State & Local Government Policy, Business and Technology

Governor’s threat could end food stamps in Maine: Recipients on ‘a steady diet of Mars Bars and Mountain Dew’

The Washington Post: Maine's residents would no longer receive food stamps if Gov. Paul LePage (R) delivers on a threat to end his state's administration of the program. In a letter to the Obama administration last week, the governor wrote that beneficiaries were wasting public money on "a steady diet of Mars bars and Mountain Dew" and that he did not want his name associated with the program.

The letter escalated a long-running dispute between LePage and the administration over several aspects of the food-stamp program. Most recently, LePage had wanted to bar Maine residents from using food stamps to buy unhealthy food. When federal officials rejected his proposal to institute such a rule statewide, LePage reacted angrily.

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