HB 3240 Nameless food stamp cards

This bill required that replacements for EBT cards that were reported lost or stolen must bear the name of the person to whom the card was issued, removes the requirement that a food stamp card not have the person’s name on it if the card was a replacement.

Financial assistance benefits through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP) are delivered to recipients via an electronic benefits transfer (EBT) card, also called an
Oregon Trail Card, which is similar to a debit card issued by a bank. The funds on the card may only be spent at
participating retailers and may only be spent on certain eligible items. For instance, SNAP funds may only be spent
on eligible food items, while TANF funds may be spent on nonfood items and may be withdrawn as cash.

During the COVID-19 public health emergency, the federal government enacted temporary provisions called
Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer (P-EBT) that allowed children who were eligible for free or reduced-price
meals under the National School Lunch Act and certain younger children to receive food assistance benefits
through EBT. Those provisions are expected to sunset later in 2023.

There is already rampant theft among Food Stamp debit cards because the Federal government never got around to updating their cards to be chip protected. Government is turning a blind eye to fraud. Even worse, Oregon doesn’t even bother to track such fraud or prosecute it properly when it is discovered. They don’t verify if a card is actually stolen.

HB 3240 would make it easier to commit fraud with a nameless card.  If timing of replacement is an issue, why can’t the State just issue temporary cards with a permanent pen?

Comments
JEREMY GARBINA says:
March 7, 2023 at 9:22 am
No

MICHAEL A GROAT says:
March 7, 2023 at 12:12 pm
I personally do not understand why in the world you would want an EBT card without a chip and name on it to stop fraud.

I think it is time to review the folks that are getting EBT cards because I know of folks that receive these cards that do not even come close to meeting the guidelines for receiving EBT cards.

No to HB3240