Senate Resolution 29 Proponent Testimony
Senate Workforce Development Committee
April 1, 2025
Chair Koehler, Vice Chair Reynolds, Ranking Member Ingram, and Members of the Senate Workforce Development Committee, thank you for the opportunity to submit written testimony in support of Senate Resolution 29. My name is Rachel Cahill, and I am the Visiting Fellow for Public Benefits at The Center for Community Solutions, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank focused on improving health, social, and economic conditions for Ohioans. I specialize in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps).
The Center for Community Solutions supports this Senate Resolution to “urge the Congress of the United States to resume restoration of stolen SNAP EBT benefits and implement and fund increases in anti-fraud measures under the SNAP program, such as replacing current EBT cards with security chip cards.” Since 2022 when EBT theft first began happening in Ohio, The Center for Community Solutions began advocating for both federal and state solutions to this crime and began raising awareness among the news media (see recent examples here and here).
The victims of EBT theft are low-income Ohioans who qualify for SNAP benefits, including older adults, individuals with disabilities, and working families with children. These families meet Ohio’s strict SNAP eligibility requirements, and when their SNAP benefits are stolen by criminals via EBT theft, their only option is now to visit their local food pantries. We can and should do better for our fellow Ohioans.
In addition to supporting this Senate Resolution urging Congress to act, we also strongly recommend that the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services work with the Ohio Legislature to begin the transition to add security chips to EBT cards in Ohio without waiting for Congress to provide additional funding. We should not tolerate low-income Ohioans being the victims of EBT theft a single day longer.
Thank you for considering this testimony. I would be happy to answer any questions and continue this conversation further. You can contact me at rachel@rcahillconsulting.com.
