Has anyone heard anything about WIC cuts?

Family member talked today to a friend who works at a WIC (Women, Infant and Children) office. Friend is very concerned about her job situation; seems there are some budget cuts in the offing for the program, and her job will be ending by October 1rst (there's that date, again). Friend says there have already been cuts in the program and she is worried about the families who will be effected by the cuts.

We used WIC when the Dude was a baby and landed unexpectedly in our laps. Formula was (and IS) very expensive, and the program was a huge help. But even then (almost four years ago) it wasn't enough formula to cover the whole month. We still had to buy several cans (doable for us, but to some folks, not so much), but it was a huge help. We have several friends/family with small babies and toddlers. This waves a lot of flags for me.

My understanding is that if Congress does not resolve issues relating to the budget and debt ceiling, the WIC program will be cut substantially. October 1 sounds about right.

More --

The 2014 House Ag Appropriations bill cuts the funding for WIC. That would take effect in October, if the Senate were to agree.

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The House Agriculture Approps Bill funds WIC at $6.655 billion for FY 2014, $487 million less than the President’s budget request. The House Ag Approps Bill also requires WIC to meet caseload demands before releasing “set-aside” funding for the Breastfeeding Peer Counseling Program, MIS/EBT, and Infrastructure grants. By comparison, the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Bill sets WIC funding at $7.04 billion, which is expected to be enough to maintain current caseload and provide funds for set aside programs. The House Ag Approps Bill would make white potatoes part of the WIC food package, a provision that is at odds with the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) scientific based recommendations. While the House Ag Approps Bill incorporates the impact of sequestration in formulating its funding levels, the Senate Ag Approps Bill restores sequester funding cuts.

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http://frac.org/leg-act-center/budge...ropriations-2/

But it's ok to give BILLIONS to the nations of the world, UN, spying on your citizens, building a fence to protect Mexicos southern border, yada yada yada.......:roll:


Ummm, sorry for the drift........

I couldn't stop myself:oops:

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Originally Posted by breezy

But it's ok to give BILLIONS to the nations of the world, UN, spying on your citizens, building a fence to protect Mexicos southern border, yada yada yada.......:roll:


Ummm, sorry for the drift........

I couldn't stop myself:oops:

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You beat me to it, Breezy.

It should be eliminated along with the foreign aid and everything else.

Government has zero right to steal form one person to give to another no matter what the need.

Hold on now folks.

Congress has to make a CR (Continuing Resolution) to keep the government itself open.

Indeed Brohner has indicated in the news that he has to have the House follow through on return from Vacation in September to give the Government just enough borrowed money to continue to stay open.

If Congress disregards the speaker, they can deny a CR and pull any Obamacare plus other funding that will result in the Government being shut down.

THAT I think is the Big REGION III Issue coming up. The Riots, Insurrection and Civil Disobediance that will happen the day that Uncle Sam Closes everything and no one gets paid anything. No social security, NO SNAP no nothing.

I have a little bit of savings and can ride out a shutdown... but I would say that there are simply just too many hungry and angry people on too little money. Shut them off you have a REAL problem. WHen I run out of money, that's it. I will have to cut the net and not before I cut everything else.

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Originally Posted by Hungry Seagull

Hold on now folks.

Congress has to make a CR (Continuing Resolution) to keep the government itself open.

Indeed Brohner has indicated in the news that he has to have the House follow through on return from Vacation in September to give the Government just enough borrowed money to continue to stay open.

If Congress disregards the speaker, they can deny a CR and pull any Obamacare plus other funding that will result in the Government being shut down.

THAT I think is the Big REGION III Issue coming up. The Riots, Insurrection and Civil Disobediance that will happen the day that Uncle Sam Closes everything and no one gets paid anything. No social security, NO SNAP no nothing.

I have a little bit of savings and can ride out a shutdown... but I would say that there are simply just too many hungry and angry people on too little money. Shut them off you have a REAL problem. WHen I run out of money, that's it. I will have to cut the net and not before I cut everything else.

