[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 30 (Tuesday, February 13, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10022-10024]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-02922]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Food and Nutrition Service


Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and 
Children (WIC): 2024/2025 Income Eligibility Guidelines

AGENCY: Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (``Department'') announces 
adjusted income eligibility guidelines to be used by State agencies in 
determining the income eligibility of persons applying to participate 
in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and 
Children (WIC). These income eligibility guidelines are to be used in 
conjunction with the WIC Regulations.

DATES: Applicable date July 1, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Allison Post, Chief, WIC 
Administration, Benefits, and Certification Branch, Policy Division, 
FNS, USDA, 1320 Braddock Place, Alexandria, Virginia 22314, 703-457-
7708.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Executive Order 12866

    This notice is exempt from review by the Office of Management and 
Budget under Executive Order 12866.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    This action is not a rule as defined by the Regulatory Flexibility 
Act (5 U.S.C. 601-612) and thus is exempt from the provisions of this 
Act.

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

    This notice does not contain reporting or recordkeeping 
requirements subject to approval by the Office of Management and Budget 
in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 
3507).

Executive Order 12372

    This program is listed in the Catalog of Federal Domestic 
Assistance Programs under No. 10.557 and is subject to the provisions 
of Executive Order 12372, which requires intergovernmental consultation 
with State and local officials (7 CFR part 3015, subpart V, 48 FR 
29100, June 24, 1983, and 49 FR 22675, May 31, 1984).

Description

    Section 17(d)(2)(A) of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966, as amended 
(42 U.S.C. 1786(d)(2)(A)), requires the Secretary of Agriculture to 
establish income criteria to be used with nutritional risk criteria in 
determining a person's eligibility for participation in the WIC 
Program. The law provides that persons will be income-eligible for the 
WIC Program if they are members of families that satisfy the income 
standard prescribed for reduced-price school meals under section 9(b) 
of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 
1758(b)). Under section 9(b), the income limit for reduced-price school 
meals is 185 percent of the Federal poverty guidelines, as adjusted.
    Section 9(b) also requires that these guidelines be revised 
annually to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index. The annual 
revision for 2024 was published by the Department of Health and Human 
Services (HHS) at 89 FR 2961 on January 17, 2024. The guidelines 
published by HHS are referred to as the ``poverty guidelines.''
    Program Regulations at 7 CFR 246.7(d)(1) specify that State 
agencies may prescribe income guidelines either equaling the income 
guidelines established under Section 9 of the Richard B. Russell 
National School Lunch Act for reduced-price school meals, or identical 
to State or local guidelines for free or reduced-price health care. 
However, in conforming WIC income guidelines to State or local

[[Page 10023]]

health care guidelines, the State cannot establish WIC guidelines which 
exceed the guidelines for reduced-price school meals, or which are less 
than 100 percent of the Federal poverty guidelines. Consistent with the 
method used to compute income eligibility guidelines for reduced-price 
meals under the National School Lunch Program, the poverty guidelines 
were multiplied by 1.85 and the results rounded upward to the next 
whole dollar.
    Currently, the Department is publishing the maximum and minimum WIC 
income eligibility guidelines by household size for the period of July 
1, 2024, through June 30, 2025. Consistent with section 17(f)(17) of 
the Child Nutrition Act of 1966, as amended (42 U.S.C. 1786(f)(17)), a 
State agency may implement the revised WIC income eligibility 
guidelines concurrently with the implementation of income eligibility 
guidelines under the Medicaid Program established under Title XIX of 
the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396, et seq.). State agencies may 
coordinate implementation with the revised Medicaid guidelines, i.e., 
earlier in the year, but in no case may implementation take place later 
than July 1, 2024. State agencies that do not coordinate implementation 
with the revised Medicaid guidelines must implement the WIC income 
eligibility guidelines on or before July 1, 2024.

