I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2424 To amend the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to permit video or telephone certifications in the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 30, 2023 Mr. FITZPATRICK (for himself and Ms. BONAMICI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce A BILL To amend the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to permit video or telephone certifications in the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘More Options to De- 4 velop and Enhance Remote Nutrition in WIC Act of 5 2023’’ or the ‘‘MODERN WIC Act of 2023’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:16 Apr 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2424.IH H2424 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 2424 IH SEC. 2. REDEFINING PRESENCE AT CERTIFICATION. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 17(d)(3) of the Child Nu- 2 trition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786(d)(3)) is amended— 3 (1) by striking subparagraphs (B) and (C); 4 (2) by inserting the following after subpara- 5 graph (A): 6 ‘‘(B) PRESENCE FOR CERTAIN DETER- 7 MINATIONS AND EVALUATIONS.— 8 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Each individual 9 seeking certification, recertification, or a 10 nutritional risk evaluation for participation 11 in the program authorized under this sec- 12 tion shall be provided an appointment that 13 is, at the option of the individual— 14 ‘‘(I) in-person, by telephone, or 15 through video technology that permits 16 2-way, real time interactive commu- 17 nications, as determined by the Sec- 18 retary; or 19 ‘‘(II) through other formats that 20 permit 2-way, real time interactive 21 communications, as determined by the 22 Secretary. 23 ‘‘(ii) ADA COMPLIANCE.—Any format 24 made available for an appointment under 25 clause (i) shall be accessible to an indi- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:16 Apr 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2424.IH H2424 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 2424 IH vidual in accordance with the Americans 1 with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 2 12101 et seq.) and section 504 of the Re- 3 habilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794). 4 ‘‘(iii) NUTRITIONAL RISK EVALUA- 5 TIONS FOR REMOTE CERTIFICATION.—If 6 an individual is certified for participation 7 in the program under clause (i) through a 8 format other than in-person, a State agen- 9 cy shall— 10 ‘‘(I) to the maximum extent prac- 11 ticable, collect anthropometric data 12 necessary to evaluate the nutritional 13 risk of that individual within 30 days 14 of the appointment; and 15 ‘‘(II) collect such data not later 16 than 90 days after the appointment. 17 ‘‘(iv) INTERIM ELIGIBILITY FOR NU- 18 TRITIONAL RISK.— 19 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—A State 20 agency may consider an applicant who 21 meets the income eligibility standards 22 to be temporarily eligible on an in- 23 terim basis to participate in the pro- 24 gram and may certify any such indi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:16 Apr 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2424.IH H2424 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 2424 IH vidual for participation immediately, 1 without delaying certification until a 2 nutritional risk evaluation is made. 3 ‘‘(II) NUTRITIONAL RISK EVAL- 4 UATION.—A nutritional risk evalua- 5 tion of such individual shall be com- 6 pleted not later than 90 days after the 7 individual is certified for participation 8 pursuant to subclause (I). 9 ‘‘(III) TERMINATION.—If a State 10 agency does not collect data in accord- 11 ance with clause (iii)(II) or the indi- 12 vidual is subsequently determined to 13 not meet nutritional risk criteria, the 14 certification of that individual shall 15 terminate on the date described in 16 such clause (iii)(II) or the date of 17 such determination, as applicable.’’; 18 and 19 (3) by redesignating subparagraphs (D) 20 through (F) as subparagraphs (C) through (E), re- 21 spectively. 22 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 17(d)(3) of 23 the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786(d)(3)) 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:16 Apr 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2424.IH H2424 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 2424 IH is amended by conforming the margin of subparagraph 1 (B) to the margin of subparagraph (C). 2 SEC. 3. REMOTE BENEFIT ISSUANCE. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 17(f)(6)(B) of the Child 4 Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786(f)(6)(B)) is 5 amended— 6 (1) in the third sentence— 7 (A) by striking ‘‘vouchers by mail’’ and in- 8 serting ‘‘food instruments by mail, remote 9 issuance, or other means’’; and 10 (B) by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and in- 11 serting the following: 12 ‘‘(iii) DISAPPROVAL OF STATE 13 PLAN.