Gov. Paul LePage announced Maine will be putting photo ID on EBT cards, well some of them anyway, but any family member will still be able to use them under some programs, and of course ATMs don’t check for photo ID.

A few days, later the federal government asked Maine to delay implementation so that the state’s plan could be reviewed. The feds warned of possible lost federal funding and litigation if things are not done correctly.

Please tell me LePage isn’t rushing into another situation that will result in Maine losing federal funding. Please tell me the administration has conducted an analysis showing the expected reduction in fraud is greater than the cost to enact this change. One would expect them to be touting a net savings, if there was one, but they aren’t.

Unfortunately, this sounds like more political theater from the governor, not an effective measure to reduce fraud.

Meanwhile the governor vetoed a bill calling for the Department of Health and Human Services to report on its efforts to combat fraud saying, “The requested report would require extensive coordination between programs and technology systems.”

Mainers want real steps to reduce fraud. Why aren’t we getting them? “Extensive coordination between programs and technology systems” is probably an important step DHHS needs to take in order to effectively address fraud.

Alan Tibbetts, Sidney

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