EBT benefit fraud prevention

The Secretary shall— issue guidance to State agencies, on an ongoing basis, as informed by the process outlined in paragraph (4), that describes security measures that— coordinate with the Administrator of the Administration for Children and Families of the Department of Health and Human Services, the Attorney General of the United States, State agencies, retail food stores, and EBT contractors— to determine— not later than December 1, 2024, submit to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate and the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives a report that includes— The Secretary shall use funds appropriated under section 2027 of this title to require States to replace benefits that are determined by the State agency to have been stolen through card skimming, card cloning, or similar fraudulent methods, subject to the conditions that— the State agency shall submit to the Secretary not later than 60 days after December 29, 2022, for prior approval a plan for the replacement of stolen benefits that— includes appropriate procedures, as determined by the Secretary, for the timely submission of claims to, timely validation of claims by, and replacement issuance by the State agency that includes— the replacement of stolen benefits for a household— shall not exceed the lesser of— In this section, the terms “allotment”, “benefit”, “household”, “retail food store”, and “State agency” have the meaning given those terms in section 2012 of this title. Of the unobligated balances made available for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program as authorized by section 1101(b)(1) of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117–2), $8,000,000 is hereby rescinded. Not later than 1 year after September 26, 2024, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a report that examines risks related to supplemental nutrition assistance program electronic benefit transfer payment system security, including the risk of stolen benefits through card skimming, card cloning, and other similar methods. The report under paragraph (1) shall include an assessment of— recommendations and policy options for—