LePage Administration: Mainers Made More after Welfare Cut

The administration of Maine Gov. Paul LePage says Maine residents earned more money after they were removed from food stamp rolls.

The Maine Department of Health and Human Services and Office of Policy and Management announced findings from a study about changes to welfare in Maine on Wednesday.

LePage, a Republican, ended a federal waiver that allowed able-bodied, childless adults to remain on food stamps without working. The state management office looked at nearly 7,000 people who left the program in December 2014. The office found that quarterly wages for the group increased 114 percent a year later.

The administration's findings drew skepticism from Democrats in Maine. Rep. Drew Gattine, a Democrat, says there isn't necessarily a cause and effect relationship between the rule change and the bump in income.