LANSING — The state’s tight budget and changes in policies mean that federal assistance could be running out for nearly 14,000 struggling families in Michigan, according to a report in the Detroit Free Press. 

With many families’ five year period of receiving help having expired, hard times could be on the horizon. The state began sending out notices to people who had surpassed the limit and extended past that time through hardship exceptions. 

Michigan is now planning to limit assistance time periods to four years according to a representative of the Michigan Dept. of Human Services in the report. 

The 2012 budget for the state shows about $77.4 million in savings for limiting benefits according to the DHS in the Free Press report but opponents say the economy is too downtrodden for such a move. 

The 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act limited federal cash assistance to 60 months in a lifetime but states were given the option to shorten that limit.