Extreme House Republicans’ Chaos Is Marching America Toward a Shutdown That Would Jeopardize Vital Nutrition Assistance for Nearly 7 Million Vulnerable Moms and Young Children

With less than one week before the end of the fiscal year, extreme House Republicans are playing partisan games with peoples’ lives and marching our country toward a government shutdown that would have damaging impacts across the country—including putting vital nutrition assistance at risk for nearly 7 million women and children who rely on the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)—a program that serves nearly half of babies born in this country.
 
During an Extreme Republican Shutdown, women and children who count on WIC would soon start being turned away at grocery store counters, with a federal contingency fund drying up after just a few days and many states left with limited WIC funds to operate the program.
 
And the reason food assistance for these families is at risk is extreme House Republicans’ continued efforts to slash funding for vital programs, including WIC, rather than work in a bipartisan manner to keep the government open and address emergency needs for the American people. House Republicans have turned their backs on the bipartisan budget deal that a large majority of them voted for just a few months ago and proposed a continuing resolution (CR) that makes devastating cuts to programs that millions of hardworking Americans count on. While House Republicans continue to debate what CR to advance, they have consistently refused to include the Administration’s request for additional WIC funding that’s needed to ensure the program can serve every eligible pregnant woman, new mother, and infant and young child. Without the Administration’s funding request, states could soon be forced to institute waiting lists for WIC, causing mothers and children to lose access to the vital nutrition assistance.
 
Below is a state-by-state breakdown of the number of women and children at risk of losing critical nutrition assistance under an Extreme Republican Shutdown:

StateTotal WIC RecipientsWomenChildrenInfants
Alabama111,99925,29557,86328,841
Alaska18,4844,00010,4923,992
Arizona139,76528,87979,63931,247
Arkansas65,27215,79832,18517,289
California972,418206,282587,139178,997
Colorado87,75219,91649,21418,622
Connecticut47,2369,99025,60911,637
Delaware20,3134,16911,4804,664
District of Columbia11,7182,9595,6683,091
Florida421,29497,869225,54497,881
Georgia220,84250,801112,60157,440
Hawaii26,2055,69215,0275,486
Idaho30,7666,71817,6076,441
Illinois167,90338,00985,77544,119
Indiana148,17933,28080,49734,402
Iowa58,12612,27432,49313,359
Kansas47,39910,47126,19710,731
Kentucky119,88424,16968,82126,894
Louisiana96,89026,23242,03028,628
Maine18,3563,69310,6054,058
Maryland123,10128,41766,96327,721
Massachusetts125,92124,99576,85124,075
Michigan207,72841,195122,04444,489
Minnesota108,42023,00963,05722,354
Mississippi62,78814,19930,75017,839
Missouri90,91322,65044,21724,046
Montana14,1073,0108,0353,062
Nebraska36,9497,70321,6997,547
Nevada52,97611,58529,23912,152
New Hampshire13,5992,5548,5502,495
New Jersey166,84136,53495,92134,386
New Mexico36,7199,27318,2299,217
New York418,08489,717241,19887,169
North Carolina268,68759,030151,47358,184
North Dakota10,2992,0936,0862,120
Ohio179,26242,34193,11943,802
Oklahoma72,70317,54836,38518,770
Oregon78,76416,95147,16414,649
Pennsylvania177,33539,33197,26940,735
Puerto Rico92,75219,05052,84720,855
Rhode Island17,8663,9999,8973,970
South Carolina94,37020,88750,34123,142
South Dakota13,9292,8467,9293,154
Tennessee133,28433,27866,21833,788
Texas786,686215,305382,817188,564
Utah41,3839,42722,5519,405
Vermont10,9752,1686,9051,902
Virginia127,12426,17072,53828,416
Washington130,96228,58476,47025,908
West Virginia37,2927,59221,3138,387
Wisconsin91,07018,46653,50019,104
Wyoming 7,4841,7454,0281,711

###
From title: THE WHITE HOUSE
Human Rights and Current Affairs: DoOurBest.org
Do our best to defend human rights.
Email:[email protected]