II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 984 

To amend the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to permit video or telephone 

certifications under the special supplemental nutrition program for 

women, infants, and children, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 27, 2023 

Mrs. GILLIBRAND (for herself and Mr. MARSHALL) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, 

Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to permit video 

or telephone certifications under the special supplemental 

nutrition program for women, infants, and children, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘More Options to De5 velop and Enhance Remote Nutrition in WIC Act of 

6 2023’’ or the ‘‘MODERN WIC Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REDEFINING PRESENCE AT CERTIFICATION. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 17(d)(3) of the Child Nu3 trition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786(d)(3)) is amended 

4 by striking subparagraph (C) and inserting the following: 

5 ‘‘(C) PRESENCE FOR CERTAIN DETER6 MINATIONS AND EVALUATIONS.— 

7 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Each individual 

8 seeking certification, recertification, or a 

9 nutritional risk evaluation for participation 

10 in the program authorized under this sec11 tion shall be provided an appointment that 

12 is, at the option of the individual, through 

13 any of the following formats: 

14 ‘‘(I) In person. 

15 ‘‘(II) By telephone. 

16 ‘‘(III) Through video technology 

17 that permits 2-way, real-time inter18 active communications. 

19 ‘‘(IV) Through other formats 

20 that permit 2-way, real-time inter21 active communications, as determined 

22 by the Secretary. 

23 ‘‘(ii) ADA COMPLIANCE.—Any format 

24 made available for an appointment under 

25 clause (i) shall be accessible to an indi26 vidual in accordance with the Americans 


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1 with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 

2 12101 et seq.) and section 504 of the Re3 habilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794). 

4 ‘‘(iii) NUTRITIONAL RISK EVALUA5 TIONS FOR REMOTE CERTIFICATION.—If 

6 an individual certifies for participation in 

7 the program under clause (i) through a 

8 format other than in-person, the State 

9 agency shall— 

10 ‘‘(I) plan to collect the anthropo11 metric data necessary to evaluate the 

12 nutritional risk of that individual 

13 within 30 days of the appointment; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(II) collect such data not later 

16 than 90 days after the appointment. 

17 ‘‘(iv) INTERIM ELIGIBILITY FOR NU18 TRITIONAL RISK.— 

19 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—A State 

20 agency may— 

21 ‘‘(aa) consider an applicant 

22 who meets the income eligibility 

23 standards under this section to 

24 be temporarily eligible on an in25 terim basis to participate in the 


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1 program authorized under this 

2 section; and 

3 ‘‘(bb) temporarily certify 

4 that individual for participation 

5 in the program immediately, 

6 without delaying temporary cer7 tification until a nutritional risk 

8 evaluation is carried out. 

9 ‘‘(II) TIMING FOR NUTRITIONAL

10 RISK EVALUATION.—A nutritional risk 

11 evaluation for an individual tempo12 rarily certified pursuant to subclause 

13 (I) shall be completed not later than 

14 90 days after the date of temporary 

15 certification of the individual. 

16 ‘‘(III) TERMINATION OF TEM17 PORARY CERTIFICATION.—The tem18 porary certification of an individual 

19 certified pursuant to subclause (I) 

20 shall terminate on the earliest of— 

21 ‘‘(aa) 91 days after the date 

22 of temporary certification if the 

23 State agency does not collect 

24 data on the individual pursuant 

25 to clause (iii); and 


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1 ‘‘(bb) the date of a deter2 mination by the State agency 

3 that the individual does not meet 

4 the nutritional risk criteria.’’. 

5 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 17(d)(3) of 

6 the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786(d)(3)) 

7 is amended by conforming the margin of subparagraph 

8 (B) to the margin of subparagraph (C). 

9 SEC. 3. REMOTE BENEFIT ISSUANCE. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 17(f)(6)(B) of the Child 

11 Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786(f)(6)(B)) is 

12 amended— 

13 (1) in the third sentence— 

14 (A) by striking ‘‘vouchers by mail’’ and in15 serting ‘‘food instruments by mail, remote 

16 issuance, or other means’’; and 

17 (B) by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and in18 serting the following: 

19 ‘‘(iii) DISAPPROVAL OF STATE

20 PLAN.—The Secretary’’; 

21 (2) in the second sentence— 

22 (A) by striking ‘‘vouchers by mail in its 

23 plan’’ and inserting ‘‘food instruments by mail, 

24 remote issuance, or other means in the State 

25 plan’’; and 


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1 (B) by striking ‘‘The State’’ and inserting 

2 the following: 

3 ‘‘(ii) STATE PLAN.—The State’’; and 

4 (3) by striking ‘‘(B) State agencies’’ and all 

5 that follows through ‘‘to obtain vouchers.’’ and in6 serting the following: 

7 ‘‘(B) DELIVERY OF FOOD INSTRU8 MENTS.— 

9 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—State agencies 

10 may provide for the delivery of food instru11 ments, including electronic benefit transfer 

12 cards, to any participant through means 

13 that do not require the participant to trav14 el to the local agency to obtain the food in15 struments, such as through mailing or re16 mote issuance.’’. 

17 (b) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Agriculture 

18 shall revise section 246.12(r) of title 7, Code of Federal 

19 Regulations, by striking paragraph (4). 

20 SEC. 4. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

22 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture 

23 shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, 

24 and Forestry of the Senate and the Committee on Edu25 cation and Labor of the House of Representatives a report 


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1 on the use of remote technologies under the special supple2 mental nutrition program for women, infants, and children 

3 established by section 17 of the Child Nutrition Act of 

4 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786) (referred to in this section as the 

5 ‘‘program’’). 

6 (b) CONTENT OF REPORT.—The report submitted 

7 under subsection (a) shall include a description of— 

8 (1) the use of remote technologies and other 

9 digital tools, including video, telephone, and online 

10 platforms— 

11 (A) to certify eligible individuals for pro12 gram services; and 

13 (B) to provide nutrition education and 

14 breastfeeding support to program participants; 

15 (2) the impact of remote technologies, including 

16 video, telephone, and online platforms, on certifi17 cations, appointments, and participant satisfaction 

18 under the program; and 

19 (3) best practices— 

20 (A) to certify program participants for pro21 gram services using remote technologies; 

22 (B) to incorporate the use of digital tools 

23 into the program certification process; 

24 (C) to integrate nutrition education and 

25 breastfeeding support services for program parVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 Apr 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S984.IS S984

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1 ticipants into remote technologies and plat2 forms; and 

3 (D) to securely manage program partici4 pant data. 

Æ 


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