Learn about and take action on our latest WIC-related advocacy activities and efforts.To read the latest policy news, check out our blog.
The Wise Investment in our Children (WIC) Act is important, bipartisan legislation that will streamline WIC service delivery and enhance WIC’s public health impact. The bill, sponsored by Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and Susan Collins (R-ME), empowers states to enact three common-sense reforms: (1) extending child eligibility to age six or the beginning of kindergarten; (2) extending postpartum eligibility to two years; and (3) extending infant certification periods to two years. Each provision improves access to vital nutrition support and education at crucial periods of growth and development.
Please join us in raising support for the WIC Act by contacting your Senators. You can use this action alert to email, tweet, or call your Senators. NWA has already written the message for you, so all you need to do is provide your name and address.
On August 12, the Department of Homeland Security unveiled the final public charge rule. While WIC is not included in the final rule, the change to immigration policy will penalize families for lawfully accepting Medicaid assistance or SNAP benefits. Many WIC families will lose access to healthcare services or nutrition support as a result of this policy change, leaving millions of individuals – including many US-citizen children – at risk for negative health and nutrition outcomes.
Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) has championed the effort in Congress to stop the public charge rule by introducing the No Federal Funds for Public Charge Act (H.R. 3222). The bill would prohibit the federal government from spending funds to enforce the new public charge rule.
Please join us in raising support for the No Federal Funds for Public Charge Act by contacting your members of Congress. You can use this action alert to email, tweet, or call your senators. NWA has already written the message for you, so all you need to do is provide your name and address.
For the first time in nearly a decade, Congress is considering new investments in the Breastfeeding Peer Counselor Program. The House of Representatives included included record investment for peer counselors at $90 million – the first time that an appropriations bill has funded the program at its fully authorized level. Meanwhile, the Senate has included a more modest increase at $80 million in its legislation.These gains will not be realized unless the increase is included in both the House and Senate bills. It is imperative that WIC staff share their experience with members of Congress as we continue to push for the full funding increase in the FY 2020 appropriations bill.
Please contact your Members of Congress today to ask them to support funding for breastfeeding peer counselors.
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.”
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:
Our publications page has links to many other NWA-produced fact sheets, papers, and reports about the WIC program that provide background and context for current WIC policy issues.
We engage in various public health-related advocacy issues. Check back for updates on other ways you can take action to support WIC!
Contact our government affairs team: