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Strengthens measures to prevent and investigate fraud and theft of SNAP (food stamp) benefits by expanding USDA Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigative powers, creating a civil penalty for unauthorized access/transfer of benefits, and requiring stronger cybersecurity for Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards and payment terminals. It also requires states to quickly replace damaged or frozen EBT cards without fees in many situations, mandates retailer adoption of chip-enabled terminals, directs reports on EBT security (including Puerto Rico), and makes technical statutory fixes. The bill focuses on fraud prevention, data sharing with law enforcement and financial institutions, deadlines for rulemaking and state action, and new administrative tools to reimburse households and cover investigation costs when benefits are stolen.
The bill strengthens EBT security, speeds replacement and reimbursement for SNAP recipients, and improves enforcement and oversight—at the cost of higher implementation and compliance expenses, increased privacy and administrative risks, and potential short-term disruptions that could unevenly fall‑
All SNAP recipients (low-income households) will face lower risk of benefit theft and skimming because the bill requires EMV-style chip cards, chip-enabled retailer terminals, limits magnetic-stripe use, and boosts interagency fraud investigations.
Households who lose, have stolen, damaged, or frozen EBT cards will get faster access to benefits because states must provide replacement cards (including mail option) quickly (3 business days), reducing interruptions to food access.
SNAP recipients will face fewer out-of-pocket costs for card replacement: federal rules bar replacement fees in many circumstances (including fraud and expiration) and recovered penalties can be used to reimburse victims.
States, retailers (especially small businesses), and taxpayers will likely face substantial costs to replace EBT cards and upgrade or buy chip-enabled terminals and systems, which could be passed on to taxpayers or consumers.
Expanded investigative powers and broader data sharing (IG subpoenas, interagency exchanges, financial institution data) increase risks to beneficiary privacy and raise the chance of data breaches or misuse of sensitive personal and financial information.
During the multi-year transition to new cards and systems, recipients may face short-term service disruptions, confusion, unequal implementation across states, and rural delivery delays despite processing deadlines.
Introduced February 2, 2026 by Nicole Malliotakis · Last progress February 2, 2026