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A bitterly divided Congress has for months failed to reach
agreement on 2024 government spending levels and is racing to
avert a partial shutdown on Jan. 19.
An eventual deal should include $1 billion more for the Special
Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children
(WIC), said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and White House
Domestic Policy Council Director Neera Tanden on a call with
reporters.
The program, which had a budget of $6 billion last year, is
facing a shortfall due to rising food costs and higher
participation.
The funding gap could result in as many as 2 million people
being turned away from the program this year, according to a
December analysis by the nonpartisan Center on Budget and Policy
Priorities.
"The longer Congress puts off fully funding WIC, the greater the
risk grows to moms, babies and children who need and are seeking
nutrition and health support from the program," Vilsack said.
WIC provides food, nutrition education and healthcare referrals
to about 6.7 million low-income people each year including about
half of all infants born in the U.S., according to the
Department of Agriculture, which administers the program.
A stopgap federal funding bill in November that narrowly averted
a government shutdown extended some nutrition programs until
Sept. 30, but not WIC.
If Congress does not raise spending levels, states would have to
put applicants on wait lists, said Paul Throne, WIC director for
Washington State, on the call.
"We’re struggling to understand how we’re going to continue to
serve the people who need us," Throne said. "We have not had
waiting lists in Washington State for at least 30 years."
(Reporting by Leah Douglas; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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