Urge the Senate to Act on Child Nutrition Reauthorization

August 5, 2022

On July 27, 2022, the House Education and Labor Committee advanced the Healthy Meals, Healthy Kids Act - the first Child Nutrition Reauthorization (CNR) bill to be introduced in more than six years! The last time WIC and other child nutrition programs were reauthorized was in 2010 with the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act. Since then, as the nation faced the COVID-19 pandemic, WIC services remedied longstanding barriers to access and offered a blueprint for a new generation of WIC services.

In order to make this blueprint a reality, the Senate must take action in support of CNR. We need the Senate to expand WIC eligibility, streamline certifications, and permanently relax physical presence requirements - exciting and important steps to modernize WIC services and reach the next generation of eligible families!

We’re urging the Senate to:

Address Nutrition Gaps

• Extend postpartum eligibility to two years
• Extend child eligibility to six years or the beginning of full-day kindergarten

Reduce Burden with Streamlined Certifications

• Extend certification periods to two years
• Allow remote certifications by phone or video

Strengthen WIC’s Nutrition Services

• Increase investment in breastfeeding peer counselors
• Increase investment in WIC technologies to coordinate care with healthcare providers

Modernize Benefit Redemption

• Invest in online shopping solutions and allow for home delivery
• Update rules for the WIC Farmers Market Nutrition Program to ensure more states and farmers can participate

NWA supports these policies that will put us on a path towards a more accessible and more modern WIC. Use our action alert and toolkit to raise your voice and tell Congress to pass CNR.

For more information on CNR, visit the WIC Hub to find detailed fact sheets overviewing WIC provisions and NWA-endorsed bills.