Levin Law On Family Food Security Taskforce Leads to New Bill with Herrera Beutler

The MODERN WIC Act takes action on the critical findings that came from the taskforce created by Levin’s COVID-19 WIC Safety and Modernization Act signed into law last year.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Andy Levin (D-MI) and Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA) introduced the More Options to Develop and Enhance Remote Nutrition (MODERN) WIC Act, a bipartisan House companion to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Senator Roger Marshall's (R-KS) S. 3226. This bill ensures the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is more accessible to participants in a pandemic and a twenty-first century economy.

"I am so grateful that we can take action on the critical findings that came from the taskforce created by my COVID-19 WIC Safety and Modernization Act signed into law last year," said Congressman Levin. "By unlocking remote services and building on the lessons learned from the pandemic, the MODERN WIC Act will not only help make nutrition assistance more accessible to mothers and babies, but also increase the program's efficiency for years to come, at long last helping tackle hunger and food insecurity in our most vulnerable and precious populations."

"Access to telehealth has been crucial for communities throughout the COVID pandemic, including moms and babies who rely on WIC nutrition assistance," said Congresswoman Herrera Beutler. "I'm proud to partner with my colleagues on the bipartisan MODERN WIC Act to help strengthen telehealth services and ensure that families have access to critical resources in a timely manner."

"Adapting WIC to provide remote service options is one of the smartest lessons learned while operating the program during the COVID-19 pandemic and sustaining vital nutrition assistance for over 6.2 million participants," said Brian Dittmeier, senior director of public policy at the National WIC Association. "Waiver flexibilities to allow remote service options upended longstanding trends and erased persistent barriers to access stemming from in-person requirements, making it easier for working parents to keep their kids on WIC. Since the beginning of the pandemic, WIC has recorded a 10 percent increase in child participation, largely attributable to these newfound flexibilities. When the nation emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, WIC must strike the right balance to incorporate the convenience of phone or video appointments while preserving WIC's public health character and health screenings. The MODERN WIC Act strategically leverages partnerships between WIC and healthcare providers to provide more coordinated care, ease burdens on participating families, and ensure that no child falls through the cracks. We applaud Congressman Andy Levin and Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler for their leadership in bringing this common-sense solution forward in the House of Representatives and pushing to modernize access to WIC's vital nutrition support."

"Michigan WIC is happy to partner with Representatives Andy Levin and Jaime Herrera Beutler as they introduce the House version of the MODERN WIC Act. A continuance of remote services beyond the current pandemic, along with the necessary technology enhancements, would greatly benefit the nearly 200,000 WIC participants in Michigan," said Christina Herring-Johnson, WIC Director at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. "It is our desire that none of our WIC participants experience household food insecurity, but rather ensure that they continue to receive nutrition assistance and education beyond the pandemic."

"Our ability to serve our WIC participants with remote tools during the COVID-19 pandemic has meant that we've been able to reach out safely to over 120,000 people every year with breastfeeding support, nutrition education, and healthy foods. The MODERN WIC Act would make sure we can still use these tools to serve families even after the pandemic is over," said Paul Throne, Director of the Office of Nutrition Services at the Washington State Department of Health. "This means fewer barriers to families, and more children helped to get a healthy start every year. Representative Herrera Beutler's sponsorship of the MODERN WIC Act shows that Washington is once again leading the nation in support for families and children. We appreciate her commitment to healthy families and to WIC."

The MODERN WIC Act will:

• Permanently allow participants the option to get WIC certification or re-certification through video teleconference or phone as opposed to being physically present in the WIC office;
• Allow remote benefit issuance so that participants can receive their WIC benefits on WIC EBT cards through mail or remote issuance, as opposed to physically picking up or reloading benefits on the WIC EBT card at the WIC office;
• Provide $60 million in funding for WIC offices around the country to upgrade and establish technology to help streamline changes to the program;
• Require a report to Congress to be made that contains the uses of remote technologies, impact of remote technologies, and best practices; and
• Incorporate COVID-era flexibilities like phone and video certifications while strengthening WIC's public health efforts by further coordinating with physicians and health care providers.

The MODERN WIC Act is endorsed by the National WIC Association, WIC Association of New York State, Inc., Hunger Solutions New York, 1,000 Days, A Better Balance, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Alliance to End Hunger, Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs, Association of State Public Health Nutritionists, Bread for the World, Danone North America, First Focus Campaign for Children, The Food Industry Association, MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, National Grocers Association, Nurse-Family Partnership, RESULTS, Save the Children and Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior.

_{Source:https://andylevin.house.gov/media/press-releases/levin-law-family-food-security-taskforce-leads-new-bill-herrera-beutler}