Senate Supports Rescue Plan for Food Program
WASHINGTON — The Senate early Friday approved and sent to President Bush a measure that would prevent nearly 250,000 poor pregnant women and infants from being cut from a federal program designed to give high-risk babies a healthy start.
The Senate voice vote followed House approval of a bill to boost from 1% to 3% the amount states can borrow against next year’s allocation for the Special Supplemental Feeding Program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC.
The nutrition program provides food or vouchers that can be used to buy food at local stores. The states administer the program using federal funds, but unexpectedly high food prices absorbed so much of the $2.1 billion appropriated nationwide for this year that some states started cutting all but the most desperate participants from the program.
The National Assn. of WIC Directors said earlier this week that 250,000 women and children would be eliminated by the end of the fiscal year, Sept. 30, if $72 million were not added to this year’s appropriation.
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