—The Secretary’’; 14 (2) in the second sentence— 15 (A) by striking ‘‘vouchers by mail in its 16 plan’’ and inserting ‘‘food instruments by mail, 17 remote issuance, or other means in the State 18 plan’’; and 19 (B) by striking ‘‘The State’’ and inserting 20 the following: 21 ‘‘(ii) STATE PLAN.—The State’’; and 22 (3) by striking ‘‘(B) STATE AGENCIES’’ and all 23 that follows through ‘‘to obtain vouchers.’’ and in- 24 serting the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:16 Apr 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2424.IH H2424 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 2424 IH ‘‘(B) DELIVERY OF FOOD INSTRUMENTS.— 1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—State agencies may 2 provide for the delivery of food instruments, in- 3 cluding electronic benefit transfer cards, to any 4 participant through means that do not require 5 the participant to travel to the local agency to 6 obtain food instruments, such as through mail- 7 ing or remote issuance.’’. 8 (b) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall revise sec- 9 tion 246.12(r) of title 7, Code of Federal Regulations, by 10 striking paragraph (4). 11 SEC. 4. ANNUAL INVESTMENT IN WIC TECHNOLOGIES. 12 Section 17(h) of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 13 U.S.C. 1786(h)) is amended— 14 (1) in paragraph (2)(B)— 15 (A) by striking clause (ii); and 16 (B) by striking the subparagraph designa- 17 tion and all that follows through ‘‘clause (ii) 18 and’’ and inserting the following: 19 ‘‘(B) ALLOCATION FOR NUTRITION SERV- 20 ICES AND ADMINISTRATION.—Except as pro- 21 vided in’’; and 22 (2) in paragraph (10)— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:16 Apr 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2424.IH H2424 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 2424 IH (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking 1 ‘‘2010 through 2015’’ and inserting ‘‘2024 2 through 2029’’; and 3 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking 4 clause (ii) and inserting the following: 5 ‘‘(ii) $60,000,000 shall be used to es- 6 tablish, develop, improve, replace, or ad- 7 minister technology platforms, including 8 management information systems and sys- 9 tems that allow for secure communication 10 of information between health care pro- 11 viders and program clinics in order to fa- 12 cilitate sharing information necessary for 13 certification, establishing nutrition risk, or 14 for the provision of health care services, 15 that enhance program services, access to 16 the program, or redemption of benefits, of 17 which up to $5,000,000 may be used for 18 Federal administrative cost;’’. 19 SEC. 5. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 21 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit 22 to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 23 of the Senate and the Committee on Education and the 24 Workforce of the House of Representatives a report on 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:16 Apr 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2424.IH H2424 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 2424 IH the use of remote technologies under the special supple- 1 mental nutrition program for women, infants, and children 2 established by section 17 of the Child Nutrition Act of 3 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786) (referred to in this section as the 4 ‘‘program’’). 5 (b) CONTENT OF REPORT.—The report submitted 6 under subsection (a) shall include a description of— 7 (1) the use of remote technologies and other 8 digital tools, including video, telephone, and online 9 platforms— 10 (A) to certify eligible individuals for pro- 11 gram services; and 12 (B) to provide nutrition education and 13 breastfeeding support to program participants; 14 (2) the impact of remote technologies, including 15 video, telephone, and online platforms, on certifi- 16 cations, appointments, and participant satisfaction 17 under the program; and 18 (3) best practices to— 19 (A) certify program participants for pro- 20 gram services using remote technologies; 21 (B) incorporate the use of digital tools into 22 the program certification process; 23 (C) integrate nutrition education and 24 breastfeeding support services for program par- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:16 Apr 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2424.IH H2424 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 2424 IH ticipants into remote technologies and plat- 1 forms; and 2 (D) securely manage program participant 3 data. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:16 Apr 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2424.IH H2424 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB