A lottery winner still using his Bridge Card. College students spending their parents’ money on beer and their Bridge Cards for food. Bridge Card users taking money out at casinos, selling their cards or customizing their cards with fashion stickers.

The list of Bridge Card abuses is outrageous — and is a sharp reminder of our responsibility to protect taxpayer dollars while keeping our social safety net viable for those who truly need a helping hand.

Members of the Legislature are doing everything in our power to stop fraud and abuse in the Bridge Card system.

Along with changes put in place by the Department of Human Services, the Legislature is looking at closing a menu of legal loopholes that unintentionally allowed this abuse.

The bill package encourages greater accountability and appropriate use of Bridge Cards, and makes common-sense adjustments to policy and procedures.

These changes include prohibiting users from taking cash assistance withdrawals from automatic teller machines at casinos; prohibiting anyone from modifying a Bridge Card — for example prohibiting users from placing stylized stickers on the card to make it look like a credit card; and requiring recipients to compensate the DHS for a lost or stolen card.

Other proposed changes would remove prisoners from Bridge Card recipient lists; add a user’s photo identification and signature to their card; and allow the DHS to work with the Michigan State Police to identify and remove recipients that have outstanding arrest warrants.

If passed, this legislation will be the most we can do as a state to guard our taxpayer dollars against abuse and protect those who really need the assistance. Any other reforms will need to be made at the federal level.

Which is why the House measures also include resolutions calling on the federal government to make its own changes, including requiring more nutritious options for food assistance and allowing Michigan to operate its own system with a block grant.

The common-sense changes we are making should be duplicated at all government levels. I have co-sponsored each of these bills and believe they lay the foundation for ending the rampant fraud and abuse of Bridge Cards.

I look forward to hearing your comments on these important issues. Please feel free to contact me by calling (888) 373-0078 or e-mailing sharontyler@house.mi.gov.