New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Hayes bill to expand flow of baby formula signed by Biden
State governments now have the power to cut through red tape to get baby formula from safe alternatives during a crisis under a bill signed over the weekend by President Joe Biden.
The Access to Baby Formula Act, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-Conn., was signed over the same weekend that a military plane carrying enough infant formula for a half-million baby bottles landed in Indiana to address the shortage crisis. It was the first of several Air Force planes Biden authorized to bring baby formula from Europe while domestic manufacturers scramble to fill empty shelves.
Hayes’ bill specifically helps some 44,000 Connecticut families who rely on the federal food stamps program by allowing “certain program requirements in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children to be waived so families can more easily access the infant formula they need during times of crisis.”
“Families nationwide are desperately trying to find food for their babies,” said Hayes, a two-term Democrat who as a young mother relied on federal SNAP benefits to feed her children and now chairs the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Nutrition, Oversight, and Department Operations. “Among the most impacted are mothers and babies enrolled in the WIC program who use formula at roughly double the rate of non-participating families,”
The key to Hayes’ legislation is it “provides flexibility so families can continue purchasing safe infant formula with WIC benefits during extenuating circumstances, such as a supply chain disruption,” her office said in a release.
Specifically, that means “states that contract with these companies for the WIC program can secure supplies from additional manufacturers.”
The baby formula shortage began with disruptions in labor, transportation and raw materials caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The shortage worsened when a major maker of powdered formula issued a recall of several brands and had its Michigan factory shut down by federal regulators after a handful of babies got infections after drinking the formula.
The Hayes bill helps Connecticut and other states get around federal rules by waiving “requirements that can slow down the process to get formula back on the shelves, without sacrificing safety standards,” and by requiring “information sharing between the Secretary of Agriculture and Secretary of Health and Human Services regarding any supply chain disruption, including supplemental food recalls,” Hayes’ office said.
“I know firsthand how transformative WIC can be for a family,” Hayes said in a prepared statement.
“This vital program provides life-sustaining nutrition at the most crucial stage of development; however, this crisis has revealed the harmful impacts of its limitations.”
A California Republican who signed onto Hayes’ bill agreed.
“Families desperate to feed their babies shouldn’t have to face empty shelves
because of government mismanagement and overregulation,” said U.S. Rep. Michelle Steel in a prepared statement. “This bipartisan legislation will provide certainty for recipients and manufacturers, ensuring this crisis doesn’t happen again.”