SNAP bill lowers criminal threshold, expanding felony exposure for poor.
H.R. 10219 — SNAP Fraud Accountability Act · Filed by William Timmons (R-SC) · Introduced Sep 1, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill lowers the criminal penalty threshold in the SNAP (food stamps) program from $5,000 to $1,000, meaning people can now face criminal charges for smaller violations. It makes it easier to prosecute SNAP fraud by reducing the dollar amount that triggers criminal liability.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative mechanism is lowering the dollar threshold that triggers criminal liability under SNAP law. It is a straightforward criminal-enforcement measure, not a fraud-prevention or program-integrity reform.
What the text implies
- Lowering the threshold from $5,000 to $1,000 may disproportionately criminalize low-income SNAP recipients and small vendors for minor violations (e.g., a $1,200 overpayment or vendor error), potentially leading to felony convictions that carry collateral consequences (employment, housing, benefits loss).
- The bill does not address root causes of SNAP fraud (administrative error, vendor non-compliance, system design flaws) and relies solely on criminal prosecution as a deterrent, which may be inefficient and costly relative to civil remedies or administrative enforcement.
- Expanding criminal liability may chill legitimate SNAP participation if recipients fear prosecution for honest mistakes, potentially reducing program uptake among eligible populations.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill expands criminal exposure for SNAP participants and vendors by lowering the threshold at which violations become felonies. Ordinary people—particularly low-income SNAP recipients and small vendors—face heightened criminal jeopardy for smaller dollar amounts, while the bill does not address systemic fraud or improve program integrity through non-criminal means.
Named in the bill
Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), House Committee on the Judiciary
Where it stands
- Sep 1, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Sep 1, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary and House Committee on Agriculture · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to…”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (270 characters) on Sep 5, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
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