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I kinda wondered the same thing, Hungry. Tell a family there is no more formula for the baby...and there's gonna be some serious poo hit the fan.

(And yeah, I know, breast fed babies are healthier and cheaper. BTDT, and I nursed all our bio kids. But if for some reason the mom's can't (or won't) feed their baby breast milk......it's the baby who suffers if formula isn't available.)

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss...la%2Caps%2C351

DANG. this stuff is expensive. :shock:

PLEASE don't get all hinky about Oct 1. IIRC that is the gov't's financial New Year....Fiscal year start..

Here's a link about the impact of sequestration on the WIC program:
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=3909

It probably won't affect people who are currently enrolled but the number of new clients may decline. I have a feeling that this will be like the Head Start cuts, which is cutting 5% off of their budget, and yes a few employees will have to go. I don't mean to be cold hearted, but budget cuts have to happen, there is no other way out of our budget mess than to decrease spending.

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Originally Posted by Limner

I kinda wondered the same thing, Hungry. Tell a family there is no more formula for the baby...and there's gonna be some serious poo hit the fan.

(And yeah, I know, breast fed babies are healthier and cheaper. BTDT, and I nursed all our bio kids. But if for some reason the mom's can't (or won't) feed their baby breast milk......it's the baby who suffers if formula isn't available.)

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss...la%2Caps%2C351

DANG. this stuff is expensive. :shock:

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It's sometimes cheaper to buy bulk quantities of formula on ebay than to buy it in the store.

I tried breastfeeding my girl. Government and other places interfered to where I couldn't. It's a long story. I was even thrown out of a battered women's shelter when she was a newborn because I was breastfeeding. They were all like "you can give her a bottle" and going on about how it was indecent. Basic human functions are criminalized in this country. By the time I finally lived in a place where no one cared if I breastfed or not, the milk had already dried up. It was just another thing I was denied the right to do. A lot of mothers are treated this way when they try to breastfeed.

If there were no WIC, formula wouldn't be that expensive.
It makes it impossible for people who don't qualify (in other words, the ones paying for everyone ELSE'S WIC) to buy baby formula.

Well, in my neck of the woods, there is no way we are going to let any babies go hungry. The community and churches will step up. If you know of anyone in need, make sure they let someone know.

It needs to be severely cut or eliminated. It is available to any parent whether they need it or not and they beg you not to refuse it. Those who do need it are nearly all on food stamps and get more food stamps when a child is born anyway.

I'm not sure how anyone figures this is a "cut", since it's more than was funded this year:
http://www.nwica.org/?q=advocacy/d14/d69

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The bill funds WIC at $6.655 billion in FY2014. This compares to the President’s FY2014 Budget request of $7.142 billion and last year’s final FY2013 funding level of $6.522 billion, post-sequester.

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It's only "less" than what BO ASKED for, but it's NOT a "cut"

Whatever happened to buying your own food for your kids?

Many of us stupid people still do it. Go figger.

And yes, The Federal Gov't's fiscal year begins on Oct. 1st. No conspiracy involved. Just budget matters before Congress.

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Originally Posted by night driver

PLEASE don't get all hinky about Oct 1. IIRC that is the gov't's financial New Year....Fiscal year start..

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Yes. To follow through on that, it IS the start of the new fiscal year on October 1st.

Some changes are inevitable. I believe that WIC and other programs in that social service category are going to face cuts.

After all, where is it written that Taxpayers A, B & C should be forced to pick up the tab to feed other folk's children. The enabling legislation is only codified theft from productive citizens, imo.

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Originally Posted by Alder

Whatever happened to buying your own food for your kids?

Many of us stupid people still do it. Go figger.

And yes, The Federal Gov't's fiscal year begins on Oct. 1st. No conspiracy involved. Just budget matters before Congress.

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And don't have kids you can't afford to feed.