Ending Stolen SNAP Benefits Act of 2026

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9359 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9359

    To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to provide for the
 reissuance to households of supplemental nutrition assistance program
   benefits to replace benefits stolen by identity theft or typical
              skimming practices, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 18, 2026

  Ms. Meng (for herself and Mr. Fitzpatrick) introduced the following
        bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

    To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to provide for the
 reissuance to households of supplemental nutrition assistance program
   benefits to replace benefits stolen by identity theft or typical
              skimming practices, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Ending Stolen SNAP Benefits Act of
2026''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS.

    Section 7 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2016) is
amended--
            (1) in subsection (e) by inserting ``or from the reissuance
        of benefits stolen by identity theft or typical skimming
        practices'' after ``mail''; and
            (2) in subsection (h)(7)--
                    (A) by striking ``Regulations'' and inserting the
                following:
                    ``(A) Reissuance of benefits.--Regulations''; and
                    (B) by adding at end the following:
                    ``(B) Reissuance of stolen benefits.--
                            ``(i) Issuance of regulations.--The
                        Secretary shall issue regulations, consistent
                        with the procedures determined by the Secretary
                        under subparagraphs (A) and (B) of section
                        501(b)(1) of division HH of the Consolidated
                        Appropriations Act, 2023 (Public Law 117-328; 7
                        U.S.C. 2016a(b)(1)), without regard to the
                        limitations in subparagraphs (B) and (C) of
                        section 501(b)(2) of such Act--
                                    ``(I) to establish criteria and
                                best practices for State agencies to
                                identify supplemental nutrition
                                assistance program benefits stolen by
                                identity theft or typical skimming
                                practices in a way that minimizes the
                                burden of victim households to
                                establish the theft;
                                    ``(II) to provide for the
                                reissuance to households of benefits
                                stolen by identity theft, or typical
                                skimming practices, that meet such
                                criteria; and
                                    ``(III) to permit State agencies to
                                reissue stolen benefits to the same
                                household, provided the Secretary has
                                approved a State agency's transition
                                plan in accordance with section
                                16(l)(2).
                            ``(ii) Status report.--Not later than 240
                        days after the Secretary issues regulations
                        under clause (i), the Secretary shall submit to
                        the Congress a report on the status of benefits
                        reissued under such regulations that includes--
                                    ``(I) a detailed description of the
                                prevalence of stolen benefits for which
                                benefits are reissued under such
                                regulations;
                                    ``(II) an examination of current
                                barriers, feasibility, and impact on
                                participant access and ease of use in
                                developing an electronic benefit
                                transfer card that contains
                                technologies such as an embedded
                                microchip in common use in the
                                financial services industry along with
                                the traditional magnetic stripe; and
                                    ``(III) such other information as
                                by the Secretary considers to be
                                appropriate.
                            ``(iii) Stolen benefit reissuance report.--
                        Not later than 120 days after end of each
                        fiscal year that begins after the Secretary
                        issues regulations under clause (i), the
                        Secretary shall submit to the Congress, and
                        make available to the public, a report for such
                        fiscal year with respect to each State that
                        includes the aggregate value of supplemental
                        nutrition assistance program benefits reissued
                        under such regulations and the number of
                        households to which such benefits were
                        reissued.
                            ``(iv) Evaluation.--To maximize the
                        accessibility and security of electronic
                        benefit transfer cards, the Secretary shall
                        periodically review and modify such regulations
                        to take into account evolving technology and
                        the threat landscape to better protect against
                        benefit theft.''.

SEC. 3. COST SHARING FOR TRANSITIONING TO CHIP-ENABLED EBT CARDS.

    Section 16 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2025) is
amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by striking ``subsection (k),'' and
        inserting ``subsection (k), except as provided in subsection
        (l),''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(l) Administrative Cost-Sharing for Transitioning to Chip-Enabled
EBT Cards.--
            ``(1) In general.--On approval of a plan submitted by a
        State agency under paragraph (2), the Secretary shall pay to
        such State agency an amount equal to 90 percent of all
        administrative costs incurred by the State agency in carrying
        out a transition from magnetic-stripe EBT cards to EBT cards
        with chip technology that complies with the American National
        Standards Institute X9.58-2024 EBT standard, or its succeeding
        standard, including costs associated with--
                    ``(A) card issuance strategies;
                    ``(B) one-time up-front costs paid by the State to
                card vendors;
                    ``(C) business and functional design requirements;
                    ``(D) implementation planning;
                    ``(E) system testing;
                    ``(F) education and outreach in language accessible
                by all households, including informational activities
                under subsection (a)(4); and
                    ``(G) any other administrative fees reasonably
                necessary for the successful implementation of chip
                cards.
            ``(2) Approval of transition plans.--
                    ``(A) Submission.--A State agency shall submit to
                the Secretary for approval a plan that carries out
                paragraph (1), including system testing, retailer and
                household education, and outreach efforts. State plans
                must include steps to ensure that recipients will
                retain access to their benefits without interruption
                during the transition.
                    ``(B) Secretarial action.--Not later than 90 days
                after the date on which the Secretary receives a
                complete plan under subparagraph (A), the Secretary
                shall--
                            ``(i) approve the plan;
                            ``(ii) approve the plan with conditions; or
                            ``(iii) disapprove the plan and provide the
                        State agency with a written explanation of the
                        reasons for such disapproval.
                    ``(C) Deemed approval.--If the Secretary fails to
                take action within the 90-day period described in
                subparagraph (B), the plan shall be deemed approved.
            ``(3) Sunset.--This subsection shall sunset on September
        30, 2031.''.
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