By CAT SANDOVAL
WISH-TV | wishtv.com
More than 600,000 Hoosiers, or 9 percent of Indiana’s population, risk losing their food stamps in November due to the federal government shutdown.
Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana calls it devastating. Fred Glass is president and CEO of Gleaners Food Bank in Indianapolis. “Real Hoosiers are going to be in real pain because of this unnecessary shutdown of government services.”
News 8 reached out to the Indiana Family Social Services Administration, which said SNAP benefits will be legally funded until Nov. 5. The state agency said it is waiting for additional guidance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That’s because the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, is federally funded, but it’s up to the states to administer the benefits.
Emily Weikert Bryant, executive director of Feeding Indiana’s Hungry, said Monday, “It’s essentially telling state administrators what to prepare for and it’s ‘hang on a minute,’ they’re assessing what’s going to happen.”
Bryant said food banks are available should anyone need it. She also said any unused SNAP benefits from October can carry over to November.
Gleaners Food Bank has seen firsthand how the government shutdown impacts Indiana families.
Their CEO said since the government shutdown began Oct. 1, 250 Transportation Security Administration agents at Indianapolis International Airport have requested food aid.
“They are people who are generally well-paid, who probably never thought about being in a pantry line, and because of this government shutdown, they are being forced to seek charitable food to put food on the table for their families,” Glass said.
Food banks worry that the cut to SNAP benefits, the cuts to federal workers’ income, and already expensive costs for groceries will just increase more families in need.
“It’s the ultimate irony to me that we have all of these federal workers in Indiana who are working and not being paid, and we have congressmen who are getting paid and not working,” Glass said. “The United States House of Representatives has shut down because the speaker of the House won’t call them back to work. They are not working and getting paid.”
This story was originally published by WISH-TV at wishtv.com/news/politics/government-shutdown-puts-600000-hoosiers-at-risk-of-losing-snap-benefits.