Bill > S445

Introduced Session

This bill directs the Commissioners of Human Services and Health, respectively, to provide information to certain benefit recipients regarding card skimming and cloning and to replace stolen benefits under fraudulent circumstances. Specifically, the Commissioner of Human Services is responsible for implementing these provisions for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Work First New Jersey Program (WFNJ), while the Commissioner of Health is responsible for implementing the provisions for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). The bill also appropriates the necessary funds to the departments to support the provisions of the bill. As used under the bill, "skimming" means the illegal installation of devices on point-of-sale or automatic teller machine terminals to capture a cardholder's personal identification number and other data stored on the magnetic strip of the electronic benefits transfer card; and "card cloning" means making an unauthorized copy of an electronic benefits transfer card. Under the bill, each commissioner is to provide information to program recipients regarding the: risks of card skimming, card cloning, and similar fraudulent methods; precautions a recipient can take to avoid falling victim to fraudulent methods; claims process, established under the bill, through which a recipient can have stolen benefits replaced; and process by which a recipient can report stolen to the appropriate department or to local law enforcement agencies. This information is to be distributed to recipients, at a minimum, at the point of enrollment and recertification in the program and with the issuance of the recipient's electronic benefits transfer card. Each commissioner is also required to post the information on the department's website and at eligibility determining offices. The bill mandates the commissioners to establish a claims process, that mirrors the provisions of federal law regarding the replacement of stolen SNAP benefits, by which a recipient's stolen program benefits can be replaced by either federal or State funds, subject to availability. The bill also directs the commissioners to coordinate with vendors to implement available precautions to reduce the vulnerability of electronic benefits transfer cards to theft, such as the inclusion of an embedded microchip in all electronic benefits transfer cards Finally, the commissioners are required to report to the Governor and the Legislature, 18 months following the effective date of the bill, and annually thereafter, data regarding stolen and replaced program benefits, as collected under the bill, as well as any other information that demonstrates the departments' efforts to protect recipients from fraud.

AI Summary

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Nick Scutari (D)*,  Brian Stack (D)*,  Angela Mcknight (D),  Joe Vitale (D), 

Referred to Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee (on 03/16/2026)

Official Document