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House Agriculture Committee weighs bill to replace SNAP EBT magnetic-strip cards with chip-enabled cards
Summary
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 SNAP EBT cards with chip-enabled cards to reduce point-of-sale skimming theft.
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…
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