The Trump administration is pulling some funding for the Maine Department of Corrections over a transgender woman who is being housed in a women’s prison, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in an interview Tuesday.
Bondi said in a Fox News Channel interview that “nonessential” funding for the Maine DOC was pulled because the state was “allowing a man in a women’s prison,” NEWS CENTER Maine reports. She did not give an amount, but the report suggested it would be around $1.5 million.
The AG was referring to Andrea Balcer, formerly known as Andrew, who was sentenced to 40 years in prison in 2018 for the murder of her parents and family dog. Balcer’s attorney argued that she was going through a gender identity transformation and that her parents were not accepting. Balcer had no criminal record before the killings on Oct. 31, 2016, at her family home in Winthrop. She was 17 at the time.
Balcer is currently incarcerated at the Maine Correction Center’s Women’s Center, according to the Maine DOC online inmate database.
“We will pull your funding, we will protect women in prison, we will protect women in sports, we will protect women throughout this country,” Bondi said in the interview.
The Maine DOC released a statement Tuesday saying in part:
“The Department is evaluating the impacts to services from these funding terminations. While the Department is aware of related public statements by the United States Attorney General, the notice is the only communication that has been received by the department.”
The department noted that the funding will impact the following grant programs:
- Improving Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Recovery Outcomes for Adults in Reentry
- Second Chance Act Addressing the Needs of Incarcerated Parents and Their Minor Children
- Smart Probation: Innovations in Supervision Initiative
Advocacy groups criticized the move.
“If the federal government truly cares about women, all women, they would not withdraw funding for essential programs that lead to public safety in our communities,” Jan Collins, assistant director of Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition, said Tuesday.
Maine has already been a target of an attempt to pull federal funding. The Department of Agriculture has paused federal funding for certain state educational programs over the state’s compliance with Title IX, the law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in education.
At issue is Maine’s allowing of a transgender athlete to participate in women’s sports. It comes after a public confrontation between Maine Gov. Janet Mills and President Donald Trump, which ended in Mills telling the president, “we’ll see you in court.” The federal government then launched an investigation into Maine’s policies, which found that Maine Department of Education, the Maine Principals’ Association, and a high school were in violation of Title IX. Last week, the federal government issued a “final warning” to the state, saying it will send the case to the Justice Department if all parties do not sign an agreement by April 11. Maine officials previously said they did not intend to comply.
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