Due to rising participation rates and food inflation, the Women, Infants, and Children program will need $7.2 billion to $7.3 billion in the fiscal year starting Oct. 1 — far above the amounts now being considered by Congress, said the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities on Wednesday. “Any funding level that fails to serve all eligible WIC applicants would be contrary to more than 25 years of precedent,” said the think tank in a report.
The House could vote as early as this week on its $198 billion USDA-FDA funding bill for fiscal 2024. It allots $6 billion for WIC, paired with a $500 million rescission, said the Center on Budget. The Senate version of the bill allocates $6.3 billion for WIC, the amount requested by the White House.
“Based on current participation trends, we now estimate that average monthly participation for fiscal year 2023 will be about 6.55 million people. For fiscal 2024, we estimate it will be 6.76 million to 6.84 million, which is above the 6.5 million that the Agriculture Department previously forecasted in the president’s budget,” said the think tank. If WIC is short of money, state agencies would have to deny aid to some eligible people and cut benefits to participants, it said.
“Recent increases are likely due to a combination of policy efforts to modernize the program and reduce participation barriers … and enhancing WIC’s food packages. Food price inflation has also contributed to higher costs of providing benefits and will likely continue to be a factor in the short term.”
WIC provides supplemental food packages and healthcare referrals to low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and postpartum mothers, and to infants and children up to age 5. WIC serves almost four of every 10 infants in the nation, according to the USDA.