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NJ ACR123
NJ ACR123Urges United States President, Congress, and USDA to take steps to protect SNAP beneficiaries from fraud.
summary
Introduced
02/22/2024
02/22/2024
In Committee
02/22/2024
02/22/2024
Crossed Over
Passed
Dead
Introduced Session
2024-2025 Regular Session
Bill Summary
This resolution urges the President of the United States, the United States Congress, and the United States Department of Agriculture to take all steps necessary to promptly find a comprehensive resolution to the rising levels of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefit fraud occurring throughout the country. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, provides assistance to supplement the food budget of low-income families nationwide. The program is regulated by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and administered by the Division of Family Development, within the Department of Human Services, in conjunction with the county welfare agencies. Fraud of SNAP benefits has risen to an alarming level since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the most frequent culprit of lost benefits related to "skimming" devices. Skimming occurs when devices are illegally installed on point-of-sale terminals to capture a cardholder's personal identification number and other data stored on the magnetic strip of the EBT card. Criminals use the data to duplicate the EBT card and access the victim's SNAP benefits. In December 2022, Congress addressed the growing concern of stolen SNAP benefits in the passage of the "Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023," which allows state agencies to temporarily use federal funds to replace SNAP benefits lost to skimming and other forms of fraud between October 1, 2022, and September 30, 2024. While these federal efforts to protect SNAP beneficiaries from the consequences of skimming are a positive step in the right direction, the New Jersey State Legislature encourages its federal partners to take additional actions to more aggressively safeguard this vulnerable community; including authorizing the permanent replacement of stolen SNAP benefits with federal funds, retroactive to October 2021, and the provision of regulations and funds to support more secure card payment systems for SNAP benefits.
AI Summary
This resolution urges the President, Congress, and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to take comprehensive steps to address the rising fraud in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which provides food assistance to low-income families. The resolution highlights the increasing problem of "skimming" fraud, where criminals illegally install devices on point-of-sale terminals to capture EBT card data and steal benefits, and notes that unlike other payment cards, SNAP EBT cardholders are not protected by the Electronic Funds Transfer Act. The resolution specifically calls for three key actions: permanently authorizing federal funds to replace stolen SNAP benefits (retroactive to October 2021), updating federal regulations to require more secure card systems like EMV chip technology, and providing federal funding to help states transition from magnetic strip cards to more secure chip-based EBT cards. The underlying goal is to protect vulnerable low-income households from losing their critical food assistance benefits due to criminal fraud, building upon the temporary provisions in the 2022 Consolidated Appropriations Act that currently allow temporary benefit replacement.
Committee Categories
Education
Sponsors (3)
Last Action
Introduced, Referred to Assembly Children, Families and Food Security Committee (on 02/22/2024)
Official Document
bill text
bill summary
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bill summary
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bill summary
| Document Type | Source Location |
|---|---|
| State Bill Page | https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/bill-search/2024/ACR123 |
| BillText | https://pub.njleg.gov/Bills/2024/ACR/123_I1.HTM |
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