FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 1, 2020
MEDIA CONTACT: Julie Rabinowitz, Director of Policy and Communication, 207-292-2722 ext. 102, Julie@mainepbp.com
MPBP urges Mainers to sign the petition to require DHHS to hold a public hearing on the draft rules
AUGUSTA—Maine People Before Politics (MPBP) has submitted public comments on the Maine Department of Health and Human Services’ proposed rules for the $6 million “Working Cars for Working Families” program and urges Mainers to sign its petition to require DHHS to hold a public hearing on the rules. MPBP first revealed the launch of the car welfare program in its June 17 Facebook post.
“DHHS’s ‘Working Cars for Working Families’ rules are a non-starter for Maine taxpayers,” stated Julie Rabinowitz, director of policy and communication for Maine People Before Politics. “The rules not only fail to meet the statute’s requirements to provide ‘reliable and affordable’ transportation, they also fail to provide the administrative guidelines the statute requires. At a time when we are experiencing a global pandemic, the Mills Administration has chosen to divert DHHS’s attention from managing Maine’s response to COVID to managing what amounts to a rent-to-own auto program, using $6 million in TANF money that may be needed to help Mainers affected by the massive recession we face.”
Maine People Before Politics has made a petition available on its website where Mainers can sign to request that DHHS hold a public hearing on the draft rules.
A copy of MPBP’s public comments are available here. They detail a long list of problems with the proposal, including such concerns as:
There are a number of other significant problems in the draft rules. The program would transfer the title of the vehicle to the ASPIRE participant within the first 30 days of receiving the vehicle. The participant is required to pay a down payment of $300 in three monthly installments and 24 months of $100 payments, after which the participant graduates from the program and owns the car.
However, if a participant sells or gives away the vehicle during those 24 months, DHHS is only authorized in the rules to pursue an “Intentional Program Violation” under the welfare fraud provisions. The rules do not authorize DHHS to prosecute the individual for felony car theft, even though the value of the vehicle could exceed $10,000 because DHHS places no restrictions on the value of the vehicles to be used in the program.
DHHS announced the rulemaking on July 3, with a closure date for the submission of public comments of July 5. DHHS plans to adopt the rules without a public hearing and announced on the Secretary of State’s rulemaking website that “The Department is in the process of submitting a Request for Proposals from entities to administer the program for the Department.”
A bill including a similar program using the same name, “Working Cars for Working Families,” was originally sponsored by House Speaker Sara Gideon in 2017. The health and Human Services Committees, after a public hearing, issued a three-way divided report including two different amended bills. Neither version made it to the House or Senate floor. Instead, Speaker Gideon included a much shorter version of the program in her demands during the 2017 budget negotiations with Governor Paul R. LePage.
This budget negotiation lead to the four-day shutdown of state government because Governor LePage was trying to remove the 3 percent surtax that would have made Maine’s income tax the second highest in the nation, which he achieved. However, a version of this program was included in a reduced form (about 113 words) in the final budget, with a sunset of 2022. The LePage Administration did not draft rules or implement the program during his tenure.
“The Mills Administration is launching a program that vastly differs from the 2017 proposals. DHHS has designed a program to distribute cars using $6 million dollars of taxpayer money, and the agency’s lack of experience in dealing with car sales, car repairs, titles, liens and motor vehicle law is revealed in the inadequacy of their proposed rules. A public hearing would at least provide more input to highlight the problems with the program that the Administration’s rules should address,” stated Rabinowitz.
Rabinowitz concluded, “While DHHS has so many other pressing issues to address during the pandemic, now is not the right time for the Mills Administration to launch this complex and poorly planned program.”
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