Gov. Paul LePage is so intent on keeping food stamp recipients from using their benefits to buy sugary drinks and candy that, apparently, he’s willing to put food assistance benefits at risk for more than 190,000 Maine residents.
In a recent letter to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, LePage threatened to cease Maine’s administration of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or unilaterally implement restrictions that go against federal law. The practical impact would be the end of SNAP benefits for Mainers, since the federal government — which pays 100 percent of SNAP benefits but relies on states to carry out the program — has neither the capacity nor the authority to step in and administer SNAP for an individual state.
LePage was reacting to a letter from the U.S. Department of Agriculture explaining the next steps Maine would need to take to set up a pilot project testing the impact of barring candy and soda purchases. It’s worth noting the USDA has rejected similar proposals from Minnesota and New York City, which requested waivers from the federal law in 2004 and 2011 respectively, and it’s offering to work with LePage to refine Maine’s proposal.
LePage, though, will only accept things his way. “[P]rohibiting the purchase of junk food with public benefits is such a commonsense proposition that a demonstration project should not even be necessary,” he wrote.
LePage’s conviction might be strong, but his belief in no way trumps the need to help thousands of low-income Mainers avoid going hungry. LePage is proving how little respect he holds not only for federal laws and administrative processes, but for low-income Mainers of all ages who depend on SNAP.
Since LePage’s threat to stop administering SNAP would result in the end of the program in Maine, here’s a look at the impact of that move:
— Some 190,000 people would go without a benefit that, in 2014, averaged $116 per person per month or $218 per household. (By comparison, the average American household in 2012 spent $151 on food every week, according to Gallup.) In 2013, according to the USDA, three quarters of households receiving SNAP benefits included children, seniors or disabled members. Among nondisabled adults who receive SNAP, the overwhelming majority — 82 percent — are working around the time they receive SNAP benefits, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. They might rely on SNAP temporarily as they’re in between temporary, seasonal jobs or getting back on their feet after a job loss.
— The Maine economy would go without the economic infusion of hundreds of millions of dollars in benefits. In federal fiscal year 2014, SNAP brought more than $321 million into the state. By withdrawing from the program, Maine’s economy would lose that cash flow, plus any multiplier effect. That’s a sobering prospect in a state whose economy grew at the sixth slowest rate in the nation between 2014 and 2015.
— Food insecurity would worsen, and Maine already ranks 12th in the nation and first in New England for food insecurity.
LePage’s threat to have the state stop administering SNAP is both reckless and self-centered. There’s no modification to the program to hold out for that makes it worthwhile to put a critical benefit at risk for so many families.
The USDA has offered LePage and his administration the opportunity to engage and continue refining a pilot project for barring SNAP recipients from using their benefits to purchase candy and soda.
LePage needs to abandon his irresponsible gambit with SNAP benefits that help thousands. He can either engage with federal officials to refine a demonstration project or drop his soda and candy restriction efforts entirely and direct the Department of Health and Human Services to focus on improving administration of the program in place right now.