With One Month Left to Avert Govt. Shutdown, Senate Considers "Minibus" Bill



One month from today, Congress will face another deadline to avoid a lapse in federal government funding. This week the Senate is expected to consider a "minibus” package that would include an agriculture bill with funding for WIC. It is crucial during this period, as leaders in Congress work to come to an agreement on full-year funding deals, that the WIC community speak with a unified voice to urge full funding for the program—you can take action here to contact your Member of Congress. 

Appropriations negotiations in the House have stalled since the ouster of Speaker McCarthy following the passage of the September 30th continuing resolution. Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, failed to win enough votes to be elected speaker, and he is expected to call for further rounds of voting.

October 14th marked the deadline for the end of the 2023 legislation session and Governor Newsom finished his work a day prior to the official deadline. Of the 2,600 bills introduced this year, the Governor signed 890 and vetoed 156. Among the bills signed: a measure to raise the minimum wage for fast food workers to $20 per hour and to raise the wage for some healthcare workers to $25 per hour in a phased in approach over the next few years, a bill to ban some potentially harmful food additives, a measure to require most employers to provide 5 paid days off per year for their employees, which CWA actively supported, and a bill to remove the travel ban for state employees to states with anti-LGBTQ laws. See CWA’s full bill list for this year here. Now we anxiously await the tax proceeds coming in this October to determine how much money the state will have to finance the government and related programs for next year’s legislative and state budget cycle. The hopeful news is that according to the UCLA Anderson economic forecast, “we have now returned to the no-recession forecast” in California, despite a weak national economy.

WIC Wellness News Online



You can now read the October issue of W³, the WIC Worksite Wellness Newsletter. This issue is all about sustainability and reducing your carbon footprint. This is a great one to share with colleagues and coworkers and is also an opportunity to introduce an interoffice challenge. For example, who can reduce their carbon footprint the most over a month? You can use any number of tracking calculators out there for this type of challenge.

Additionally, check out the new WIC Healthy Recipes playlist on our YouTube channel, which was created from all the great cooking videos that John and his team at American Red Cross WIC have put together. This will be an easy way to share them with staff and participants. And check out the newest recipe and video for this newsletter, which is No-stove Sweet Potato Chili.

Read the New Issue of CWA's WIC Watch Magazine Now!



We're pleased to share the Fall 2023 issue of the WIC Watch! This is a great opportunity to read news from CWA, local WIC agencies, and partner organizations. Have a great idea for a story? It's never too early to submit for the next issue! Contact Sarah to learn more!

New research suggests that verbal abuse can be as damaging to a child’s development as other types of mistreatment such as childhood physical and sexual abuse.

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Through the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI), U.S. food companies pledge to only advertise healthier products in children’s TV programming, but research shows that highly advertised products do not qualify as nutritious.

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In a CDC survey, a low proportion of respondents believed that breastfeeding protects against any of 3 maternal outcomes explored (breast cancer, hypertension, and diabetes); most were neutral toward statements about the health benefits. These findings indicate lack of awareness or potential misunderstanding of the links between breastfeeding and maternal health.

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After decades of progress, life expectancy in the United States has been trending downward since 2014. Among wealthy nations, the United States in recent decades went from the middle of the pack to being an outlier, largely due to the rise of "lifestyle diseases" and socioeconomic factors.

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