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LePage's bill would require applicants for Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families to apply for three jobs before
receiving state aid, while prohibiting use of electronic benefit
cards to purchase tobacco, liquor, tattoos, lottery tickets or
to pay for bail.
The bill would also ban the use of benefit cards for purchases
outside the state.
"This legislation is about a fundamental culture shift in
Maine's economy and government," LePage, a Republican, said.
Several of the measures had been rejected by the previous
legislature, but LePage, who easily won re-election last
November, said the reforms deserved a second chance.
"Mainers spoke loudly in favor of welfare reform this November
and the composition of the legislature has changed as a result,"
LePage said.
Democrats lost control of the Maine Senate in the November
elections but retained their majority in the House.
Democrats, who battled constantly with the outspoken LePage
during his first term, struck a more conciliatory tone on
Monday.
"We are looking to find common ground with the governor on
welfare reform," said Democratic House Speaker Mark Eves. "As we
know, the best anti-poverty program is a job."
The governor, a self-made businessman who was raised in poverty,
has long leveraged his hardscrabble upbringing to argue for a
"tough-love" approach to welfare.
Under LePage, Maine has begun printing photos on welfare cards
to discourage fraud and has proposed to cut non-disabled 19- and
20-year-olds from the state's Medicaid program.
(Reporting by Dave Sherwood; Editing by Scott Malone and Eric
Beech)
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