This bill seeks to amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to address the growing problem of stolen Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. It mandates the Secretary of Agriculture to issue regulations for the reissuance of SNAP benefits that have been stolen due to identity theft or typical skimming practices. These regulations must establish clear criteria for identifying such theft while minimizing the burden on victim households to prove the loss. The legislation also requires the Secretary to submit various reports to Congress, including a status report on reissued benefits, an examination of barriers to implementing chip-enabled EBT cards, and annual reports detailing the aggregate value and number of households receiving reissued benefits per state. Furthermore, it directs the Secretary to periodically review and modify these regulations to adapt to evolving technology and security threats, ensuring the continued protection of benefits. A significant provision of the bill introduces federal cost-sharing to encourage states to adopt more secure EBT card technology. It authorizes the Secretary to pay 90 percent of administrative costs incurred by State agencies for transitioning from magnetic-stripe EBT cards to chip-enabled cards that comply with the American National Standards Institute X9.58-2024 EBT standard. These covered costs include: card issuance strategies one-time up-front costs paid to card vendors business and functional design requirements implementation planning and system testing education and outreach for households States must submit transition plans for approval, ensuring that recipients maintain uninterrupted access to their benefits during this process. This cost-sharing incentive is set to sunset on September 30, 2031.
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Timeline
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.
Ending Stolen SNAP Benefits Act of 2026
USA119th CongressHR-9359| House
| Updated: 6/18/2026
This bill seeks to amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to address the growing problem of stolen Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. It mandates the Secretary of Agriculture to issue regulations for the reissuance of SNAP benefits that have been stolen due to identity theft or typical skimming practices. These regulations must establish clear criteria for identifying such theft while minimizing the burden on victim households to prove the loss. The legislation also requires the Secretary to submit various reports to Congress, including a status report on reissued benefits, an examination of barriers to implementing chip-enabled EBT cards, and annual reports detailing the aggregate value and number of households receiving reissued benefits per state. Furthermore, it directs the Secretary to periodically review and modify these regulations to adapt to evolving technology and security threats, ensuring the continued protection of benefits. A significant provision of the bill introduces federal cost-sharing to encourage states to adopt more secure EBT card technology. It authorizes the Secretary to pay 90 percent of administrative costs incurred by State agencies for transitioning from magnetic-stripe EBT cards to chip-enabled cards that comply with the American National Standards Institute X9.58-2024 EBT standard. These covered costs include: card issuance strategies one-time up-front costs paid to card vendors business and functional design requirements implementation planning and system testing education and outreach for households States must submit transition plans for approval, ensuring that recipients maintain uninterrupted access to their benefits during this process. This cost-sharing incentive is set to sunset on September 30, 2031.