Action Alerts

Ask your Members of Congress to Help Prevent Maternal Mortality

The National WIC Association has established a Maternal Mortality Task Force to examine ways WIC can play a greater role in addressing the crisis of maternal mortality. One key way you can help is by supporting federal policy changes.

The Maternal Health Accountability Act (S. 1112)/Preventing Maternal Deaths Act (H.R. 1318) would provide federal support for state Maternal Mortality Review Committees. WIC providers can play a critical role as members of these committees - but federal support is needed to ensure that all states are able to implement successful MMRCs.

Please contact your Members of Congress today to ask them to take action on this legislation!

Ask your Senators to Co-Sponsor World Breastfeeding Week & National Breastfeeding Month Resolution

Ask your Senators to Co-Sponsor World Breastfeeding Week & National Breastfeeding Month Resolution Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) are leading a Senate resolution, S.Res 605, marking the first week of August as “World Breastfeeding Week” and the month of August as “National Breastfeeding Month.”

In addition to honoring World Breastfeeding Week and National Breastfeeding Month, the resolution calls for “support[ing] policies and funding to ensure that all mothers who choose to breastfeed can access a full range of appropriate support from child care and health care institutions, health care insurers, employers, researchers, and government entities.”

Please contact your Senators today to ask them to co-sponsor Senate Resolution 605!

Please Note: These are lobbying actions.

As a reminder, it is your democratic right to lobby. Lobbying is a particular type of advocacy involving an attempt to influence specific legislation by communicating directly with an elected official or his or her staff. Each state has specific laws for state employees about lobbying efforts while on the job. We recommend limiting lobbying efforts to coffee breaks, lunch breaks, after hours and other times not considered “work time.”

WIC Advocacy Toolkit

No one knows WIC as well as WIC staff! That knowledge and experience present you and your colleagues with the unique opportunity to be a voice for WIC. This toolkit from the National WIC Association walks you through a variety of advocacy activities with tips, worksheets, and examples of how you can elevate your WIC voice.

In this toolkit you will find:

• Why Advocacy Matters: Explains why it’s important to talk about WIC on a local, state and national level.
• What is Advocacy: Lists all of the ways you can advocate for WIC. 
• When Does Advocacy Become Lobbying? Describes the differences between advocacy and lobbying and how you can advocate without stepping into the territory of lobbying. 
• WIC Funding Basics: Provides an explanation of how WIC is funded.
• Building Support for WIC in Your Community: Engaging Partners and Forging Coalitions: Describes the importance of partnerships to your advocacy work and how to go about building strategic partnerships. 
• Developing Strong Advocacy Messages: Describes how to create effective advocacy messages. 
• Key Messages and Talking Points for 2018: Includes NWA's key messages and talking points for this year. 
• Contacting Elected Officials: Provides tips for contacting policymakers, leading effective WIC advocacy meetings, hosting site visits, and other activities involving elected officials.
• Engaging the Media to Promote WIC: Provides tips on how to engage traditional press as well as social media to advocate for WIC.
• Telling Your WIC Story: Why and How: Provides guidance for effective WIC storytelling, through verbal and written stories as well as photography and videos. 
• Evidence-Based WIC Advocacy: Explains how to effectively use data and statistics in your advocacy messages. 

Where Can I Learn More About Current WIC Policy Issues?

• 2019 WIC Funding Agenda
• 2018 WIC Legislative Priorities
• WIC Funding Process
• 2018 NWA Nutrition and Public Health Policy Priorities

What Can I Do to Help?

• Email, call or visit your representative. Use this search tool to find your elected officials and their contact info.

What Should I Say to My Representative?

• Share your State’s WIC profile for state-specific data and participant stories.
• Watch what other NWA members had to say about talking with policymakers in the video below.

Is This Advocacy or Lobbying?

• This is a lobbying activity. If your job is funded through the government, you can send the email during your break time or after work.
• Not all advocacy efforts are lobbying. Advocacy is not lobbying when you’re informing members of Congress about WIC and highlighting WIC’s achievements: You are educat­ing policymakers about WIC. This helps promote a positive image of WIC and hopefully translates into favorable WIC policies in the future.
• Examples of non-lobbying advocacy: clearing up misconceptions about WIC; explaining the positive impacts of the improved WIC food packages; describing the importance of breastfeeding peer counselors; and conveying WIC successes.
• For more specifics, read When Does Advocacy Become Lobbying?

Other WIC-Related Advocacy

We engage in various public health-related advocacy issues. Check back for updates on other ways you can take action to support WIC!

How Can I Learn More About WIC Policy?

Contact our government affairs team:

• Alison Hard, ahard@nwica.org, Senior Associate, Federal Government Affairs
• Brian Dittmeier, bdittmeier@nwica.org, State Government Affairs Counsel