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Red states target SNAP fraud, errors under threat of costly federal penalties
Republican-led states adopt stricter fraud controls and chip-enabled SNAP cards to reduce errors and fraud after federal reimbursement ended, with $360 million in stolen benefits reported.
- This month, state officials across the country moved to tighten SNAP controls, with the Alabama Senate considering monthly eligibility checks and Alabama issuing chip-enabled EBT cards.
- New federal rules allow penalties if error rates exceed 6%, and since the federal government stopped reimbursing stolen SNAP benefits at the end of 2024, states face greater fiscal pressure under President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
- Organized electronic theft, including skimming and cloning, has siphoned large sums as a longtime USDA employee ran a $66 million scheme and states replaced over $360 million from 2023–2025.
- Experts warn staffing shortages and outdated technology will increase error rates, while last week Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed bills requiring a 3% error rate by 2030, raising political and operational challenges.
- Republican proposals emphasize frequent household-level checks rather than broader fixes, while experts and state officials disagree on whether individual recipients or criminal rings pose the bigger SNAP threat, and Republicans say the new rules reduce federal investment and give states "skin in the game".
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18 Articles
18 Articles
Red states target SNAP fraud, errors under threat of costly federal penalties
SNAP errors occur when the state overpays or underpays SNAP recipients. They’re caused either by unintentional recipient mistakes — forgetting to report a change in how many people live in the household, for example — or by an agency processing…
Coverage Details
Total News Sources18
Leaning Left15Leaning Right1Center1Last UpdatedBias Distribution88% Left
Bias Distribution
- 88% of the sources lean Left
88% Left
L 88%
Factuality
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