Maine Governor Revives Old Rule To Punish Poor People For Saving Money

Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) has already knocked tens of thousands of people of his state’s food stamps rolls through a variety of stringent new rules for the program, but he’s not done. At a hearing Tuesday, state officials will lay out a new barrier to entry for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) applicants that most other states have abandoned in recent years.

Under the new rules, anyone without dependent children who’s managed to save $5,001 will get kicked out of the SNAP system, losing access to a benefit that averages $116 per person per month in Maine. The asset test will look at the combined value of a person’s bank accounts, second vehicles, and recreational property like snowmobiles. The state intends to exempt several categories of assets from the test: The value of a person’s burial plot or their tax-exempt savings accounts for retirement and education won’t be counted as evidence they’re too well-off to receive food stamps. Personal homes and a household’s primary vehicle are also excluded, but additional vehicles or residences count against an applicant.

But for households without dependents that have managed to sock away emergency savings, the new rules will require spending down those savings before receiving a meager food allowance from the government. And for the many who have no such savings, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities food stamps expert Stacy Dean told ThinkProgress, the policy discourages them from building up assets that can make them more self-reliant.

“It forces people to choose between saving to create financial stability for myself and my family, and participating in this program,” said Dean. The hardest-hit population will be the very same people intended to be buoyed by SNAP and other safety net systems: low-wage workers, retirees, and the disabled.

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http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2015/10/06/3709260/maine-food-stamps-asset-test/