WIC is our nation’s premier maternal and child public health program, providing invaluable nutrition education, breastfeeding support, referrals to healthcare providers and community resources along with nutritionally tailored food packages. NYS WIC serves over 445,000 New Yorkers, a 25% increase since 2020, and was the catalyst for drawing down over $405 million in federal WIC funds for healthy food purchases across our state in FY 2024. The FY2026 Executive Budget proposes $9.5M to support local agencies serving an expected additional 30,000 New Yorkers this year; however, $20M is needed to better adequately fund WIC’s 85 local agencies’ current vital nutrition services that have been nearly flat funded since FY2016.

WE CALL ON NEW YORK STATE TO BRACE NYS WIC NUTRITION SERVICES WITH $20M IN THE 2025-2026 NEW YORK STATE BUDGET.