Senate to Begin FY 2025 Appropriations Process

Last week, Appropriations Committee Chair Patty Murray called for increased investment in discretionary programs like WIC, noting that lack of adequate funding could lead to wait lists for participants and highlighting her commitment to provide WIC with enough funding to serve projected caseloads. The Senate Appropriations Committee is expected to begin work on Fiscal Year 2025 proposals in July, including the Agriculture bill that will fund WIC. The House Appropriations Committee recently released their Agriculture bill which would fall about half a billion dollars short of the projected need. ACTION: Urge your members of Congress to support full funding for WIC and protect the integrity of WIC’s food packages.

Audit Reveals Failures in FDA Infant Formula Response

The DHHS Office of Inspector General recently completed an audit of the infant formula inspection and recall process and found that the FDA lacked adequate policies and procedures to identify and respond to risks in infant formula through complaints, inspections, and recalls. The agency took over 15 months to address a whistleblower complaint at an Abbott facility and delayed informing senior leadership about another complaint by almost four months. Additionally, there were no established timeframes for critical inspections, causing significant delays, and insufficient guidelines for initiating infant formula recalls. The audit's recommendations address the vision of the Food Safety Modernization Act, targeted legislation on FDA oversight of infant formula manufacturing.

CA Supreme Court Blocks "Taxpayer Protection Act" From November Ballot

The California Supreme Court blocked the “Taxpayer Protection Act,” a business-backed anti-tax initiative from the November ballot. The initiative could have nullified more than 100 state and local measures that have been approved since 2022, including SB 951, which raised the wage-replacement rate for low-income Californians taking paid family leave. Governor Newsom and others argued that the initiative was an illegal attempt to revise the state constitution and would disrupt essential government functions. The court unanimously agreed, citing that the proposed changes required a constitutional revision process.

CA Legislature, Governor Reach Budget Agreement

The California legislature and Governor Newsom have reached an agreement on a budget plan. In the face of a significant deficit, California will cut state operations, prisons, housing, and health care programs, while preserving important social safety net programs such as CalWORKS and universal school meals. To close the deficit gap, the proposal includes a delay of Food4All for older adults to 2027, a delay of the $25 minimum wage for healthcare workers until October and draws down the entire $900 milllion safety net reserve over two years. 

Get Your 50th Anniversary WIC Wear Today!



We are excited to announce the launch of our store in celebration of WIC's 50th Anniversary! Explore our collection at our 50th WIC Wear shop and find your favorite merchandise, from mugs to hoodies. If you don't find exactly what you're looking for, feel free to select your favorite design and create your own unique and exclusive product. For any inquiries, please contact Vanessa. Thank you for celebrating with us!

Save the Date for WIC's 50th!



Come celebrate WIC’s 50th Anniversary at the California State Capitol with us on September 24th! Let’s honor half a century of supporting maternal and child health and nutrition, and look forward to a future of even greater impact. Enjoy inspiring speakers, and connect with the WIC community. Don’t miss this special occasion—mark your calendar and we'll see you there! Partner organizations also have the opportunity to be an event sponsor, with several sponsorship levels to choose from - contact Lena with sponsorship questions!

Join the CWA Conference Planning Committee!



Are you excited about shaping and developing the California WIC Association virtual spring conference? If so, joining the conference planning committee is the perfect fit for you! You will be part of a group of content and topic experts who focus on the interests of the WIC Community. Contact Jenniffer Duran-West if you’d like to be a part of the 2025 Planning Committee. Our Zoom meetings start in July 2024.

Save the date! Join CWA and Dr. Patrice Buckner Jackson on July 30, 2024, at 10:00AM PT as she redefines time management, resilience, and work-life balance. PBJ will empower participants to manage their capacity and prioritize tasks without feeling overwhelmed. $30 General Registration offering maximum amount of 1 unit for RDN (CPEUs) and IBCLC/CLC/CLEC (Cerps).

August is almost upon us, and we know WIC has a variety of amazing events and recognitions planned for World Breastfeeding Week, National WIC Breastfeeding Week, Indigenous Milk Medicine Week, Asian American/Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (AA/NH/PI) Breastfeeding Week, Black Breastfeeding Week and Semana de La Lactancia Latina. CWA is happy to help you promote them on our social media channels as well as feature pictures in our Fall issue of the WIC Watch! Please send Sarah anything you would like promoted ahead of time, and as you wrap your events, we would LOVE to receive pictures (with captions so we know who is who!) that we can share.

A recent study found that the incidence of food insufficiency among school-aged children was higher in states that did not extend universal free meals into the 2022–2023 school year compared with the incidence among those in states that did in the period after the Federal Government’s pandemic waiver expired. 

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Nearly all high and moderate risk factors for preeclampsia have increased from 2010 to 2021 in the U.S., according to a research letter published in JAMA.

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The average American diet has only improved modestly over the past two decades, despite an ever-growing body of research tying poor diet quality to poor health outcomes.

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The number of Americans without health insurance dropped by about a fourth from 2019 to 2023, US health researchers said, as the government tried to bolster coverage during and after the Covid-19 pandemic. 

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