Tagged: Bridge Card

So, we're still here in it.

Stuck in the middle of winter and its hard to think about putting on flip-flops, sunglasses, and heading out for fresh, summer veggies from the farmers market.

But, it seems more and more people are going to farmers markets throughout the year, and paying for their purchases with Bridge cards.

Numbers are out from last year and they show the use of Bridge Cards at farmers markets around the state went up by 42 % in 2012.

Amanda Shreve joined us today. She's the Food Assistance Partnership Coordinator with the Michigan Farmers Market Association.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - The state has added money to all of the debit cards of 85,000 Michigan food assistance recipients and families who temporarily went without the aid this week.

Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget spokesman Kurt Weiss said all the impacted cards had been restored and loaded with the food assistance benefit as of 11:22 a.m. Saturday.

The issue was caused by an employee error.

Recipients with ID numbers ending in "0" discovered money wasn't on their cards Thursday as expected.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - A Michigan agency is still working around the clock to load money onto debit cards for thousands of food stamp recipients who unexpectedly went without the aid for a day or two.

The state says the issue caused by employee error has been resolved for most of 85,000 affected recipients and families. They can use their Bridge Cards at grocery stores Saturday morning.

Remaining cards are expected to be restored throughout Saturday.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Money has been added to debit cards for nearly half of 85,000 Michigan food assistance recipients who were without the aid for a day.

   The state says Friday that about 40,000 Bridge Cards had been loaded as of midmorning. The goal is to add money to all of the affected cards by day's end.

   A human error left about one-tenth of Michigan's food stamp recipients without money they were expecting to see on their debit cards Thursday.

   A family receiving food assistance gets about $540 a month on average. Those with account numbers ending in "0" were affected.

   The state Department of Technology, Management and Budget says it worked through the night to restore the money.

   Recipients of food assistance can call 888-678-8914 for updates.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Michigan officials were working through the night to fix an error that left 85,000 recipients of food assistance without enough money on their state-issued Bridge Cards.

The error has been affecting recipients with account numbers ending in "0" - or about 10 percent of Michigan's 1.8 million residents receiving food assistance. Their electronic debit cards weren't loaded with money as expected because of an unspecified human error.

State spokesman Kurt Weiss says employees have been working "around the clock" to correct the problem.

Welfare recipients could not use their state-issued debit cards to draw cash from casino ATMs or buy lottery tickets, alcohol and tobacco under legislation moving through the state Legislature.

The Michigan House passed bills Wednesday that would restrict the use of Michigan Bridge Cards, used like debit cards for state food assistance and cash programs. The major bills passed 108-0 and advance to the Senate.

Monthly food assistance in Michigan is based on income, how many people are in their household and other criteria. Funds are made available on a debit card swiped through electronic reader when buying groceries.

Other bills in the package would require the state to deactivate a Bridge card when a recipient is in jail.