Congress expands full restitution for SNAP fraud victims, removes time limits
H.R. 3117 — Fairness for Victims of SNAP Skimming Act of 2025 · Filed by Grace Meng (D-NY) · 12 cosponsors · Introduced Apr 30, 2025 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
This bill amends the 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act to expand how SNAP (food assistance) benefits stolen via EBT card skimming are replaced. It changes the replacement formula from a capped or limited amount to the full amount of benefits actually stolen, and removes a sunset provision that would have ended the replacement program. The result: households victimized by EBT fraud get their full stolen benefits back instead of a partial or time-limited replacement.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative mechanism is to expand restitution for victims of EBT card fraud (skimming). It removes caps and sunset provisions to ensure full replacement of stolen food benefits.
What the text implies
- Removal of subparagraph (C) likely eliminates a sunset date, making the replacement program permanent rather than temporary — a structural shift toward ongoing victim protection.
- Full-amount replacement (rather than capped) may increase administrative burden on USDA/state agencies to verify and process claims, but no appropriation mechanism is visible in this text — implementation depends on cited 2023 CAA provisions.
- The bill does not address prevention of skimming itself, only victim compensation — fraud prevention remains a separate policy question.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Low-income households using SNAP are protected from permanent loss when their EBT cards are skimmed; they receive full restitution of stolen food benefits rather than partial or time-limited replacement. This directly restores purchasing power to vulnerable populations.
Named in the bill
USDA, SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), EBT (Electronic Benefits Transfer), Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, Section 501(b)(2), Division HH
Where it stands
12 cosponsors: 9 Democrats, 3 Republicans.
- Apr 30, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Apr 30, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Agriculture · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture”
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 (451 characters) on Jun 8, 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.
“Congress expands full restitution for SNAP fraud victims, removes time limits” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr3117 Report an error
The week in bills
One email, Sunday: what Congress passed, what it changed, and who paid.
One link arrives to confirm the address. It is used for this email and nothing else, and every issue carries an unsubscribe link.