File #: Res 0498-2006    Version: * Name: Congress to increase funding to the Women, Infants and Children program and to continue the Commodity Supplemental Food Program.
Type: Resolution Status: Filed
Committee: Committee on General Welfare
On agenda: 9/13/2006
Enactment date: Law number:
Title: Resolution calling upon Congress to increase funding to the Women, Infants and Children program and to continue the Commodity Supplemental Food Program.
Sponsors: Gale A. Brewer, Leroy G. Comrie, Jr., Inez E. Dickens, Lewis A. Fidler, Alan J. Gerson, Sara M. Gonzalez, Letitia James, John C. Liu, Darlene Mealy, Rosie Mendez, Michael C. Nelson, Annabel Palma, James Sanders, Jr., Larry B. Seabrook, Helen Sears, Melissa Mark-Viverito, Helen D. Foster
Council Member Sponsors: 17

Res No. 498

 

Resolution calling upon Congress to increase funding to the Women, Infants and Children program and to continue the Commodity Supplemental Food Program.

 

By Council Members Brewer, Comrie, Dickens, Fidler, Gerson, Gonzalez, James, Liu, Mealy, Mendez, Nelson, Palma, Sanders Jr., Seabrook, Sears, Mark-Viverito, and Foster

 

                     Whereas, President Bush’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2007 calls for insufficient funding to the Women, Infants, and Children (“WIC”) program and elimination of the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (“CSFP”); and

Whereas, Since 1974, WIC has been helping low-income pregnant, postpartum and breastfeeding women, and infants and children up to age five who are at nutrition risk through grants to state agencies and local clinics that provide services such as food vouchers, education on nutrition and breastfeeding, and improved healthcare access; and

Whereas, Research has demonstrated that the WIC program has played a vital role in improving birth outcomes, diets, cognitive development and savings in health care costs; and 

Whereas, According to the United States Department of Agriculture, WIC serves over eight million people nationally each month, approximately 75 percent of whom are children and infants; and

                     Whereas, In 2005, over 482,000 New York State residents participated in WIC; and

Whereas, The proposed budget cut, which would result in a $9 million funding loss for New York State in the next year alone, would impose a heavy financial burden on the State or result in the loss of nutrition benefits services for over 50,000 mothers, infants, and children; and

Whereas, CSFP offers free nutritious food to women, infants, children and seniors over 60 years of age, and costs the federal government less than $20 per participant per month; and

Whereas, The elimination of CSFP would have a serious negative impact on all participants, including 33,000 New York State residents, approximately two thirds of whom are seniors, and 420,000 low-income seniors nationwide; and

Whereas, Eradicating CSFP would cause thousands more senior citizens to apply for Food Stamps and women, infants and children to apply for WIC benefits, while both of these programs will be facing cuts under the proposed budget; and

Whereas, Because nearly one in three New York City children live in poverty, child nutrition programs such as WIC and CSFP are essential tools in guaranteeing that these at-risk children and their mothers receive the nutrition they need; and

Whereas, WIC and CSFP are cost-effective and sound investments that ensure the health of our most vulnerable citizens; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls upon Congress to increase funding to the Women, Infants and Children program and to continue the Commodity Supplemental Food Program.

 

FR
LS # 364

8/14/2006