At a House Agriculture Committee hearing, lawmakers heard proponent testimony on House Bill 163, which would require the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services to replace magnetic-strip Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program electronic benefit transfer cards with chip-enabled cards to reduce point-of-sale “skimming” theft.

Supporters said the upgrade would protect vulnerable Ohioans, draw down federal matching funds and reduce pressure on food banks and county agencies. “From June 2023 to December 2024, nearly $17,000,000 in SNAP benefits were stolen from more than 34,000 Ohio households,” Jory Novotny, executive director of the Ohio Association of Food Banks, told the committee.

The bill would authorize the department to adopt rules and allow a phased rollout: sponsors included up to one year for updated rules and up to two years for issuance of modernized replacement cards. Witnesses said that timeline is necessary to test cards with retailers and processors. Laura Miller of the Ohio Council of Retail Merchants praised the implementation runway and urged an amendment to protect compliant retailers from fraud liability: “We respectfully request that the committee amend the bill to ensure that no fraud liability or penalties are applied back to compliant retailers for their participation in the program in the absence of illegal activity by the retailer,” she said.

Witnesses described the human costs of the thefts. Deacon Nick Bates of the Hunger Network in Ohio gave a testimony about seniors and families who lose weekly groceries and then must seek emergency assistance; he said the bill “will invest just over $10,000,000 into updating Ohioans cards and the system with a more secure chip enabled SNAP benefit EBT card.” Danielle DeLeon Spires, a policy advocate at the Ohio Poverty Law Center, told the committee that as of early March 2025 the problem had affected “at least 31,000 Ohioans at the cost of $17,000,000,” and that losing benefits forces households to forgo other necessities and shifts demand to food pantries.

County administrators and caseworkers also described the workload and gaps in recovery. Laura Abu Aasi of the County JFS Directors Association said counties processed tens of thousands of replacement-benefit applications while federal reimbursement was available and continue to receive reports of theft; she added that “a relatively low investment of $5,300,000 of state funds can protect tens of millions of EBT benefits.” Committee members asked about data by county and whether the thefts are concentrated in particular retailers; witnesses said some detailed records are held by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and by card vendors, and that theft reports have been harder to track since federal replacement-benefit applications ended in December 2024.

Several witnesses noted existing consumer tools and implementation hurdles. ODJFS and vendors have promoted a ConnectEBT app that lets recipients lock cards and change PINs; witnesses said that app helps but can be difficult to use in areas with limited internet or for older recipients, and that chip cards would reduce one common attack vector used by organized criminals. Laura Miller said the vendor Conduent is already implementing chip SNAP cards in Oklahoma, which could offer lessons for Ohio. Miller also cited a U.S. Secret Service estimate that nationwide EBT skimming “costs institutions and consumers more than $1,000,000,000 annually.”

No vote was taken. Committee members heard testimony and asked questions during the bill’s second hearing; sponsors were identified in testimony as Representatives Rader and Dieter. The committee concluded the public hearing and directed members to written testimony on members’ tablets for further review.