Michigan Gov. Whitmer rolls back Republican measures that punish the poor

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/10/18/1893344/-Michigan-Gov-Whitmer-rolls-back-punitive-limits-on-public-assistance

Michigan Gov. Whitmer rolls back Republican measures that punish the poor
Laura Clawson
Daily Kos Staff
Friday October 18, 2019 · 10:25 AM EDT


Under Republican former Gov. Rick Snyder, Michigan had punitive limits on how much in assets people could have while receiving public assistance. Under Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, that’s changing.

Snyder kept asset limits as low as $50 for State Emergency Relief, including heating assistance, and up to $5,000 for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Such low limits “actually discouraged customers and our families from building a savings account for emergency services,” Michigan Community Action’s Chere Coleman told Bridge Magazine. The $50 limit on heating assistance included not just cash savings but even things like funeral prepayments.

Whitmer is lifting the asset limits to $15,000 and excluding a family’s personal car from the asset limits. That means that, for instance, families don’t have to get rid of a reliable car that could be essential to keeping a job in order to get the food or heating aid they need to get by. Thirty-four states have eliminated asset limits altogether.

The increased limits “give families more stability in hard times because they won’t have to give up savings to get help,” state health director Robert Gordon said at a press conference. “It will reduce the time and stress that individuals face when dealing with us, because it is hard enough dealing with a layoff or an illness.”

Michigan families aren’t in the clear, though. The Trump administration may roll back a 2002 policy allowing states to set their own limits and impose a $2,250 asset limit on aid.