By Rep. Mike Thibodeau
With Maine facing a budget deficit of more than $800 million, reforming our welfare system should be near the top of the Legislature’s agenda. A welfare lifestyle is not healthy for anyone, and we should do all we can to help folks become contributing members of society. We now have that chance.
State Rep. Rich Cebra (R-Naples) has introduced a bill to fix some of the most glaring problems in the current system in a way that rewards work and preserves Maine’s welfare funds for deserving residents. Right now, our system penalizes people who leave welfare and go back to work. Consequently, we are now into our second or third generation of a welfare class. When a safety net becomes a welfare hammock, it’s time for a change.
As President Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, has said, an economic crisis provides an opportunity to do things previously believed to be impossible. Reforming Maine’s dysfunctional welfare system is a great example.
Rep. Cebra’s bill, LD 254, is entitled “An Act to Enact a 5-Point Welfare Reform Program.” To begin with, it establishes a 90-day residency requirement before someone is eligible to begin receiving state welfare benefits. Over the years, we have created one of the most lavish and lenient welfare systems in the country. Word has spread nationwide that Maine is the place to go to live “high on the hog” on taxpayer-funded benefits.
We are a relatively poor state facing a huge budget gap and billions of dollars in unfunded liabilities for pensions and health insurance for retired teachers and state employees. The “ramp up” in General Purpose Aid (GPA) to public schools has added some $800 million in new spending in the last few years to combat high property taxes. The economic emergency we now face means fewer people are paying taxes.
In short, we simply cannot afford to be a welfare magnet. Currently, a newcomer can drive into Maine and proceed directly to a welfare office. There is no residency requirement – none. This seems unbelievable, but it’s true. And as a “sanctuary state” for illegal aliens – under Governor Baldacci’s executive order – foreigners can move right in and go on welfare. State workers are not allowed to even ask them if they are in the United States legally.
As more people migrate here for welfare, we have less money to help truly needy Mainers. We cannot continue the pattern of exporting our educated young people while importing people who come here to strip mine our social welfare resources. A 90-day residency requirement will help us curb abuse.
The bill’s second point would offer targeted tax credits to employers who hire economically disadvantaged Maine residents. An employer who hires a welfare recipient would receive a credit of 75 percent of the employee’s salary during the first year, followed by 50 percent in the second year and 25 percent in the third. This would open up a new pool of potential employees and mitigate the risk to employers.
Point three would eliminate the 20-hour rule, a truly horrendous provision. Currently, welfare benefits are cut off completely from anyone working more than 20 hours a week. Under LD 254, the number of hours worked will not affect benefits up to one and half times their normal benefit amount. Their hourly pay rate would determine the amount of benefits they would still receive. The legislation would use federal figures which show that a citizen receiving all welfare benefits “makes” the equivalent of $17.56 per hour for a 40-hour week. Under the bill, an employee earning $10 per hour, for example, would still qualify for $7.56 per hour in welfare benefits.
I believe this formula will gradually wean recipients from their welfare dependency. They will not suffer a negative economic impact. By removing existing barriers, we can make it economically beneficial for recipients to take a job. It also will raise their self-esteem and have numerous positive effects on their families.
The bill’s final point would bring Maine law into conformity with the federal Welfare Reform Act of 1996, one of former president Bill Clinton’s landmark achievements. It would establish a 60-month lifetime limit to receive Maine benefits, the same as the federal limit. Clinton’s welfare reform, by the way, has been a resounding success, despite the hysterics of liberals who predicted we’d have people dying in the streets. Welfare should be a hand up, not a way of life.
Five years of welfare is much more generous than you find in most states, where they provide two years of welfare before your lifetime limit is reached. The important thing is that we begin to end the culture of dependency we have in Maine. We need to get people back on their feet. They will be much better off for it, and so will the state.
State Rep. Mike Thibodeau (R-Winterport) serves on the Legislature’s Utilities and Energy Committee
###