Rep. Rader Celebrates the Passage of HB 163 Through the House Agriculture Committee

COLUMBUS – State Rep. Tristan Rader (D-Lakewood) today celebrated the unanimous passage of House Bill (HB) 163 from the House Agriculture Committee. HB 163 would fund chip-enabled EBT cards for SNAP program participants.

“This is a long overdue measure to protect low-income Ohioans from theft.” said Rep. Rader. “With a relatively small update to SNAP cards, we could stop almost all SNAP fraud in the state of Ohio.”

Between June 2023 and December 2024, $17 million in SNAP benefits have been stolen from over 34,000 Ohio households. An especially troubling statistic now that the federal government will no longer be reimbursing benefits to victims of theft.

This legislation would add a chip to cards to prevent skimming, a common kind of theft that allows scammers to collect card information and PINs.

HB 163 was favorably referred to the House Rules and Reference Committee for further consideration.

A companion bill, Senate Bill (SB) 315, is currently in the Senate Finance Committee.