CNN
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After cracking down on food stamps in the debt ceiling deal, House Republicans now want to hit WIC, the food assistance program for low-income women, infants, and young children.
Republican lawmakers have proposed cutting funding for WIC in the House version of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s annual spending bill.Some things may be forced by law Families are having to wait for aid for the first time in years, and their ability to buy fresh fruit and vegetables is limited.
It’s one of the party’s latest efforts to cut federal spending by limiting benefits, reducing enrollment and adding work requirements to the nation’s safety net.
But some cuts and a controversial abortion-related provision prevented House Republicans from passing a spending bill Thursday before lawmakers went on a six-week vacation. In addition to agriculture, the law also funds the Food and Drug Administration and other related agencies.
The appropriations subcommittee that authored the bill is led by conservative Republican Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland, some of whom want to push it further to the right. They are proposing a number of amendments that would further cut food aid even further and further the party’s war on specific social issues.
For example, Rep. Byron Donald, R-Florida, has significantly expanded work requirements for certain adults in the food stamp program, raising the age threshold from 49 to 64, rather than those without minor children. The plan is to include people who have dependents over the age of 10.
Other amendments include waiving work requirements for recipients and limiting states’ ability to receive exemptions if a region lacks sufficient employment.
There are also amendments related to Republican efforts to crack down on issues related to race and gender identity, as well as other efforts important to Democrats. Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene would ban funding for drugs that interfere with puberty or sexual development in minors, as well as sex-reassignment surgeries for minors. Other lawmakers want to cut funding to the USDA’s Office of Civil Rights and eliminate funding for diversity initiatives.
Other amendments would ban the Secretary of Agriculture from purchasing electric vehicles, ban funding to the World Health Organization and eliminate funding for the USDA rental assistance program.
House Republicans face an even bigger battle to reconcile funding for WIC, officially known as the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, with the much more generous Senate version. become.
The House bill would reduce WIC, which serves approximately 6.6 million women, infants, and young children, in two ways. This would reduce funding for fiscal year 2024 to $5.5 billion, $185 million less than this year’s level and $800 million less than the Senate bill provides.
But it would also cut the program’s enhanced fruit and vegetable benefits, which were originally authorized by Democrats’ American Rescue Plan Act in 2021 and updated with bipartisan support in subsequent spending bills. become. In fiscal year 2024, enrollees will receive between $11 and $15 a month to purchase fresh produce, down from $25 to $49 this year.
Last month, during the subcommittee’s review of the funding bill, Harris said that now that the COVID-19 pandemic is over and the public health emergency is over, benefits will be reduced to a “normal, sustainable, inflation-adjusted rate.” He said the time has come to return to “funding levels.”
But advocates for low-income Americans say the enhanced benefits are in line with recommendations from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Furthermore, this reinforcement is necessary as people are struggling to buy groceries due to the recent rise in prices.
Cutting benefits will have an impact.
“Families may have to reduce the amount they receive,” said Jamila Taylor, CEO of the National WIC Association, an advocacy group. “Due to increased costs, they will not be able to access as much food with the benefit of cash value.”
Additionally, cuts in overall funding for WIC could result in up to 750,000 eligible people being turned away and some placed on waiting lists, but Congress has fully funded WIC since 1997. That wasn’t necessary, Katie Berg said. , senior policy analyst at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Infants, preschoolers, and postpartum women will bear the greatest brunt.
In total, about 5.3 million pregnant and postpartum women, infants and young children will see their food aid reduced or stripped, Berg said.
“People at critical stages of development, such as young children, pregnant and postpartum people, are undernourished and lack access to benefits that provide nutritious meals as well as a range of other services. “It has very serious long-term implications for their health,” Berg said.
WIC has grown in popularity in recent years, although it only reaches about half of its target population. Federal and state policymakers have made registration easier, improved the shopping experience, and enhanced benefits. Due to these changes and the effects of inflation, it is believed that the number of participants in the first seven months of this year increased by 4.4% compared to the same period in 2022.
This means that even the Senate bill’s $6.3 billion appropriation won’t be enough, Berg said, and states will have to turn away up to 800,000 people, meaning they won’t be able to provide services to all eligible applicants. It is estimated that up to $7.3 billion may be needed to provide comprehensive support. Benefits of fruits and vegetables.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, said she would keep a close eye on attendance and food costs.
“I will continue to monitor the program and push to ensure it has the funding it needs so that millions of women, infants, and children can rely on it and receive the food assistance they need to thrive through WIC. I will continue to do so,” she said.