From 1996 through 2000, I served in the Maine House of Representatives, representing part of Bangor. My district included Capehart, an area with hundreds of publicly subsidized housing units. As I campaigned door-to-door I saw firsthand the hopelessness that the welfare system can create. Too many families were stuck in a system that punishes hard work and traps parents and kids in poverty.
During my time in the Maine House of Representatives, I served on the Legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on Health and Human Services. During this time, Maine passed a bipartisan welfare reform bill, following the lead of so many other states. For a while, Maine moved people from welfare to work and reduced the number of families dependent on government. Welfare reform proved that families can move from welfare to work and become entirely self-supporting.
But under Governor Baldacci, Maine government reversed course. Governor Baldacci’s Department of Health and Human Services has presided over a massive expansion of the number of individuals receiving welfare assistance and, thereby, the number of Mainers dependent on government. Sadly, this is Governor Baldacci’s biggest legacy.
In fact, if the state does not reverse course, in just three years Maine could have more people in its welfare system than the number of people working in the private sector.
That’s financially unsustainable. But more importantly, it is morally unacceptable.
Maine has a proud tradition and a national reputation for self-reliance and a strong work ethic. Yet, our current welfare system robs families of the hope of a better life by trapping them in a system that promotes dependency and discourages hard work and independence.
This report is the story of Maine’s welfare challenge and a clear path of how we can Fix the System and free families from welfare dependency through accountability and opportunity.
It is my hope that you will read this report, understand the problem and the necessary solutions, and then become engaged as we all work with the next Governor and next Legislature to Fix the System. The future of hundreds of thousands of parents and children depends on all of us becoming advocates for real and compassionate welfare reform.
Tarren Bragdon
CEO, The Maine Heritage Policy Center
September 9, 2010
