WIC Blog

Over the past month, local WIC staff from all over California engaged participants and other WIC allies in an amazing grassroots campaign. The WE NEED WIC campaign has given WIC participants a chance to have their say, and they have responded! Thousands of them have written heartfelt messages on paper plates, which are streaming into our office daily. Over 40,000 plates have already been collected!  In addition, many individuals recorded their personal stories on video, which are posted on our YouTube site.

Last week at our Fall Management Conference, some folks were wondering why we held our meeting in Bakersfield, instead of the usual locales. Aside from very affordable room rates, there are many good reasons why this southern hub of the Central Valley is a very appropriate place for WIC people to gather.

For one thing, it’s worth remembering that the fast-growing San Joaquin Valley is home to almost 7 million people and close to 350,000 WIC participants – about a quarter of our total caseload. WIC families who live in the Valley face some of the toughest barriers to good health in the state: much higher concentrations of poverty and unemployment, low-wage seasonal agricultural work, inadequate healthcare and housing, lack of play space, food deserts, and poor air quality.

WIC is in trouble. For the first time in 15 years, the program faces the prospect that there could be insufficient funding to support current and future participation. WIC Nutrition Services are also at risk of being slashed, threatening to derail efforts to modernize operations and destroy recent public health strides WIC has achieved.

WIC is vulnerable to cuts in both the Super Committee process, when everything will be “on the table.” Moreover, if the Super Committee fails to make a deal, and automatic, across-the-board cuts are implemented, WIC is not exempt! We must ensure that WIC is protected from these devastating cuts.

While scary, this scenario is not in any way inevitable. With your help, CWA will work strategically and aggressively to ensure that there is sufficient funding in the coming years to support both food and nutrition services. More than ever, it is essential to tell Congress why WE NEED WIC.

It is important to remember that the WIC community has successfully fought back draconian proposals to cut our funding before, and we can do it again. Over the next 4 months, we invite everyone who cares about WIC to join an aggressive campaign to protect our most vulnerable families. Read up on the WIC funding situation, and top priorities, key messages, and timeline for the WE NEED WIC Campaign. Then follow Five Easy Steps to get involved and engage WIC families.

Your active participation is critical to our success!

 (No public funds were used in the production of We Need WIC Campaign materials.)

Tough times are ahead for California WIC. Local support funding is already down, and local agencies are making hard decisions about curtailing staffing and services. Congress has passed Budget Control legislation that puts WIC in the crosshairs: we are vulnerable to cuts at every juncture of the tortured political process that will unfold soon in Washington. Poverty and hunger are back to high levels.

Most discouraging, however, is the growing undercurrent of mean-spirited rhetoric about the nation’s commitment to fighting poverty and hunger. All of a sudden it’s okay to cheer about people going without healthcare and to question whether basic safety net programs like Social Security are “worth it.”

In this scary climate, it’s important to get back to our history and core WIC values. We are here because Congress decided that America would not tolerate hunger and malnutrition. We are here because families need the nutritious food, education, and referrals that we offer.

Much of what we do in WIC costs money, and the hard truth is we may have to make do with less. But the secret of WIC’s amazing success is priceless. Every day, a desperate, sad, or confused WIC participant shows up in a WIC office looking for help. We listen and give simple support, some breastfeeding or nutrition tips, a phone number, or just a warm smile.

The Budget Control Act of 2011 requires Congress to cut $2.4 trillion in federal spending over the next decade in exchange for raising the debt ceiling. As the complex deal is implemented, WIC funding will be vulnerable to unacceptable cuts at five key points, explained below. At each juncture of the political process, targeted and effective advocacy will be needed to protect our program. All hands on deck! Watch this inspirational video and get ready for action!

• First, we need to make sure that Senate appropriators restore the funding we need to get through next year, but the Senate has not yet passed a funding bill. Senate Agriculture Appropriations is expected to mark up a bill by mid-September. We must convince the Senate to fund WIC adequately at around $6.83 billion in FY 2012!
• Second, there will be $917 billion in immediate cuts to domestic discretionary programs over ten years, of which about 60% will come from nondefense spending. It will be entirely up to Congressional appropriators what to cut to meet these new ten-year spending caps: no program is exempt, and about $21 billion must come out in FY 2012. WIC could be protected, but only by making a strong case to Congress, and competition will be fierce. We must convince Congressional appropriators not to cut WIC in this initial round!
• Next is the “super committee.” Last week, Congressional leaders named six Democrats and six Republicans to a Joint Committee charged with cutting an additional $1.5 trillion over ten years by November 23. Everything will be on the table during this phase – entitlements, taxes, military, crop subsidies, and WIC. We must convince the “super committee” not to include any WIC cuts in their deal.
• If the Joint Committee fails to make a deal (most pundits see that outcome as likely), a “trigger,” or sequester, will automatically cut up to $1.2 trillion in federal spending over the next 10 years, split between domestic and defense spending, effective January 2013. The sequester will exempt WIC as well as Medicaid, CHIP, Social Security and SSI, SNAP, other child nutrition programs (except Special Milk) and other low-income programs, as well as Medicare (except for provider payments, which may be cut by up to 2%). We must ensure that WIC stays exempt if the debt trigger is pulled!
• If WIC is exempted from the triggered cuts described above, there is still a chance that WIC funding could be slashed as part of a one-time cap in “new discretionary funding” imposed by the legislation, that goes into effect in early 2013. We must convince appropriators to protect WIC from this automatic “new funding” cut in 2013.

The CWA Board and Staff will meet later this year to begin planning a comprehensive long term public education and legislative strategy to preserve and protect WIC’s proven-effective and life-saving services to millions. We’ll need to work together and partner with WIC supporters from all other sectors: health and human services, breastfeeding, union members, faith communities and women’s groups. Want to get involved? Become a WIC Ambassador or call CWA for more information!