U.S. Judge Orders Delay in Mich. Welfare Cuts

A federal judge has ordered a temporary halt to enforcement of a new Michigan law ending cash assistance to thousands of families who have collected welfare for at least four years, says the Detroit Free Press.

U.S. District Judge Paul Borman ruled last week that the state had botched notifying those about to be cut off, giving them less than three weeks to plan for the loss of benefits, and he imposed a temporary restraining order against enforcing the cuts.

Passed in July and signed by Gov. Rick Snyder last month, the Michigan law sets a lifetime 48-month limit on collecting welfare. More than 11,000 families representing about 40,000 people, were set to come of the rolls.

Advocates for the poor, who had raised alarms about the impact of the cuts, welcomed last week’s ruling as a respite for affected families. “Hopefully the state will learn a lesson from this: that there are actual people behind the numbers,” said Gilda Jacobs, president of the Michigan League for Human Services.

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