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Now against the law for dead people to get food assistance in MI

LANSING, MI (AP)--   Michigan Governor Rick Snyder has signed into law requirements that the state check to make sure welfare recipients haven't died or gone to prison. 

The state Department of Human Services already has policies in place to deactivate the Bridge Cards of prisoners and people found in the U.S. Social Security Death Index.  Legislation signed Wednesday codifies the practices in Michigan law.

Snyder and the bill's sponsor, Republican Representative Tim Kelly of Saginaw, say preventing welfare fraud makes "common sense." Under the law, the state is required to do monthly checks for dead people and inmates with Bridge Cards, debit cards holding cash assistance.

Nicole was born near Detroit but has lived in the U.P. most of her life. She graduated from Marquette Senior High School and attended Michigan State and Northern Michigan Universities, graduating from NMU in 1993 with a degree in English.