USDA announces plan to fund WIC through October

USDA officials have given assurances on Capitol Hill that despite the federal shutdown, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, often referred to as WIC, will get a cash infusion to ensure that it stays afloat through October  (Source: “USDA tells lawmakers WIC will be funded through October,” Politico, Oct. 10).

The plan, detailed in a USDA briefing for congressional staff, involves moving roughly $300 million in unused tariff funds from child nutrition programs left over from the prior calendar year to ensure states can continue providing food aid, infant formula and breastfeeding support to millions of low-income moms and babies.

The plan deploys authority under Section 32 of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1935, which uses a percentage of customs receipts from imports to support agricultural commodities and other USDA programs, including child nutrition programs.