Washington (AP)-A Program for Food Aid, which helps more than 6 million mothers and toddlers with low incomes, will not assume a federal benefit within two weeks, unless the government falls and forces the states to maintain or risk their own money in life, according to experts.
The 8-billion dollar Supplemental Nutrition program for women, infants and children, also known as WIC, offers vouchers for the purchase of infant exploit formulas as well as fresh fruit and vegetables, low-fat milk and other hearty staple, which are often not within the financial reach for households with a low income.
The closure that started on Wednesday came together with the beginning of a modern financial year, which means that programs such as WIC that rely on annual infusions of the federal government have almost no more money. The program is currently being kept afloat from a 150 million dollar -emergency fund, but experts say that it could run droughty quickly.
After that, states could occur to pay the program and apply for reimbursement if a budget finally goes by, but not all states say that they can afford to do so.
“We feel good for a week or two,” said Ali Hard, politic director of the National Wic Association. “After that we are very concerned.”
Wic helps families to buy more nutritious foods
Taylor Moyer, a mother of three children who recently separated from her husband, has received Wic since her first son was born nine years ago. She said the program made it possible for her to feed her children nutritious food that tends to be more pricey than calorie -rich, processed options. It also provided instructions when she tried to breastfeed her and advised her how she was supposed to deal with her son’s elector.
“There were times when I leaned back in my house and really asked myself how I would feed my family,” said Moyer, who works at the LGBT Life Center in Virginia Beach, Virginia. “And I went into the store with my WIC card … I get rice, I have avocados, I have eggs and I made a balanced meal that was actually good.”
The closure came when Democrats and Republicans had not passed a modern issue. Democratic legislators want to extend tax credits that make health care for millions of Americans cheaper, and they want to reverse profound cuts to Medicaid that were adopted at the beginning of this year. They refused to sign for an expenditure plan that did not contain these provisions.
The spokesman for the house, Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, blamed Democrats for the closure and called her hypocritical because the federal government had not endangered as many health programs.
The WIC program, which has long had non -partisan support, supports those who are pregnant, mothers and children under the age of 5. Research bound it with less child mortality, healthier birth weights, higher immunization rates and better academic results for the participation of children. Almost half of those who are justified do not write down, often because they believe that they do not qualify or cannot reach a WIC office.
Some Republican legislators want the WIC, which is coordinated in Project in 2025, which is voted on by the man influential political blueprint, which President Donald Trump’s head of the housekeeping has now written. Trump’s budget request and the expenditure plan supported by House Republicans would not fully finance the program. You also want to reduce funding for families to buy fresh fruit and vegetables.
Some states undertake to close gaps in food aid
In the event of an extended closure, several states have tried to composed the WIC recipients so that they will continue to receive services. Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont, a democrat, said the state would pick up the tab if the federal financing ends.
“I want these young families, these mothers, know that their WIC card will continue to be good for the foreseeable future,” said Lamont. “We make sure that the government does not take it away from them.”
But in the state of Washington, where a third of the Babies receives WIC, the officials say that they do not have the money to keep the program open.
“Washington WIC can possibly maintain a complete closure of the program one to two weeks before the program of the program,” said Raechel Sims, a spokesman for the state’s Ministry of Health. “If the shutdown takes longer, DOH does not have the option of fulfilling the WIC financing.”
Moyer, the mother from Virginia Beach, warned that the end of the program could be catastrophic for recipients.
“There will be infants who skip feed. There will be pregnant women who skip meals so that they can feed their toddlers,” she said. “And it means that people have no balanced and healthy diet.”
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Susan Haigh in Hartford, Conn., Contributed to this report.
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