If Congress doesn’t do something by September 30, low-income families whose SNAP benefits are stolen might not be able to get their money back. The limit is coming up at the same time that people who get Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which used to be called food stamps, are constantly being stolen from electronically.
This is called “skimming.” The program is run by the states and is funded by the federal government, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It helps more than 41 million people in the country pay for fresh food and other things.
Here is what must happen so beneficiaries won’t lose their SNAP benefits
A law that was passed by lawmakers lets states use government money to pay back people who have been swindled out of their SNAP benefits since the end of 2022.
The government reimbursements stop at the end of the month, though, and most states don’t plan to use their own money to replace stolen payments. Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md., has long fought for the rights of people who have been wrongfully denied SNAP benefits, and he said that Congress needs to move right away.
The fact that they don’t see this as important is frustrating and, to be honest, hard to understand. SNAP skimming is still a big problem, even though the order is no longer in effect.
The USDA says that more than $61.5 million in government SNAP benefits were given to about 125,000 households across the country in fiscal years 2023 and the first part of 2024. However, Ruppersberger said that the numbers are probably lower than they should be.
Ruppersberger is in charge of a joint effort to keep SNAP recipients’ benefits going, but he said it’s unlikely that a separate bill will be passed by the 30th because Congress is more focused on keeping the government open until October 1st.
But the Biden administration is aware of the problem and on Monday sent a letter criticizing a planned budget that would keep the government running. The letter criticized the CR for not protecting nutritional aid for families who are weak and whose benefits are stolen, among other things.
A complicated crime affecting more than just SNAP benefits
To be clear, skimming is not just done by people who get SNAP benefits. It can also happen to people who get money on bank cards with magnetic strips that can be swiped at cash registers.
But, unlike debit cards, their electronic benefits transfer cards don’t have microchips inserted in them or other anti-theft security features like contactless payments. In addition, they can’t get ongoing government consumer protections that would let them get back money that was stolen.
Because no state currently provides SNAP EBT cards with microchips, skimmers take advantage of this weakness by using complex methods, such as covering the terminals with plastic keypad overlays that look a lot like card-swiping terminals.
Hidden devices take information from EBT cards, like the user’s PIN, and use it to make fake cards, called clones, that take away the person’s benefits. Some lawmakers are upset that steps to make SNAP EBT cards safer are taking too long. For example, Sen. Ron Wyden’s plan to require chip-enabled cards and other safety measures has not yet been passed.
It has been promised that two states will use EBT cards with microchips. A person from the California Department of Social Services said that chip cards will be used in the state beginning in the first few months of 2025.
A spokesperson for Oklahoma Human Services also said that chip cards will be used in the state by the summer of 2019. Also, Oklahoma Human Services said that scams have cost over 2,600 families in the state over $1.4 million in benefits. This suggests that the new technology could make theft much less likely.
California has been one of the few states to replace stolen SNAP payments since late 2021. It has done this by returning about $120 million in payments. The amount covers both federal and state reimbursements, the Department of Social Services in the state says.
In a statement to NBC News, USDA Deputy Undersecretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services Cindy Long called SNAP a “vital nutrition safety net.”
She also said that the agency is “acting on multiple fronts to prevent skimming from occurring in the first place, including upcoming regulatory steps.” Long also asked Congress to keep paying for things that people have taken out of SNAP payments.
It’s important to remember that for many families, even a short break in their SNAP benefits can be disastrous, said Vicky Negus, policy advocate at the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, a non-profit center for poverty law and policy that has fought for victims of skimming to get their money back.
Negus said it could cause problems for other people and make it hard for them to pay their rent or energy bills. So, if Congress doesn’t extend federal payments after September 30, most states won’t have to pay for it. Only a few states will use their own money to restore SNAP benefits that were skimmed, and Washington, D.C. will also use its own money.