Sun Journal - Gov. Paul LePage’s administration said that it has asked the federal government to allow it to ban the purchase of soda and candy with food stamps. It’s a longstanding goal of the Republican governor that is virtually assured to fail: States can’t regulate purchases under the federal and state Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, so Maine has to ask the administration of President Barack Obama, a Democrat, for a waiver that no state has received.

Similar proposals have gotten some traction behind a coalition of conservative welfare hawks and health advocates. At least nine states — including California, Texas, Florida and Vermont — have tried similar efforts to allow health-based changes to food stamp rules, according to a 2012 report from Eat Drink Politics, a food industry watchdog group