This bill is sponsored by Representative Sally Kerans and Senator Robyn Kennedy.
Nutrition benefits such as those from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are issued through electronic benefits transfer (EBT) cards. While these EBT cards are designed to look and operate much like a debit card, they lack many of the recent security innovations adopted by major credit and debit card companies. These vulnerabilities have left EBT cards especially susceptible to theft through a method known as skimming.
Since June 2022, thieves who skimmed EBT card information have stolen approximately $15 million in SNAP benefits from about 30,000 Massachusetts families – putting their nutrition and economic stability at risk. Organized criminal rings and other thieves have developed increasingly sophisticated methods to steal SNAP.
Recognizing the tragedy of low-income food insecure households having their benefits stolen, the federal government authorized and extended replacement benefits from October 1st, 2022, through December 20, 2024. However, any SNAP household victimized by benefit theft on or after December 21, 2024 was simply left to their own devices to buy groceries.
During this time, Massachusetts has stepped up to provide $3 million to bridge gaps in federal replacement benefits. We now ask that in the absence of federal action, the state continue to lead in supporting victims of SNAP theft.
The bill would require the state, through the Department of Transitional Assistance to replace the full amount stolen through skimming, card closing, or other methods of theft unless the federal government replaces the stolen benefit.