LORAIN, Ohio — Ohio lawmakers passed bills this week designed to protect food-stamp recipients and make it harder for criminals to keep stealing millions of dollars of taxpayer money.
The General Assembly approved legislation that will require the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services to start issuing EBT cards with security chips — the same chips that are embedded in every credit and debit card in your wallet. Today, Ohio Direction Cards only have basic magnetic stripes, which makes them uniquely vulnerable to fraud.
If Gov. Mike DeWine signs off, the switchover could start this year. But the timeline isn’t totally clear yet. And the process would take a while. The legislation calls for a gradual rollout for people who need new cards, instead of a mass replacement of existing cards.
Lawmakers committed $3 million to get things moving, with $2.25 million coming from the state’s general fund and $750,000 coming from federal sources.
“That gets us started. … It’s a relatively small amount of money to fix a relatively big hole in the ship,” said Rep. Tristan Rader, a Lakewood Democrat and one of the leaders of a bipartisan push to replace the outdated technology.
"It breaks your heart when you know that it's a system that should have been fixed long ago," he added. "It's an issue we should have dealt with. But at least now we're getting around to fixing the problem. And I'm happy to be part of the solution."
A spokesman for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services said the agency generally doesn’t comment on pending legislation.
In 2024, the department told News 5 that replacing all of Ohio's existing EBT cards with chip cards could cost $4 million to $9 million, with ongoing costs of about $2 million a year.
Ohioans using food stamps, or SNAP, have lost more than $17 million to theft since 2022, according to federal and state records. The actual number is probably much higher.
RELATED: Thieves stole his SNAP benefits. Then they took his federal reimbursement, too.
The federal government stopped reimbursing theft victims in late 2024, ending a program that also made it possible for officials to track the extent of the losses.
Thieves conceal skimming devices on payment terminals at stores to capture card numbers and PINs. Sophisticated criminal rings use that information to access and drain people’s accounts — often swooping in right after a monthly benefits payment arrives.
RELATED: Feds say crime ring hid skimmers in Cleveland area, targeting SNAP recipients
That’s what happened to Charlene Elder in early 2024. She went to the grocery store to buy milk, meat and bread. In the checkout line, her Ohio Direction Card got declined.
“It’s kind of frightening,” she told News 5 at the time, when reports of SNAP-benefits theft were soaring in Lorain.
RELATED: 'A failure of government.' As food-stamp theft soars in Lorain, experts say urgent help is needed.
On Friday, Elder said she’s glad lawmakers are doing something to fix the problem.
“It’s just baffling that people would take from people in need,” she said.
Elder, 54, lives in low-income housing in Lorain and is taking care of her 9-year-old granddaughter. She relies on SNAP benefits and Supplemental Security Income, a program that provides monthly payments to certain seniors and people with disabilities.
She’s vigilant about guarding her EBT card, using the state’s system to lock her account when she’s not shopping and tugging on payment machines at the store checkout to make sure they haven’t been tampered with.
“I’m still gonna use all the precautions,” she said.
But getting a chip card would certainly make her feel less anxious. She has family members and friends who have also been victims of card-skimming and benefits theft.
“To the ones that are stealing the benefits, I would say ‘You should be ashamed of yourself,’” Elder said.
RELATED: Ohio investigator talks about SNAP theft, skimming and defenses
A broad assortment of county-level officials, nonprofit leaders, retailers and policy groups testified in favor of “enhanced cybersecurity for SNAP” bills in the Ohio House and Senate. The language ultimately ended up tucked into two broader legislative packages.
“We’re ecstatic,” said Hope Lane-Gavin, director of nutrition policy and programs for the Ohio Association of Food Banks.
“There has been such fantastic media coverage of the SNAP skimming issue for the past several years,” she added. “We know that a lot of our friends and government groups have been testifying as well. … There is strong support, multi-sector support for this effort. And we hope that that is recognized by the governor, in signing these measures into law.”
Michelle Jarboe is the business growth and development reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow her on X @MJarboe or email her at Michelle.Jarboe@wews.com.
