New Short-Term Budget Leaves Out Victims Of Stolen Snap Benefits

The hard-fought week in the nation's capital has killed continued help for the thousands of households with SNAP benefits who became victims to cybercriminals in recent months.

While an earlier iteration of the continuing resolution would have continued funding for a process to replace what victim's loss, the final bill passed through the House and Senate, and signed by President Biden, did not.

"It boggles my mind that this is one of the things that needed to be taken out for this to pass," said Chris Bernard, CEO of Hunger Free Oklahoma. "I can't imagine who decided this was a controversial issue they couldn't vote yes on when it's common sense."

Victims, including those in Oklahoma, faced a Dec. 20 deadline to submit a claim for stolen benefits.

"We're talking about organized crime stealing thousands of card numbers at once and emptying the accounts as soon as the benefits go in," Bernard added.

Oklahoma Human Services has said it received tens of thousands of requests to replace benefit cards this year, a sharp increase from prior years.

The agency is planning to pivot to chip-enabled cards by next summer.