Some low-income households that had their SNAP benefits electronically stolen and were denied compensation may soon have their stolen benefits reinstated.
The majority of states have refused to reimburse victims of SNAP fraud. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has stated that it does not maintain a list of skimming claims by state.
Stolen SNAP Benefits
However, according to the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance, more than $1.6 million in SNAP benefits were stolen from over 5,000 households in Massachusetts between June and November.
If the mammoth $1.7 trillion budget deal approved by Congress has a provision requiring states to replace SNAP funds stolen in October or later, the measure will succeed.
SNAP recipients receive electronic benefits transfer, or EBT, cards loaded with monthly food benefits. Advocates hailed the federal law, noting that other customers have long enjoyed more protections if their credit or debit card information is stolen than EBT recipients.
It is never your duty for those monies to incur a loss. Ashley Burnside, a senior policy analyst at the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) stated, “Your credit card company will compensate you.”
Rule’s Excemption
Therefore, it is inequitable and unfair that if you fall prey to the exact same thing while using a different card only because you receive SNAP assistance, it is your fault.
Betsy Gwin, a senior attorney at the non-profit poverty law and policy center Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, expressed her satisfaction with the federal government’s suggested reimbursement solution in the omnibus bill, which lawmakers are rushing to adopt in the coming days.
However, there are restrictions on the provision. It would only apply to beneficiaries whose benefits were stolen between October 1, 2022, and September 30, 2024. And it would only permit the reinstatement of a maximum of two months’ worth of SNAP benefits, even if a household was stolen or more.
Early in the month of November, Gwin’s organization filed a class action complaint against the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance on behalf of skimming victims seeking to recover their stolen funds.
She stated that the litigation will continue even if many of the plaintiffs had their benefits taken before the statutory provision’s coverage period.
Read more: SNAP Benefits 2023: How much an individual can get next year?
