Michigan fails to protect food benefits for 1.4M residents

Flint resident Ella Montez Hodo had her food stamps stolen on April 16 by someone in New York, 680 miles away. The criminal spent $360 in two transactions that were funded by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Since Montez Hodo still had the card in her possession, it is likely that data on her card might have been stolen by a fake card reader, according to a police report Michigan Capitol Confidential obtained through a records request. That criminal probably sold the information via the dark web to another criminal in New York.

The theft was not an isolated incident. The state doesn’t protect food benefits for its most vulnerable 1.4 million residents, and in the last two years Michigan has endured a wave of crime involving stolen benefits. Now a bill in the state House is aiming to rein in the growing rate of food stamp fraud in Michigan.

House Bill 4746 would require the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to issue chip-enabled Michigan Bridge Cards to people who receive food assistance and cash assistance benefits. The department would have to do this within one year of the law’s effective date.

Criminals have been stealing from the public benefit program for decades. In 2015, Michigan lost nearly $31 million to SNAP fraud. That figure was $14 million in 2024, CapCon reported.

In 2023, Michigan caught $4 million of food stamp fraud. Three Michigan men obtained electronic benefit card data from 8,000 cardholders, most of whom were living in California. The trio allegedly used information from the cards to create Michigan-specific benefit cards and then spent funds in Metro Detroit Sam’s Clubs.  

Michigan mailed out roughly 738 replacement Bridge Cards daily in 2024, for a total of 269,644 cards, according to a document obtained through a records request.

The state should enact HB 4746 to protect taxpayer money, Rep. Jason Woolford, R-Howell, the bill’s sponsor, told CapCon in an email. Tools to clone or skim magnetic stripe cards are one click away on Amazon, he said.

“Adding chips to Bridge Cards benefits not only recipients but also taxpayers, by enhancing security and ensuring that state funds are used responsibly and without fraud or waste,” Woolford said.

“HB 4746 makes our support systems more secure, more accountable, and more efficient.” He added, ”If we’re serious about reducing waste, cracking down on fraud, and restoring confidence in public programs, this bill is a smart and necessary step forward.”

Over the past few years, five states — Alabama, California, Maryland, New Jersey, and Oklahoma — have either switched to chipped SNAP cards or are doing so, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Michigan authorities have considered filing criminal charges against 432 people for alleged food stamp fraud since 2020, according to documents obtained through a records request to the attorney general’s office. The state investigated 111 people for SNAP fraud in 2023 and 110 in 2024.

The state health department hasn’t responded to a request for comment. The agency has nearly 16,000 employees.

Wolford's bill was referred to the Committee on Government Operations.

CapCon has written more than 10 stories about criminals stealing Michigan SNAP benefits.