INDIANAPOLIS — Low-income Hoosiers are about to get a whole lot hungrier.
At least, that’s the concern of state advocates and national researchers focused on combatting food insecurity after Congress decided to cut funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, earlier this month.
The latest estimate projects that the federal government will save between $5.7 billion and $6 billion each year on SNAP, starting in fiscal year 2028 because it is shifting some costs to states. New work requirements for recipients, which start two years earlier, will trim federal spending by another $68.6 billion.
That delayed impact will prolong uncertainty for the experts, but means that millions of enrollees won’t feel the brunt of the cuts until after the critical midterm elections — which some critics say is a political calculation to retain a Republican majority in Congress. However, it will take states some time to implement the new changes required under the federal budget bill…