File #: Res 0580-2024    Version: * Name: Continuing Appropriations and Other Matters Act, 2025, to extend programs expiring on September 30, 2024, including the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, which provides reimbursement for stolen benefits (H.R.9494).
Type: Resolution Status: Committee
Committee: Committee on General Welfare
On agenda: 9/26/2024
Enactment date: Law number:
Title: Resolution calling on Congress to pass, and the President to sign, H.R.9494, the Continuing Appropriations and Other Matters Act, 2025, to extend programs expiring on September 30, 2024, including the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, which provides reimbursement for stolen benefits.
Sponsors: Sandra Ung, Farah N. Louis, Jennifer Gutiérrez
Council Member Sponsors: 3
Attachments: 1. Res. No. 580, 2. September 26, 2024 - Stated Meeting Agenda, 3. Hearing Transcript - Stated Meeting 9-26-24

Res. No. 580

 

Resolution calling on Congress to pass, and the President to sign, H.R.9494, the Continuing Appropriations and Other Matters Act, 2025, to extend programs expiring on September 30, 2024, including the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, which provides reimbursement for stolen benefits.

 

By Council Members Ung, Louis and Gutiérrez

 

Whereas, Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card skimming, or the practice of copying EBT card details through hidden devices in ATMs and point-of-sale terminals in order to steal benefits from the owner’s account, has been on the rise across the United States, including in New York City; and

Whereas, Data from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) shows that, nationally, over 125,000 households suffered from benefits theft in fiscal year 2023, totaling more than $60 million in stolen benefits; and

Whereas, Thousands of New Yorkers have reported their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits stolen through EBT card skimming; and

Whereas, Between January 2022 and October 2023, over $17 million in benefits were stolen from New Yorkers, according to reporting from Gothamist; and

Whereas, Over the last year, the New York City Department of Social Services (DSS) has received over 80,000 reports of benefits theft; and

Whereas, USDA statistics show that there are an average of 42.1 million SNAP recipients per month, and in 2022 1.7 million New Yorkers received SNAP benefits; and

Whereas, Though Congress and individual states are working to increase EBT card security to prevent skimming, as of today, all of these SNAP recipients are vulnerable to benefits theft through card skimming; and

Whereas, The bipartisan Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 (CAA) included a provision to replace stolen EBT benefits with federal funds; and

Whereas, The CAA will expire on September 30, 2024, after which victims of benefits theft due to card skimming will no longer have assurance that their stolen benefits will be replaced; and

Whereas, For many SNAP recipients, money on their EBT cards is all they have to go toward food for their families each month; and

Whereas, New Yorkers face the very real risk of going hungry or falling behind on other bills in order to pay for food if their stolen benefits are not replaced; and

Whereas, The Continuing Appropriations and Other Matters Act, 2025, would provide ongoing Fiscal Year 2025 appropriations for federal agencies and extend expiring programs, including the CAA; and

Whereas, Extending the CAA would ensure that vulnerable New Yorkers who rely on SNAP and fall victim to card skimming are not further victimized by hunger; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls on Congress to pass, and the President to sign, H.R.9494, the Continuing Appropriations and Other Matters Act, 2025, to extend programs expiring on September 30, 2024, including the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, which provides reimbursement for stolen benefits.

 

 

 

LS # 17713

9/20/2024

PJR