Ohio bills further regulating SNAP use, fraud prevention, see activity as cuts loom
A 'SNAP welcomed here' sign is seen at the entrance to a Big Lots store in Portland, Oregon. (Getty Images)
As Ohio food assistance recipients await decisions on the federal and state level about whether they will see large cuts to their benefits, some state legislators are trying to iron out other details related to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
Congressional budget reconciliation is ongoing in the U.S. Senate, after what anti-hunger advocates say would be a nearly 30% reduction in SNAP benefits was approved by the U.S. House in their draft of budget documents, encouraged by the Trump administration as part of efforts to slash federal spending.
Advocates say the cuts will be devastating for low-income families across the country, with rural communities disproportionately impacted, according to the national Food Research & Action Center. The Ohio Association of Foodbanks said the loss of SNAP funding would restrict services 'vital for everyday Ohioans in every Congressional district.'
The potential cuts come as legislators work on the state's SNAP program, with bills ranging from supplements to the benefits for older Ohioans to a push to prevent the defrauding of Ohioans who need the funds.
Most recently, supporters of House Bill 163 – which would make the electronic benefit cards (EBTs) that hold SNAP benefits chip-enabled, like most mainstream credit and debit cards – spoke on the impacts chip technology would offer to households. The modernization of the EBT cards would help stem fraud through 'skimming,' a method of stealing information from the swipe of a card and capture of PIN numbers at checkouts.
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The Ohio Poverty Law Center said fraud occurs for many individuals 'in the first few days after benefits were loaded, leaving them without benefits until the next month.'
Joree Novotny, executive director of the Ohio Association of Foodbanks said there was a congressional 'pathway' for state agencies to reimburse victims of benefit theft, which took nearly $17 million in SNAP benefits from more than 34,000 Ohio households between June 2023 and Dec. 2024. But the pathway ended in December of last year, when Congress decided against extending authorization for replacement of those benefits, Novotny told the Ohio House Agriculture Committee during a recent hearing on H.B. 163.
Since then, it's unclear how much has been stolen from Ohioans and other SNAP beneficiaries, because Novotny said 'theft reports are no longer being collected.' Still, she said emergency food distribution representatives say the 'issue remains pervasive.'
One of the sponsors of H.B. 163, state Rep. Tristan Rader, D-Lakewood, is working with fellow Democratic Rep. Desiree Tims to create a state program to replace stolen SNAP benefits in a bill that would appropriate $17 million from the state's General Revenue Fund for the task.
State-level budget discussions have included maintaining work requirements for SNAP participants, along with other regulations related to waivers for SNAP participants.
The state budget approved by the House also included a requirement that the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services seek a waiver from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to exclude 'sugar-sweetened beverages' from items that can be purchased using SNAP benefits.
While the provision of the budget doesn't specify types of sugar-sweetened beverages, a bill introduced recently by Republican co-sponsors singles out soft drinks as an item they want to see removed from the SNAP-eligible list of products, along with candy, chips, ice cream and 'prepared desserts such as cakes, pies, cookies or similar products.'
If the bill passes, those products would join alcoholic beverages, tobacco, hot foods or 'hot food products prepared for immediate consumption' as SNAP-exempted items.
Last week, the sponsors of the bill said exempting 'junk food' from SNAP eligibility is one way of ensuring to taxpayers that their money is being spent for the betterment of Ohioans.
'What this bill's all about is helping focus folks who are using taxpayer money – which we're glad to provide for folks that are having a rough time, don't have resources at home, whatever the case may be – but just helping them realize there are better choices here than the stuff that adds calories … and no nutritional benefits,' Sen. Tim Schaffer, R-Lancaster, told the Senate Health Committee.
Bill co-sponsor, Sen. Terry Johnson, R-McDermott, pointed to a change 'demographically in our country' toward obesity and health problems, 'and it's primarily the nutritional things that we consume.'
'We're doing America a great disservice by ignoring the fact that what people actually need is clean air, clean water, clean food, good exercise and a little bit of sunshine,' Johnson said.
Committee member Sen. Beth Liston, D-Dublin, wondered whether discouraging sweets and soda consumption should start with a different population for which taxpayers subsidize food assistance, like the military or public universities.
'If you're looking at how to make the best impacts, I think looking at only poor individuals that are struggling to get by may not be, certainly not the largest population,' Liston said to the bill sponsors. 'There are many other tax-funded foods that we purchase, and if you're going to be looking at it holistically, just the SNAP program is a pretty small population.'
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