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Friend,
Congress has a choice : To cut or expand nutrition funding for families with low incomes. In each of the first three months of the year, approximately 6.5 million infants, toddlers, and pregnant parents participated in WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children)—already exceeding USDA projections for all of FY2024. Thankfully, the Senate Appropriations Committee has passed an Agriculture budget which would increase WIC funding by $615 million—more than last year, but likely still not enough to meet the growing demand. The Senate bill stands in stark contrast to the House Appropriations bill that cuts $800 million from WIC, drastically reducing funding for children, toddlers, and pregnant, postpartum, and breastfeeding parents. The House cuts are so steep that for 1-4 year olds, the monthly allotment for fruits and vegetables drops from $25 to just $11; for those who are nursing, it drops from $49 to $15. Overall, the $800 million cut slices off 19% of WIC food benefits. But because more families are making use of WIC and food prices are up, the inadequate funding provided in the House bill will not just slash benefits; it will also result in many families being placed on waiting lists to get WIC aid. Cutting funding to deny fruits, vegetables, and other nutritious foods to parents and toddlers—especially when these young children are at such critical stages in their cognitive development—is unconscionable. This comes on top of restrictions in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program that are also likely to deny cash assistance to the poorest families with children. Join CHN and our allies by writing a letter to Congress demanding they protect and expand WIC. Participation in WIC has increased and the projected levels for FY2024 were already exceeded between January and March of 2023. The increase is welcome : in previous years, only about half of eligible families participated; in the six months from October, 2022 to March, 2023, participants rose by about 200,000 to nearly 6.6 million. Grocery prices are still high and many people who qualify for WIC are trapped in low-paying jobs that don’t provide benefits. It’s time for Congress to show up and support the most vulnerable among us. The United States is the richest country on Earth. There is no good reason why we can’t provide access to healthy and nutritious food for every baby, young child, and pregnant, postpartum, and breastfeeding parent. Thank you for all you do to support families and children,
Deborah Weinstein |
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Coalition on Human Needs 1825 K Street NW, Suite 411 Washington, DC 20006 |
