Lawmakers push to reimburse food stamp benefits lost to theft [View all]
Source: Roll Call
Posted December 26, 2025 at 7:00am
Lawmakers in 2024 let lapse the authority for states to reimburse food stamp recipients who lost their benefits to fraud. Several lawmakers want to reverse course. In the two years the Agriculture Department had the reimbursement authority, it identified 1.9 million fraudulent transactions using stolen Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. Nearly 679,000 households were impacted, and $322.5 million in benefits were reimbursed the second quarter of fiscal 2023 through the first quarter of fiscal 2025, according to the USDA.
But the victims now have no available options to reclaim the benefit because the USDA’s SNAP reimbursement program expired after Dec. 20, 2024. The theft is personal to Iowa Republican Rep. Zach Nunn. “This began from a situation in my home state of Iowa, where we had a veteran who had his benefits taken from him,” Nunn said last week. “I literally had to take groceries to him to help get him through the month.”
The experience prompted Nunn to introduce a bill in June that would again give states the authority to reimburse SNAP benefits stolen through skimming, cloning or any other unauthorized electronic transfer. His bill would also set civil penalties for theft at twice the value of the benefits, using the penalty money to pay for the reimbursement. “The fraudsters and the scammers are continuing to enfranchise themselves, where, tragically, in too many cases, there’s Americans out there who are not getting the SNAP benefits that they deserve,” Nunn said.
Recipients are often unaware their benefits have been stolen until they reach the checkout and are left scrambling for alternatives, sometimes having to choose between buying food or paying bills. Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., introduced a similar measure in April to require states to reimburse stolen SNAP money using federal funds. Her nine co-sponsors include three Republicans: Reps. Mike Lawler of New York and Brian Fitzpatrick and Rob Bresnahan Jr., both of Pennsylvania.
Read more: https://rollcall.com/2025/12/26/lawmakers-push-to-reimburse-food-stamp-benefits-lost-to-theft/
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