Michigan’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — a lifeline for roughly 1.4 million residents — is being chipped away, quite literally, by inadequate technology and sluggish enforcement.
In fiscal year 2024, fraud in Michigan’s SNAP program surged by nearly 400%, reaching a staggering $884,947 in replacement benefits—up from just $181,778 the year before. Over the first quarter of 2025 alone, stolen benefits amounted to over $846,856.
Why this dramatic increase? The culprits: outdated magnetic-strip Bridge Cards, easily cloned via skimmers and fake card readers often installed at convenience stores, gas stations, and grocery outlets.
I’m not well-versed in this technology but apparently unscrupulous store owners are employing skimmers and fake card readers to steal from the program. The practice, if the aforementioned numbers are correct is multiplying at a rapid rate, all at the expense of those that deserve SNAP benefits.
Meanwhile, banks adopted chip-enabled cards back in 2015. Michigan’s failure to follow suit isn’t just behind the times—it’s denying protection to its most vulnerable residents.
Changing to chip-based SNAP cards would cost roughly $16.3 million upfront and $2.7 million annually—but half of that is federally subsidized, leaving Michigan with an $8 million price tag.
So far, the state hasn’t made the change. I ask, why not?
Yet in FY 2024, fraud payouts alone exceeded $14 million a sum that dwarfs the cost of a one-time upgrade. That means every Swiper’s swipe is leaving a deeper mark on taxpayers and deserving families alike.
There is also fraud from inside. In other words those administering the SNAP program, allegedly are taking from it as well.
A shocking whistleblower case has come to light according to Michigan Confidential. Ashanta Butler, a longtime state employee of 23 years, claims she was fired shortly after reporting coworkers who were allegedly stealing SNAP benefits. She filed a court complaint alleging the scheme involved managers, including one named Angela Barbee, and that she was retaliated against by her supervisor Rachel Hill for making the protected report .If substantiated, these allegations would provide a troubling explanation for Michigan’s nearly 400% spike in food stamp fraud from fiscal years 2023 to 2024.
While fraud has spiked, enforcement has lagged. Between 2023 and 2024, Michigan referred only 110–111 cases for investigation—about the same as in previous years—even as fraud ballooned.
From 2020 to 2024, only 432 individuals were considered for prosecution—an alarmingly small number in the context of tens of millions of dollars in lost benefits.
Michigan has taken some steps: seizing 44 skimmers, disqualifying, suspending, or fining dozens of retailers, and sending warning letters and alerts to households.
It also received federal grants—$749,987 in 2023 and $746,445 in 2024—to bolster fraud detection analytics and recipient education.
But these efforts, while essential, are patchwork. Without the foundational upgrade to chip technology and cleaning up the fraud from within the system remains inherently vulnerable.
Michigan faces a tragic irony: choosing fiscal delay now only results in greater expense later. The failure to modernize SNAP card technology isn’t just a security oversight—it’s an ethical lapse, exposing families to theft and leaving tax dollars to fall through the cracks.
