In her budget proposal, Governor Janet Mills included a $1.3 million pay back to the federal government to reimburse them for improper food stamps payments in FY2019. According to the US Department of Agriculture, Maine’s payment error rate was 19.12 percent in 2019 for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP, commonly known as food stamps.

What is also concerning: Maine’s 2019 error rate jumped 6.82 percent from where it was in 2018.

The errors include incorrect amounts paid out, payments lacking appropriate documentation, or payments made to a person who was not eligible for food stamps in the first place.

Given that Maine’s economy continued its record-setting growth rate in 2019, it is unclear what caused the sudden jump in errors.

We do know, however, that Governor Mills loosened eligibility requirements for a number of welfare programs during her first year in office, and this error rate may be tied in part to that expansion of benefit eligibility.

We noted in our budget analysis that this may be an indication that fraud and waste in Maine’s welfare programs are increasing under the Mills Administration.

You can see the 2019 and 2018 error rates at the link in the top of the comments below.