Boscola Bill Strengthening Penalties for Criminals Skimming SNAP Benefits Advances Through Committee

Boscola Bill Strengthening Penalties for Criminals Skimming SNAP Benefits Advances Through Committee

June 9, 2026

Harrisburg (June 9, 2026) - Senator Lisa M. Boscola (D-Lehigh/Northampton) announced today that Senate Bill 362, legislation to strengthen Pennsylvania's response to SNAP and EBT skimming crimes, was reported unanimously as amended from the Senate Health & Human Services Committee.

Senate Bill 362 would update Pennsylvania law to better address criminals who steal SNAP and EBT benefit information through skimming, scanning devices, reencoders, and other methods used to replicate or misuse a recipient's access device information. The bill was amended in committee with input from the Office of the State Inspector General and the Department of Human Services to better reflect how these crimes are being committed and prosecuted.

According to data previously provided by DHS, Pennsylvania had received 2,750 claims of alleged SNAP electronic theft as of August 2023, totaling $459,084.49 in stolen benefits. More recently, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Pennsylvania has seen more than 5,100 EBT skimming cases from the start of this year through May, accounting for approximately $2.5 million in stolen benefits.

"This is stealing twice," Boscola said. "It steals from the senior, child, person with a disability, or working mothers who needs those benefits to put food on the table, and it steals from taxpayers who trust these dollars will go to people in need."

The bill creates clearer offenses for possessing or using scanning devices, reencoders, and replicated access device information. It also updates the grading structure to make prosecutions more workable when benefit information has been stolen or transferred, even if the full dollar loss is difficult to calculate at the outset of an investigation.

"SNAP skimming is not petty theft. These are calculated crimes that can wipe out a family's food budget in minutes," Boscola said. "Pennsylvania needs laws that match the technology criminals are using and give prosecutors the tools they need to hold offenders accountable."

Boscola said she hopes Senate Bill 362 will be taken up quickly by the full Senate and sent to the House for consideration.

"The amount of money being stolen is absurd, and the victims are those who can least afford to lose it," Boscola said. "We need to move this bill, protect these benefits, and help prosecutors go after the people committing these crimes."

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