Food‑bank advocates urge quick passage of HB 163 to upgrade SNAP EBT cards to chip technology

Proponents of House Bill 163 told the House Agriculture Committee that upgrading SNAP EBT cards from magnetic strips to chip or tap technology would reduce organized benefit theft and save taxpayer dollars.

"From June 2023 to December 2024, we know of at least 17,000,000 in SNAP benefits stolen from more than 34,000 Ohio households," Jory Novotny of the Ohio Association of Food Banks told the panel, and she described a joint US Secret Service operation that removed skimming devices at roughly 500 businesses and prevented more than $6,000,000 in theft.

Novotny said moving to chip‑enabled EBT cards is a "common sense modernization" that could capture enhanced federal matching funds if enacted before an October 1 deadline; she told members that a delay would reduce the federal match and increase state costs.

Committee members asked about rollout strategies and whether states replace cards gradually or in a single wholesale replacement; Novotny said she would follow up with specifics but expected states to work with different vendors and many would aim to take advantage of the more generous federal match.

The committee did not vote on HB 163 during the hearing; members were directed to additional written testimony available on committee iPads.