The state of Indiana intends to comply with a request to share detailed personal data with the federal government on each Hoosier recipient of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.
The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration confirmed Friday it will send to the U.S. Department of Agriculture the name, birth date, home address, Social Security number and dollar value of benefits received for every Indiana resident served by SNAP since 2020.
The USDA said it's seeking the personal data to create a consolidated, national database of SNAP recipients "to ensure program integrity."
Currently, food assistance provided through SNAP is 100% funded by the federal government but administered by each of the 50 states, with the federal government and the states splitting SNAP administrative costs.
Gina Brand, USDA senior policy advisor for integrity, said in a May 6 memo to states that the distributed administrative system has led to "a SNAP information silo," where SNAP state agency directors can each view application, enrollment, recipient and transaction data but it's more difficult to obtain a nationwide perspective.
Consolidating the SNAP data held by states is "the only way to eliminate bureaucratic duplication and inefficiency and enhance the government’s ability to detect overpayments and fraud," Brand said.
Kansas and New Mexico, two states with Democratic governors, have said they will not provide their citizens' personal information to the USDA without more clarity about how the data will be used and secured by the federal government.
A federal lawsuit filed last week in Washington, D.C. also aims to halt the SNAP data collection effort by asserting the executive order issued March 20 by Republican President Donald Trump that inspired it does not comply with several federal laws, including the Privacy Act, the Paperwork Reduction Act and the Administrative Procedure Act.
Marcus Barlow, FSSA deputy chief of staff, did not indicate precisely when the personal information of Hoosier SNAP recipients will be sent to the USDA or whether any other federal agencies are requesting similar detailed data on other assistance program participants.
The New York Times reported Friday that a Trump-connected data analysis and technology firm recently received several federal data sharing contracts that could open the door to the federal government creating a master list of personal information on every American.
According to FSSA, a total of $115 million in SNAP benefits was distributed in April to 588,184 Hoosiers, or about 9% of Indiana's population.
In Indiana, a person must have monthly take-home pay less than $1,255 to obtain a SNAP allotment of up to $292. A family of four must take home less than $2,600 a month to receive up to $975 in SNAP benefits. A $5,000 asset limit and a work requirement also apply to most SNAP recipients.
Republican Gov. Mike Braun last week secured USDA approval to block Indiana food assistance recipients from using their SNAP benefits to purchase soft drinks and candy beginning Jan. 1, 2026.
© Copyright 2025, nwitimes.com, Munster, IN