By GARRETT BERGQUIST
WISH-TV | wishtv.com
The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration on Thursday said the U.S. Department of Agriculture has reversed its directive to reduce SNAP benefits for eligible households.
The move all but ends one of the headline issues from the record 43-day federal government shutdown.
Since benefits for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, formerly known as food stamps, are paid out on a monthly basis, they were not affected for the first month. When the shutdown stretched into November, the USDA directed states to reduce benefits. The agency said President Donald Trump’s signing late Wednesday night of a deal to fund the government means that directive is no longer in effect.
In a brief bulletin on its website, the FSSA said that it “is taking immediate action to ensure all SNAP recipients receive their full benefits for the month.” The agency said the exact date for those benefits to be restored is still being finalized and it will share an updated timeline once it becomes available.
News of the funding deal came as a relief for Indianapolis food banks and the people who work with them. Emily Weikert Bryant, the executive director of Feeding Indiana’s Hungry, said she’s glad to see the disruptions to SNAP benefits will finally end, though she cautioned it will take some time for the system to recover.
“We’re getting to a resolution but it’s not going to be overnight,” she said. “[The FSSA] could do a single issuance for all the rest of the benefits, they could go back to the disbursement schedule that we’re really only part of the way through for the month of November. Either is possible.”
Bryant said the USDA’s directive on Thursday did not specify to states which of those two options they should take.
Bryant said food banks her organization partners with report anywhere from 25 to 70 percent more foot traffic since Nov. 1 due to a combination of the government shutdown, the beginning of the holiday season and other economic pressure. In addition, she said new restrictions on SNAP eligibility Congress enacted in July as part of President Donald Trump’s budget bill mean users face additional barriers.
Gleaners President and CEO Fred Glass said in a statement the state of Indiana has already disbursed all of the partial November SNAP benefits, so no SNAP recipients will miss a payment. He said Gleaners will continue its expanded support efforts due to a combination of the lingering effects of the shutdown and the new SNAP eligibility rules.
“While I’m relieved that SNAP benefits are being restored as part of the conclusion of the government shutdown, the SNAP cutoff reinforced my belief that the SNAP cuts embedded in the budget reconciliation legislation passed last July will be a disaster for the food insecure, other Indiana workers, and every Hoosier,” Glass said.
Glass said Gleaners will hold a second food distribution event specifically for members of the Indiana National Guard who have been serving without pay since Oct. 1.
The budget deal funds most agencies through Jan. 30. The USDA, though, which oversees all food assistance programs, is funded through the end of Fiscal Year 2026 on Sept. 30, so a government shutdown at the end of January would not affect SNAP or WIC.
This story was originally published by WISH-TV at wishtv.com/news/politics/indiana-says-full-snap-benefits-to-resume-as-soon-as-possible.
