Earlier this week, Congress released the FY2015 Omnibus Appropriations package. It has also been called the “Cromnibus” because some funding levels for government programs have been negotiated at new FY2015 levels while some government programs would continue to run with a Continuing Resolution at FY2014 funding levels, instead.
The Agriculture Appropriations bill, the legislation that provides the year’s funding for the WIC Program was included in this spending package. It funds WIC at $6.623 billion:
NWA anticipates that this funding level will be enough to meet caseload needs in FY2015 and is pleased by the set-aside amounts for breastfeeding peer counselors, infrastructure, MIS and EBT.
NWA is disappointed that the bill also contains language mandating potatoes into the WIC food packages. The language states that no vegetable can be excluded until the next scientific review determines otherwise. If the scientific review process by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) results in excluding any vegetable, then an audit of the scientific research by the Comptroller General must occur. Stay tuned for more details as the IOM Review process, which began earlier this year, unfolds.
Congress is expected to pass a Continuing Resolution today to keep the government running at FY2014 levels until Saturday to give themselves a few more days to pass the Omnibus spending package.