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WASHINGTON—Today, U.S. Representative Brittany Pettersen (CO-07) led the Colorado Democratic House Delegation in a letter to Senate and House leadership, as well as leadership for the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, over concerns with the level of funding allocated to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). In the letter, they call for the inclusion of sufficient resources for WIC in any short-term Continuing Resolution introduced to avert a government shutdown. Additionally, they outline the need to fully fund WIC in both the House and Senate Agriculture Appropriations bills to sustain the program long-term and prevent participants from being removed from their benefits. 

The WIC program is facing a rapidly-approaching funding cliff in Colorado and across the country. The current proposed Agriculture Appropriations bills in both chambers would result in thousands of eligible Coloradans being turned away from WIC.

“For nearly 50 years, since 1974, WIC has successfully invested in our nation's most vulnerable constituents, reducing hunger, improving diet quality, and preventing disease,” wrote the members. They continued, “Cutting funding for the program would be a surefire way to harm those most in need during a nutritionally vulnerable period of their lives. This is especially dire given rapidly growing WIC enrollment, combined with historically high food prices.”

“Congresswoman Pettersen’s steadfast support for WIC exemplifies her dedication to the health and wellbeing of Coloradans,” shared Greta Allen, Policy Manager for the Colorado Blueprint to End Hunger. “Our statewide network of community members and advocates is grateful for her leadership in urging full funding for a program that provides a lifeline for families through access to healthy foods, nutrition education, and breastfeeding support.”

Signers of the letter include Representatives Diana DeGette (CO-01), Joe Neguse (CO-02), Jason Crow (CO-06), and Yadira Caraveo (CO-08). 

The full text of the letter can be found here and below.

Dear Leader Schumer, Minority Leader McConnell, Speaker McCarthy, Minority Leader Jeffries, 
Chairwoman Murray, Vice Chair Collins, Chairman Granger, and Ranking Member DeLauro: 
  
We write to you today to raise our profound concerns with the level of funding allocated to the Special 
Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and to demonstrate the risks 
that Coloradans enrolled in the program face under the constraints of a looming fiscal year 2024 budget 
deadline.  

For nearly 50 years, since 1974, WIC has successfully invested in our nation's most vulnerable 
constituents, reducing hunger, improving diet quality, and preventing disease. Today, for 89,761 
Coloradans who receive these monthly benefits—women who are pregnant, breastfeeding, non-
breastfeeding postpartum, as well as infants, toddlers, and children up to age 5—WIC serves as a 
foundational resource, an unfailing lifeline.
  
As Members representing the great State of Colorado, we know that WIC works: 
➢ WIC participants are four times more likely to be food secure than eligible non-participants;
➢ Eligible women who participate in WIC give birth to healthier babies who are more likely to 
survive infancy;  
➢ For every dollar invested, WIC returns at least $2.48 in medical, education, and 
productivity savings;
➢ Nationally, WIC serves nearly half of all infants born in the United States each year;
➢ From January 2023 to August 2023, Colorado WIC program benefits brought $13,127,104 to 
Colorado grocery stores with the fruit and vegetable Cash Value Benefit (CVB) purchases 
alone6 and $48,457,294 to grocery stores with all WIC program food benefit purchases during 
that same time.
➢ The CVB for fruits and vegetables is the highest-redeemed food category for Colorado WIC 
families, supporting our producers and nutrition for eligible WIC recipients; 

In addition to delivering results, WIC gives back to our constituents and to our economy, investing in 
mothers and young children in Colorado and across the country, ensuring they can thrive without the risk 
of food and nutrition insecurity. Furthermore, participation is growing: WIC serves nearly 90,000 
Coloradans and numbers are steadily increasing. Just over a year ago, in August 2022, 80,262 Coloradans 
were enrolled in the program; by July 2023, that number had climbed to 88,036.8 Increased engagement 
among eligible participants happens when federal programs deliver real value—in the case of WIC, it's 
meaningful nutrition support and proven long-term health and economic outcomes for Americans. 

Current WIC funding levels in both the Senate and House Appropriations bills are insufficient. In 
Colorado, under the Senate Agriculture Appropriations, set at the President’s Budget Request (PBR) at 
$6.3 billion, a projected 7,500 Coloradans could be turned away from WIC; up to 66,000 eligible persons 
in our great State could potentially be harmed by the funding currently allocated in both chambers.9 The 
current House Agriculture, Rural Development and Food and Drug Administration Appropriations bill 
provides staggeringly low funding levels for WIC, currently appropriating $5.5 billion for the program – 
$185 million below fiscal year 2023 levels, despite increased participation. At these stripped funding 
levels, Congress would fail to hold to the longstanding bipartisan agreement to fund WIC. We risk the 
very real possibility that States will turn people away or, for the first time since the 1990s, waitlist eligible 
participants, an otherwise unthinkable scenario in the half century of this heretofore successful programs. 
 
This letter describes the funding cliff that the WIC program faces in Colorado, yet the disastrous 
implications of this shortfall are emblematic of what will be felt across the nation if WIC isn’t provided 
with needed Congressional support. Cutting funding for the program would be a surefire way to harm 
those most in need during a nutritionally vulnerable period of their lives. This is especially dire given 
rapidly growing WIC enrollment, combined with historically high food prices.  

It is imperative that Congress fully fund WIC at a level that will service projected caseloads and avoid 
cuts to benefits, prevent waitlisting of eligible WIC applicants, and protect the fruit and vegetable 
benefits. We implore you to include sufficient resources in a short-term Continuing Resolution, and we 
call on Congress to fully fund WIC for fiscal year 2024 to sustain current benefits and increasing 
participation.