I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3700 
To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to require 
certain State agencies and covered Indian Tribal organizations to replace 
summer EBT benefits that are determined to have been stolen, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 4, 2025 
Ms. BONAMICI (for herself and Mr. GOLDMAN of New York) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 
Workforce 
A BILL 
To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 
Act to require certain State agencies and covered Indian 
Tribal organizations to replace summer EBT benefits 
that are determined to have been stolen, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Mitigating Electronic 
Access Losses for Students Act of 2025’’ or the ‘‘MEALS 
Act of 2025’’. 
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SEC. 2. SUMMER EBT FRAUD PREVENTION. 
Section 13A of the Richard B. Russell National 
School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1762) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating subsection (h) as sub-
section (i); and 
(2) by inserting after subsection (g) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(h) SUMMER EBT FRAUD PREVENTION.— 
‘‘(1) GUIDANCE; RULEMAKING.—The Secretary 
shall— 
‘‘(A) issue guidance to State agencies and 
covered Indian Tribal organizations, on an on-
going basis, as informed by the process outlined 
in subparagraph (D), that describes security 
measures that— 
‘‘(i) are effective, as determined by 
the Secretary, in detecting and preventing 
theft of summer EBT benefits, including 
through card skimming, card cloning, and 
other similar fraudulent methods; 
‘‘(ii) are consistent with industry 
standards for detecting, identifying, and 
preventing debit and credit card skimming, 
card cloning, and other similar fraudulent 
methods; and 
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‘‘(iii) consider the feasibility of cost, 
availability, and implementation for State 
agencies and covered Indian Tribal organi-
zations; 
‘‘(B) promulgate regulations through no-
tice-and-comment rulemaking to require State 
agencies and covered Indian Tribal organiza-
tions that elect to participate in the program 
under this section to take the appropriate secu-
rity measures, as determined by the Secretary, 
described in the guidance issued under subpara-
graph (A); 
‘‘(C) not later than 1 year after the date 
of enactment of this subsection, promulgate 
regulations (including an interim final rule) to 
require State agencies and covered Indian Trib-
al organizations that elect to participate in the 
program under this section to implement proce-
dures for the replacement of summer EBT ben-
efits consistent with paragraph (2); 
‘‘(D) coordinate with the Director of the 
Office of Family Assistance of the Administra-
tion for Children and Families of the Depart-
ment of Health and Human Services, the Attor-
ney General of the United States, State agen-
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cies, covered Indian Tribal organizations, retail-
ers (including retail food stores described in 
subparagraph (A) of subsection (b)(1) and ven-
dors described in subparagraph (B) of such 
subsection), and EBT contractors— 
‘‘(i) to determine— 
‘‘(I) how summer EBT benefits 
are being stolen through card skim-
ming, card cloning, and other similar 
fraudulent methods; 
‘‘(II) how those stolen benefits 
are used; and 
‘‘(III) the locations where card 
skimming, card cloning, and other 
similar fraudulent methods are taking 
place; 
‘‘(ii) to establish measures, including 
equipment enhancements for retail food 
stores described in subparagraph (A) of 
subsection (b)(1) and vendors described in 
subparagraph (B) of such subsection, to 
prevent summer EBT benefits from being 
stolen 
through 
card 
skimming, 
card 
cloning, and other similar fraudulent meth-
ods; and 
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‘‘(iii) to establish standard reporting 
methods for State agencies and covered In-
dian Tribal organizations that elect to par-
ticipate in the program under this section 
to collect and share data with the Sec-
retary on the scope of summer EBT bene-
fits being stolen through card skimming, 
card cloning, and other similar fraudulent 
methods; and 
‘‘(E) not later than 2 years after the date 
of enactment of this subsection, submit to the 
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and For-
estry of the Senate and the Committee on Edu-
cation and Workforce of the House of Rep-
resentatives a report that includes— 
‘‘(i) information on the frequency of 
theft of summer EBT benefits and the lo-
cation of those thefts, including benefits 
stolen 
through 
card 
skimming, 
card 
cloning, and other similar fraudulent meth-
ods; 
‘‘(ii) a description of the determina-
tions made under subparagraph (D)(i), the 
measures established under subparagraph 
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(D)(ii), and methods established in sub-
paragraph (D)(iii); 
‘‘(iii) a description of the industry 
standards 
described 
in 
subparagraph 
(A)(ii); 
‘‘(iv) a comparison of State agency 
and covered Indian Tribal organization 
plans related to reimbursement, preven-
tion, and other relevant procedures ap-
proved in accordance with paragraph 
(2)(A)(i); and 
‘‘(v) a description of actions taken by 
the Secretary, and actions the Secretary 
plans to take, to detect and prevent theft 
of summer EBT benefits, including bene-
fits stolen through card skimming, card 
cloning, and other similar fraudulent meth-
ods. 
