Rep. Summer Lee Joins Just Harvest, Community Leaders to Demand Action Against SNAP Theft
PITTSBURGH, PA – AUGUST 15, 2025 — Today, Congresswoman Summer L. Lee (PA-12) joined Just Harvest, State Representatives Emily Kinkead and Abigail Salisbury, and community members impacted by SNAP theft at the Kingsley Association in Pittsburgh to demand urgent federal and state action to combat the rising epidemic of stolen food assistance benefits.
The press conference spotlighted the thousands of dollars in SNAP benefits stolen every month from Allegheny County residents through card skimming, cloning, and related fraud. Victims are often left with no way to replace these essential funds, leaving families without the ability to afford basic groceries.
Congresswoman Lee, a cosponsor of the Fairness for Victims of SNAP Skimming Act, emphasized the need for immediate legislative action to restore and strengthen reimbursement protections.
“When SNAP benefits are stolen, that’s food ripped from the tables of children, seniors, and working parents who are already fighting to make ends meet,” said Rep. Lee. “No one in Western Pennsylvania or anywhere in this country should have to go hungry because of fraud, broken systems, or political gamesmanship. We have a moral obligation to protect and restore these benefits so every family can count on having enough to eat. I will keep fighting alongside our community to secure stronger protections, restart the reimbursement program, and make sure every stolen dollar is replaced, because every single one of our neighbors deserves the security of knowing they can feed themselves and their families.”
The Fairness for Victims of SNAP Skimming Act would:
- Permanently restore states’ authority to replace stolen SNAP benefits.
- Remove caps so victims can receive the full amount stolen.
- Ensure federal funds are available for reimbursements going forward.
On the state level, advocates are calling for the PA General Assembly to invest in secure chip-enabled EBT cards, replacing outdated swipe cards vulnerable to skimming technology.
Congresswoman Summer Lee has taken concrete, impactful steps to bolster food security and protect SNAP beneficiaries throughout Western Pennsylvania. Most notably, she secured $1 million in federal funding for the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, enabling the distribution of over 33 million pounds of food to more than 400,000 people annually—an unprecedented milestone for her district. In addition, Lee helped convene an anti-hunger roundtable with local food banks and stakeholders from Greater Pittsburgh and Westmoreland County to preserve and expand food assistance outreach and services.
On the national level, Rep. Lee has vocally opposed legislative measures threatening SNAP, including the July 2025 GOP budget reconciliation bill that includes drastic cuts to SNAP and Medicaid—framing it as unacceptable sacrifice of basic needs to finance tax breaks for the wealthy.
Founded in 1986, Just Harvest works to address hunger at its roots by challenging systemic poverty and inequity through policy advocacy, grassroots organizing, and connecting people to benefits. The organization is leading local efforts to push for secure benefits systems and policy reforms to protect food access.
Congresswoman Summer Lee serves on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Accountability and the Committee on Education and Workforce. Since taking office in January 2023, she has delivered historic levels of federal investment totaling over $2.4 Billion brought back to Western PA, including over $580 million for infrastructure, over $110 million for affordable transit, over $500 million to keep clean energy manufacturing at home in Pennsylvania, and over $55 million on clean energy efforts in and around schools to help keep our kids and communities safe. These investments will help improve Western Pennsylvania’s infrastructure and transit, ensure cleaner air and drinking water, lower housing costs, fund research institutions, fuel clean manufacturing, fund STEM innovation and entrepreneurship, boost workforce development, and create thousands of good paying union jobs. Lee and her team have also delivered casework and constituent services to over 3,000 constituents with issues ranging from helping our seniors and disabled community access Medicare and social security to helping folks secure housing and helping families with immigration support and passports.