COLUMN: Michigan's former Bridge Card policy unnecessary exception
Last week, Maura Corrigan, the director of the Michigan Department of Human Services, announced there would be changes to the Bridge Card food assistance program starting April 1.
Over the past week, these changes have been the victim of exaggeration and misleading statements by many.
These changes are not some radical scheme by Republicans; rather, DHS is simply bringing Michigan’s food assistance program in line to match federal guidelines.
The guidelines state that in order to receive assistance, a person must meet certain income and employment requirements that prove assistance is truly needed, but the Michigan policy has been to allow an exception allowing student status to be its own qualification.
Such an exception is not only unnecessary, but it goes against the very fiber of why the program was created — to help low-income people. Under the new policy, if students meet the income and work requirements, they are eligible just like everyone else.
Rectifying this is a much-needed move at a time of crisis for the Michigan budget.
Bridge Cards are far too often abused in college and seen as a way of getting “free” money. In fact, during a recent grocery shopping trip, I overheard a girl telling her friend she was going to pick up a couple packages of cookies for her registered student organization’s meeting the next day and just put them on her Bridge Card.
The citizens of Michigan should not be subsidizing snacks for student organizations.
If a student honestly cannot afford $200 a month for food, that person should reconsider if attending college is right for them at the time.
Taking a year off between high school and college to raise some money never killed anyone. In fact, my father did just that. After he graduated from high school, he changed his plans to go to college and took a year off from his schooling to work, and he saved up his money so that he could attend college and have money to live day-to-day.
There are some college students who genuinely have financial needs, and these people will still be able to access the necessary assistance.
What needs to end is the mentality that the first place students should turn to for food is the government. Bridge Cards may not cost them anything, but they have become an increasing burden on the state and its taxpayers, and it is a burden that we cannot handle anymore.
Most other states do not throw out the rules for people just because they are college students, and Michigan cannot afford to continue to do so either.
