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The $1.7 trillion total spending bill that passed Congress in late December addresses the growing problem of nutrition program fraud, but some critics have called it a “short-term fix.” , has not solved the larger problem of theft of SNAP benefits.
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One measure of this measure would replace household SNAP benefits stolen through electronic benefit transfer card skimming between October 1, 2022 and September 30, 2024, with up to two months’ worth of benefits. I am requesting the state to website.
The bill also requires the U.S. Department of Agriculture to issue guidance and regulations directing state SNAP agencies to adopt security measures to prevent card skimming and other methods of SNAP theft. doing.
Formerly known as Food Stamps, SNAP is a federal food purchase assistance program run by the USDA but administered at the state level. Available to eligible low-income households. Rewards are credited monthly to your EBT or similar card.
As GOBankingRates previously reported, SNAP-related fraud and theft is so prevalent that some recipients want government agencies to hold them legally responsible if their benefits are stolen. I think. Among the complaints is that his SNAP does not have sufficient safeguards to prevent fraud.
Late last year, a class action lawsuit was filed against the Massachusetts Department of Transition Assistance (the agency that oversees the state’s food stamp program). One of the plaintiffs in this lawsuit was a victim of “skimming,” in which a thief used a device to steal card numbers and his PIN from someone else’s electronic benefits payment card.
SNAP proponents point out that other consumers have long enjoyed greater protection than EBT cardholders if their credit or debit card information is stolen.
“Losing those funds is never your responsibility. Your credit card company will issue the refund,” Ashley Burnside, a senior policy analyst at the Center for Law and Social Policy, told NBC News. “So if you’re using a different card just because you’re receiving SNAP benefits, it’s unfair and unfair to say that if you fall victim to the exact same thing, it’s your fault.”
Measures in the Omnibus Appropriations Bill are intended to address this issue. Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colorado), who co-sponsored a similar bill, told Denver 7 the move “will make a big difference.”
However, some argue that this is not enough. For one thing, the action only covers frauds that occurred after his October 1, 2022, so it won’t replace benefits for victims who were scammed before then. In another example, the protection he will only last until September 2024.
According to Carmen Mooradian of Hunger Free Colorado, the law is just a starting point.
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“We now have a short-term fix that was included in the omnibus, but we don’t yet have a long-term solution to this problem,” Mooradian told Denver 7. This is not the SNAP participants’ fault, we want to emphasize what is happening to them.
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