‘‘(2) REPLACEMENT OF BENEFITS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 
use funds appropriated pursuant to this section 
to require State agencies and covered Indian 
Tribal organizations that elect to participate in 
the program under this section to replace sum-
mer EBT benefits that are determined by the 
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State agency or covered Indian Tribal organiza-
tion to have been stolen through card skim-
ming, card cloning, or similar fraudulent meth-
ods, subject to the conditions that— 
‘‘(i) the State agency or covered In-
dian Tribal organization shall include as 
part of each plan for operations and man-
agement of the State agency or covered In-
dian Tribal organization required under 
section 292.8 of title 7, Code of Federal 
Regulations (or a successor regulation), 
and submitted after the date of enactment 
of this Act a plan for the replacement of 
stolen summer EBT benefits that— 
‘‘(I) includes appropriate proce-
dures, as determined by the Secretary, 
for the timely submission of claims to, 
timely validation of claims by, and re-
placement issuance by the State agen-
cy or covered Indian Tribal organiza-
tion that includes— 
‘‘(aa) a signed statement by 
the affected eligible household on 
the benefit theft, consistent with 
the signature requirements and 
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options, including electronic sig-
natures, 
provided 
by 
section 
11(e)(2)(C) of the Food and Nu-
trition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 
2020(e)(2)(C)); 
‘‘(bb) criteria to determine if 
a submitted claim is valid; 
‘‘(cc) procedures for the doc-
umentation 
of 
replacement 
issuances, including the sub-
mitted claims and findings from 
the validation; 
‘‘(dd) the submission of data 
reports on benefit theft and re-
placement activity to the Sec-
retary; 
‘‘(ee) procedures to inform 
eligible households of their right 
to appeal an adverse decision re-
garding a submitted claim; and 
‘‘(ff) the State agency’s or 
covered Indian Tribal organiza-
tion’s use and planned use of 
benefit theft prevention meas-
ures, including any additional 
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guidance that may be issued 
under subsection (h)(1); 
‘‘(II) includes appropriate proce-
dures, as determined by the Secretary, 
for reporting the scope and frequency 
of card skimming affecting eligible 
households to the Secretary; and 
‘‘(III) includes appropriate proce-
dures, as determined by the Secretary, 
in the case of theft involving a card or 
other account that stores summer 
EBT benefits and other benefits (in-
cluding supplemental nutrition assist-
ance program benefits), for deter-
mining, to the extent possible, the 
total portion of stolen benefits that is 
attributable to summer EBT benefits; 
and 
‘‘(ii) the replacement of stolen sum-
mer EBT benefits for an eligible household 
shall not exceed the lesser of— 
‘‘(I) the amount of summer EBT 
benefits stolen from the eligible house-
hold— 
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‘‘(aa) during the calendar 
year that the claim reporting 
such theft was submitted; and 
‘‘(bb) that have not been re-
placed or otherwise supplemented 
by a prior approved claim; or 
‘‘(II) the amount equal to the 
summer EBT benefit allotment of the 
eligible household issued to the eligible 
household immediately prior to the 
date on which the benefits were sto-
len. 
‘‘(B) PLAN DEADLINE FOR CURRENT PAR-
TICIPANTS.—In the case of a State agency or 
covered Indian Tribal organization participating 
in the program under this section on the date 
of enactment of this subsection, such State 
Agency or covered Indian Tribal organization 
shall be required to— 
‘‘(i) submit an initial version of the 
plan for the replacement of stolen summer 
EBT benefits described in subparagraph 
(A)(i) to the Secretary for approval not 
later than 60 days after the date of enact-
ment of this subsection; and 
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‘‘(ii) implement such initial plan upon 
approval by the Secretary. 
‘‘(3) COMPTROLLER GENERAL.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years 
after the date of enactment of this subsection, 
the Comptroller General of the United States 
shall submit to the Committee on Education 
and Workforce of the House of Representatives 
and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, 
and Forestry of the Senate a report that exam-
ines risks related to summer EBT benefit pay-
ment system security, including the risk of sto-
len benefits through card skimming, card 
cloning, and other similar methods. 
‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—The report under sub-
paragraph (A) shall include an assessment of— 
‘‘(i) the extent to which the Depart-
ment of Agriculture manages summer 
EBT benefit payment system security, in-
cluding risks related to stolen benefits, 
compared to leading industry practices; 
‘‘(ii) the manner in which State agen-
cies, covered Indian Tribal organizations, 
retailers, and other relevant entities man-
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age risks related to stolen summer EBT 
benefits; 
‘‘(iii) the oversight of and guidance 
provided by the Secretary to State agencies 
and covered Indian Tribal organizations 
regarding stolen summer EBT benefits; 
and 
‘‘(iv) recommendations and policy op-
tions for— 
‘‘(I) improving how the Depart-
ment of Agriculture and other rel-
evant entities manage summer EBT 
benefit payment system security risks, 
including those related to stolen bene-
fits; and 
‘‘(II) how the Department of Ag-
riculture may best share those im-
provements with State agencies, cov-
ered Indian Tribal organizations, re-
tailers, and other relevant entities.’’. 
Æ 
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