Congressman Dan Goldman Pushes to Extend Reimbursement for Victims of SNAP Fraud

New York’s Ability to Refund SNAP Fraud Victims Expires at the End of September

Over 80,000 SNAP Fraud Cases Were Filed In New York City Last Year

Read the Letter Here

Washington, DC – Congressman Dan Goldman (NY-10) joined Congressman C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (MD-02) in a bipartisan effort to extend critical protections to victims of food stamp theft that are set to expire at the end of September without further action. The lawmakers sent a letter to Congressional leadership urging them to include a provision in a forthcoming stop-gap funding bill that would allow victims to continue to be reimbursed from federal funds.

Currently, states are required to replace stolen Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits under a measure included in the 2023 omnibus funding bill passed by Congress at the end of 2022. The measure was adopted in response to a massive uptick of theft in which perpetrators use skimming devices to steal SNAP benefits distributed on electronic benefits transfer (EBT) cards. The provision applied to benefits stolen from October 1, 2022, through September 30, 2024.

“For the nearly three million New Yorkers who rely on SNAP, the inability to recover stolen benefits could mean the difference between putting food on the table and going hungry," Congressman Dan Goldman said. “It helps everyone when state SNAP agencies are allowed to make victims of EBT skimming and other theft whole. We owe it to working families everywhere to ensure this commonsense measure is extended as a part of this year's budget process.”

The lawmakers emphasized the dramatic impact the reimbursement program has had already: more than 125,000 households have been reimbursed since October 2022, not counting some of the hardest-hit states who have not reported the full impact.

Other signatories include Representatives Mike Lawler (NY-17), Lori Chavez-DeRemer (OR-05), James P. McGovern (MA-02), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01), Anthony D’Esposito (NY-04), Marc Molinaro (NY-19), Kweisi Mfume (MD-07), Brittany Pettersen (CO-07) and Grace Meng (NY-06).

Read the full letter here or below:

Dear Speaker Johnson, Minority Leader Jeffries, Majority Leader Schumer, and Minority Leader McConnell:

Ahead of the September 30th deadline to sustain federal funding, we urge you to take action in the forthcoming Continuing Resolution to extend the provision included in the bipartisan Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 (CAA), which ensures the replacement of stolen Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card benefits with federal funds. This extension will continue to protect the over 41 million law-abiding individuals who participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) from being victimized by SNAP benefit theft. We must do more to ensure those who are struggling to put food on the table for themselves and their families are not denied access to these critical funds that are being stolen at record levels through no fault of their own.

While Congress, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) and state agencies continue to work to prevent future theft as mandated by the CAA by issuing regulations to permanently strengthen EBT card security, theft of SNAP benefits has grown to become a pervasive crime throughout the country. To date, all 50 states and territories that participate in SNAP have developed implementation plans and have reported instances of SNAP benefit theft related to skimming. The reimbursement authority granted by the bipartisan CAA has resulted in over 125,000 SNAP households having their benefits replaced and being made whole since October 2022 alone, excluding some of the hardest-hit states who have not reported the full impact to FNS. Unfortunately, this critical provision is set to expire on September 30th, and the law-abiding households—who have done absolutely nothing wrong but try to feed their families—will once again be left without their SNAP funds and unable to provide for their families.

The issue is clear: federal SNAP beneficiaries around the country continue to be targeted and benefits are being stolen at record levels. This vital extension will continue to protect victims of SNAP benefit theft—including veterans, families, low-income workers, children, the elderly and the disabled—while Congress continues to work with state agencies, FNS and EBT vendors to improve card security and modernize the SNAP’s EBT system. We strongly urge Congress to take immediate action in the upcoming short-term Continuing Resolution to make whole the victims of SNAP benefit theft by extending the 2023 omnibus provision that provides for the replacement of stolen EBT benefits.

We thank you for your consideration of this request.

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