PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - The City Council in Maine’s largest city is restoring funding for a program that provides financial help to asylum seekers who don’t qualify for state assistance.
The Portland Press Herald reports the Portland City Council voted to restore the funding to its Portland Community Support Fund on Monday night. The vote restores $50,000 to the fund.
The council was considering winding down the fund, but faced opposition from activists who believe the city has a duty to help asylum seekers.
Funding for noncitizens was a point of contention between liberal Portland and the state’s former conservative governor, Republican Paul LePage.
LePage, who left office in January, argued that providing aid to noncitizens would hurt the elderly and disabled in the state.
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Information from: Portland Press Herald, http://www.pressherald.com
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