Distribution Of Social Assistance Millions Of Poor Mothers In The US Will Be Decided If Shutdown Continues

JAKARTA - The closure of the government or the shutdown of the United States (US) is certain to disrupt the food social assistance program (bansos) budget targeting US poor people.

One of the affected by the WIC social assistance program, the beneficiary, covers 6 million mothers and children of underprivileged communities in the US.

The WIC social assistance program is related to 'Special Additional Nursing for Women, Babies, and Children'.

In the WIC program distribution process, beneficiaries get social assistance vouchers that can only be used to buy baby formula milk, low-fat milk, fruit, fresh vegetables, and other healthy staple foods.

Social assistance programs such as WIC rely on federal government budget injections. However, potentially high is cut off midway.

This is because the US government's federal budget has so far been suspended due to the shutdown of the US government as of Wednesday last week local time or Thursday WIB.

The shutdown was implemented after discussions of a draft law (RUU) that the federal budget expenditure had not yet been approved by the US Senate.

The WIC social assistance program is supported by a federal budget of 150 million US dollars. However, observers in the US predict the WIC budget from the federal will expire soon.

"We are pleased with the program for the past one to two weeks," said National WIC Association policy director Ali Hard, quoted from AP, Monday, October 6.

"After that, we were very worried," he continued.

The US state is said to be stepping in to finance the WIC program during the shutdown. However, the US state asked for reimbursement if the federal budget was finally passed and the shutdown ended.

The governor of Connecticut, Ned Lamont, a Democrat, said the state would bear the costs if federal funds run out.

"I want these young families, mothers, to know that your WIC cards will remain in effect in the future," Lamont said. We ensure that the government does not revoke it from you," he continued.

But in Washington state, where a third of babies receive the WIC social assistance program, officials say they don't have the funds to keep the program.

"WIC Washington may be able to maintain its benefits for one to two weeks before the federal shutdown forced the program to shut down completely," said state Health Department spokesman Raechel Sims.

"If the closure lasts longer than that, the Department of Health does not have the ability to recharge the WIC funds."

Moyer, a mother from Virginia Beach, is worried that the WIC social assistance program if it stops will be a disaster for the US poor.

"There will be babies who miss their meal time. There will be pregnant women who miss their meal time so they can feed their toddlers," he said. "And that means people will not have a balanced and healthy diet," he continued.

The US government shut down on Wednesday, October 1 local time after Republicans and Democrats met a deadlock in the discussion of the federal budget spending bill in the Senate.

The inclusion of the budget bill for the new fiscal year is amid a dispute between representatives of Republicans and Democrats in the US Senate over a number of expenditure posts, including public health spending. They accuse each other of provoking and extending the shutdown for political purposes.