* From 2003 to 2010, welfare system enrollment, including MaineCare health insurance, grew 70 percent, from 226,000 people to 381,000.

* Twenty-nine percent of Maine's population is receiving some form of welfare.

* From 2001 to 2007, Maine's poverty rate grew from 10.3 percent to 10.9 percent.

* Maine spent $2.5 billion on its welfare system in 2008, a large portion of which was federal funding.