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Senate includes $15.5 million for EBT chip cards and adopts criminal skimming fix amid theft concerns
Summary
Senators debated and approved measures in the supplemental budget package and floor amendments addressing theft of SNAP/EBT benefits, including $15.5 million to install chip technology on EBT cards and a statutory amendment criminalizing electronic skimming; lawmakers cited verified thefts and urged further assistance for victims.
Senators on the floor described a continuing problem of Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card theft and discussed steps in the supplemental budget to address it. The Senate’s supplemental package includes $15,500,000 to install chip technology on EBT cards, and the chamber adopted an amendment clarifying that using electronic devices such as skimmers to steal SNAP benefits is criminalized.
Senator Edward J. Kennedy (Worcester) and other floor speakers recounted audit and Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) findings that, from January through March of the year in question, roughly $1 million per month in SNAP benefits were stolen and that about 7,800 families had verified thefts. Kennedy said the supplemental budget and related language allow unspent funds to be used to replace stolen benefits in some cases and thanked the chair of Ways and Means for including protections.
A floor speaker noted the $15,500,000 appropriation for chip installation and credited Commissioner McHugh’s leadership in advancing the measure. The speaker characterized the chip investment as a long-overdue step intended to reduce theft and said the funding should help prevent future incidents.
Separately, an amendment to expand the trafficking statute to include theft via electronic devices (skimming) was adopted on the floor; a senator explained the amendment fills a statutory gap by explicitly adding skimming and electronic theft to the list of criminal offenses tied to trafficking SNAP benefits.
Lawmakers said the funds and statutory clarification address both prevention (chip-enabled cards) and prosecution (criminalizing skimming). Multiple senators also discussed the need for mechanisms to expedite replacement benefits for victims, while noting that until December 2024, federal reimbursement filled that need and that the federal role had changed.
The Senate adopted the skimming amendment by voice vote and affirmed the supplemental budget language that includes the $15.5 million appropriation.
