Since the environment marked the beginning of 2026 of the financial year, the WIC program, which provides free, useful food for pregnant women with low income, new mothers and children under the age of 5 years, was due to the funding influx.
Instead came Closing the governmentField
If it is preserved, access to the federal program, fully known as a special supplementary food program for women, babies and children, can be threatened. On Wednesday, the USDA letter to state agencies WIC confirmed that the States would not receive the next quarterly distribution of funds during the closure.
According to the National Association of WIC, a non -profit advocacy organization, which represents the state and local agencies of WIC, “destructive malfunctions” may abandon millions of mothers and children in access to nutrient products if the government remains closed for more than a week or two.
Given that social security checks will still come out, National parks remain partially open And most of the services of Medicaid and Medicare continue, the time period in financing WIC can be one of the first widespread, tangible The influence of shutdown For Nefederal workers.
WIC – a program at the US Department of Agriculture – is served about 6.8 million people As of April 2022, the latest available data. He receives funding from the congress, which the US Department of Agriculture then allocates quarterly.
From there, the States extend it to WIC clinics, of which approximately 10,000 throughout the country. Clinics distribute pre -uploaded cards that participants use to buy healthy foods approved by programs in participating grocery stores. New mothers can also purchase a children's formula and get lactation counseling.
Barbie Anderson, the mother of three children, who is pregnant, said that she relied on WIC to buy healthy food since her older child was born nine years ago. Her family lives a salary before a salary in Milak, Minnesota, she added, and the program helps them to afford fruits, vegetables, eggs, milk, peanuts and yogurt. She also used it to support breastfeeding, she said.
According to Anderson, under normal circumstances, her WIC card will be rebooted on October 15. She is not sure if this will happen now.
“All the food that we get from WIC goes to our children. So you really cause damage to children ”, if the services are paused, she said.
During a stop, the states will have to rely on the amount of up to $ 150 million in the form of unforeseen circumstances from the US Department of Agriculture to continue the supply of services, as well as a small number of prolongation financing from the previous financial year in some cases, according to the National Association of WIC.
Group warned that financing could dry in a week or two If the shutdown is preserved, depending on how the states distribute it. Director of Management and Budget Russell Vuig told the Republicans of the House of Representatives during the conference – On Wednesday, that WIC should end next week, if the government does not open, according to two sources of the Republican Call Party.
“Historically, when the stop occurred, Wic remains open to business, but since this one falls at the beginning of the financial year, there are some risks,” said Georgia Machell, the president of the National Association Wic. She called on the congress to adopt a funding bill that protects the program and retains it without a break.
The USDA representative told NBC News that the continuing WIC operation will depend on the “state choice and the duration of the shutdown”.
“If the democrats do not finance the government, a special supplementary food program for women, babies and children (WIC) will end, and the states will have to make a choice,” the representative wrote.
Nevertheless, some democrats of the House of Representatives say that the federal government has the right to keep WIC afloat – if the USDA Ministry of Agriculture replenishes the replenishment of state funds used during disconnecting after it ends. IN Letter Brook Rollins Secretary of AgricultureRepresentatives. Bobby Scott, D-Va., And Suzanne Bonimichi, D-Ree., They called on USDA to do it.
According to Anderson, without her WIC card, she may have to stop buying oranges for her children, which she feeds them in order to increase their immune system.
“I am concerned that the health of my children will fall wise,” Anderson said, adding that if they got sick, she will also worry about providing a doctor’s accounts.
The Anderson family lives in rural areas, where options for available foods are limited. Her advantages of WIC allow her to make purchases in the nearest grocery store, which otherwise would be outside her budget, she said: Gallene of milk there costs about $ 5.
“We could buy chips all day for 99 cents, if we wanted, in an exhausted grocery store. But what is this food for our children? It's nothing, ”she said.
According to her, the nearest Walmart, where prices are lower, is about 45 minutes drive, but the price of gas makes regular purchases there expensive.
Anderson said that she does not have the right to other food aid programs, such as an additional assistance program in the field of power, also known as food coupons. This program is It is expected to continue while stoppingField (WIC, as a rule, has a higher income limit than Snap.)
The ability of WIC clinics to continue to function is likely to vary depending on the state. Brandon Melin, Director for the Protection of Mother and Children's Health in the Schampeyn-Urban Public Health Country, said that he was told that Illinois clinics enough to last up to a month.
But Melin is worried that the program is used as negotiations in the disconnection policy.
“This is the first time when Wica when -liba got into a political fight at the national level. We hear discussions about Snap and Cash Assive, but WIC has still been politically untouchable, ”he said.
