BPOSTON (SHNS) - Transitional Assistance Commissioner Jeff McCue told lawmakers Tuesday the administration will be asking for money for EBT cards in a supplemental budget, but it won't be for the replacement of stolen grocery benefits. Massachusetts and other states have for years been dealing with a rise in criminals deploying skimming devices on ATMs and point-of-sale card readers to steal EBT card numbers and PINs, or scamming benefit recipients out of that information through phishing campaigns to steal the benefits due to that person. The problem has particularly affected the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. For a while, the federal government was reimbursing families who could prove their EBT dollars were wrongfully claimed. As of September, the Department of Transitional Assistance had issued about $9 million in federally funded replacement benefits to about 20,100 Bay State households who were victims of SNAP theft. Congress did not extend the federal government's replacement of stolen benefits beyond December, and Massachusetts families that have been scammed since are not being reimbursed. Advocates have said doing so could cost the state about $1 million a month and along with some lawmakers have sought to have the state cover what the federal government no longer will. McCue mentioned the "ever-evolving criminal enterprise that is targeting our clients and their much-needed assistance" during testimony Tuesday to the Joint Ways and Means Committee at its budget hearing in Worcester. He said DTA is aiming to better deter theft by switching to EBT cards that have chips implanted in them, which allow for tap-to-pay functionality and more. "We have been informed, and it's been confirmed with us, that in a supplemental budget which will be coming to you before the end of this fiscal year, there will be monies in it that are specifically targeted to enable our agency to be able to install chip card technology, such as the chip cards that you have, many of you may have, on your credit cards, which will effectively be able to promote a higher level protection for our clients," the commissioner said Tuesday. When Rep. Sally Kerans misheard the commissioner and later expressed her appreciation for the "supp budget money for replacement of stolen benefits," the commissioner made clear that the forthcoming spending request will be to allow for the eventual switch to chip cards, not short-term relief for victims of benefit theft. "I do want to, just because I think certainly the words matter on this, the supplemental which will be coming before this committee, will be coming back to the Legislature, is about chip cards. It's really about giving us the funds necessary to install chips, because the benefit theft, replacing benefit thefts -- and again, I'm not trying to dismiss how important that is and how difficult that is on behalf of clients -- chip cards is a much more sustainable and permanent resolution relative to this, and I think that's absolutely the right way to go on that." ...read more read less