Stop Retail Food Store SNAP Trafficking Act of 2026
Sponsored By: Representative Burchett, Tim [R-TN-2]
Introduced
Summary
Strengthening penalties and improving how SNAP benefit trafficking by retail stores is measured. This bill would require the USDA's Food and Nutrition Service to update and validate retailer-trafficking estimates, raise civil penalties for stores that traffic SNAP benefits, and deliver regular reports to Congress.
Show full summary
- Retail food stores. Faces higher civil penalties, raising maximum fines to $250,000 (up from $100,000). Permanent disqualification for trafficking may be paired with civil money penalties.
- Food and Nutrition Service. Must reassess and validate key assumptions behind retailer-trafficking estimates using independent data and include uncertainty ranges in public reports. The agency must publish a national retailer trafficking report within 18 months and every 3 years thereafter.
- Congress and oversight. The Secretary must submit a brief report to the House and Senate Agriculture Committees within 2 years describing implementation progress, updated trafficking estimates, and counts of investigations, disqualifications, and penalties.
Personalized for You
How does this bill affect your finances?
Personalize government policy and PRIA will tell you what this bill means for your household, plus every other piece of legislation we track. PRIA reads each provision against your financial profile to show you exactly what matters to your wallet.
Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
2 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 1 costs, 1 mixed.
Higher SNAP store fines and bans
This bill would raise certain maximum civil fines for SNAP retailer trafficking to $250,000. It would also direct USDA to write rules allowing permanent disqualification of stores to be paired with civil money penalties. The rules must aim to better deter trafficking and could increase legal and financial risk for stores that traffick benefits.
New reviews and reports for SNAP stores
This bill would require USDA to reevaluate how it estimates SNAP benefit trafficking by store type and size. Reports must use independent data, show uncertainty ranges, and validate assumptions using transaction data from known trafficking cases. USDA would study reauthorizing high‑risk stores more often than every five years for a sample and could change reauthorization rules. The Department would publish an updated national retailer trafficking report within 18 months and then every 3 years.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Burchett, Tim [R-TN-2]
TN • R
Cosponsors
There are no cosponsors for this bill.
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.gov