                                                              Income Eligibility Guidelines
                                                     [Effective from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025]
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                                               Federal poverty guidelines--100%                                Reduced price meals--185%
                                 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
         Household size                                     Twice-                                                      Twice-
                                    Annual      Monthly     monthly    Bi-weekly    Weekly      Annual      Monthly     monthly    Bi-weekly    Weekly
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                     48 Contiguous States, DC, Guam and Territories
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1...............................     $15,060      $1,255        $628        $580        $290     $27,861      $2,322      $1,161      $1,072        $536
2...............................      20,440       1,704         852         787         394      37,814       3,152       1,576       1,455         728
3...............................      25,820       2,152       1,076         994         497      47,767       3,981       1,991       1,838         919
4...............................      31,200       2,600       1,300       1,200         600      57,720       4,810       2,405       2,220       1,110
5...............................      36,580       3,049       1,525       1,407         704      67,673       5,640       2,820       2,603       1,302
6...............................      41,960       3,497       1,749       1,614         807      77,626       6,469       3,235       2,986       1,493
7...............................      47,340       3,945       1,973       1,821         911      87,579       7,299       3,650       3,369       1,685
8...............................      52,720       4,394       2,197       2,028        1014      97,532       8,128       4,064       3,752       1,876
Each add'l family member add....     + 5,380       + 449       + 225       + 207       + 104     + 9,953       + 830       + 415       + 383       + 192
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                                                                         Alaska
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1...............................      18,810       1,568         784         724         362      34,799       2,900       1,450       1,339         670
2...............................      25,540       2,129       1,065         983         492      47,249       3,938       1,969       1,818         909
3...............................      32,270       2,690       1,345       1,242         621      59,700       4,975       2,488       2,297       1,149
4...............................      39,000       3,250       1,625       1,500         750      72,150       6,013       3,007       2,775       1,388
5...............................      45,730       3,811       1,906       1,759         880      84,601       7,051       3,526       3,254       1,627
6...............................      52,460       4,372       2,186       2,018       1,009      97,051       8,088       4,044       3,733       1,867
7...............................      59,190       4,933       2,467       2,277       1,139     109,502       9,126       4,563       4,212       2,106
8...............................      65,920       5,494       2,747       2,536       1,268     121,952      10,163       5,082       4,691       2,346
Each add'l family member add....     + 6,730       + 561       + 281       + 259       + 130    + 12,451     + 1,038       + 519       + 479       + 240
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                                                                         Hawaii
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1...............................      17,310       1,443         722         666         333      32,024       2,669       1,335       1,232         616
2...............................      23,500       1,959         980         904         452      43,475       3,623       1,812       1,673         837
3...............................      29,690       2,475       1,238       1,142         571      54,927       4,578       2,289       2,113       1,057
4...............................      35,880       2,990       1,495       1,380         690      66,378       5,532       2,766       2,553       1,277
5...............................      42,070       3,506       1,753       1,619         810      77,830       6,486       3,243       2,994       1,497
6...............................      48,260       4,022       2,011       1,857         929      89,281       7,441       3,721       3,434       1,717
7...............................      54,450       4,538       2,269       2,095       1,048     100,733       8,395       4,198       3,875       1,938
8...............................      60,640       5,054       2,527       2,333       1,167     112,184       9,349       4,675       4,315       2,158
Each add'l family member add....     + 6,190       + 516       + 258       + 239       + 120    + 11,452       + 955       + 478       + 441       + 221
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                                                              Income Eligibility Guidelines
                                                     [Effective from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025]
                                                              Household Size Larger Than 8
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                               Federal poverty guidelines--100%                                Reduced price meals--185%
                                 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
         Household size                                     Twice-                                                      Twice-
                                    Annual      Monthly     monthly    Bi-weekly    Weekly      Annual      Monthly     monthly    Bi-weekly    Weekly
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                     48 Contiguous States, DC, Guam and Territories
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9...............................     $58,100      $4,842      $2,421      $2,235      $1,118    $107,485      $8,958      $4,479      $4,135      $2,068
10..............................      63,480       5,290       2,645       2,442       1,221     117,438       9,787       4,894       4,517       2,259
11..............................      68,860       5,739       2,870       2,649       1,325     127,391      10,616       5,308       4,900       2,450
12..............................      74,240       6,187       3,094       2,856       1,428     137,344      11,446       5,723       5,283       2,642
13..............................      79,620       6,635       3,318       3,063       1,532     147,297      12,275       6,138       5,666       2,833
14..............................      85,000       7,084       3,542       3,270       1,635     157,250      13,105       6,553       6,049       3,025
15..............................      90,380       7,532       3,766       3,477       1,739     167,203      13,934       6,967       6,431       3,216
16..............................      95,760       7,980       3,990       3,684       1,842     177,156      14,763       7,382       6,814       3,407

[[Page 10024]]

 
Each add'l family member add....     + 5,380       + 449       + 225       + 207       + 104     + 9,953       + 830       + 415       + 383       + 192
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                                                                         Alaska
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9...............................      72,650       6,055       3,028       2,795       1,398     134,403      11,201       5,601       5,170       2,585
10..............................      79,380       6,615       3,308       3,054       1,527     146,853      12,238       6,119       5,649       2,825
11..............................      86,110       7,176       3,588       3,312       1,656     159,304      13,276       6,638       6,128       3,064
12..............................      92,840       7,737       3,869       3,571       1,786     171,754      14,313       7,157       6,606       3,303
13..............................      99,570       8,298       4,149       3,830       1,915     184,205      15,351       7,676       7,085       3,543
14..............................     106,300       8,859       4,430       4,089       2,045     196,655      16,388       8,194       7,564       3,782
15..............................     113,030       9,420       4,710       4,348       2,174     209,106      17,426       8,713       8,043       4,022
16..............................     119,760       9,980       4,990       4,607       2,304     221,556      18,463       9,232       8,522       4,261
Each add'l family member add....     + 6,730       + 561       + 281       + 259       + 130    + 12,451     + 1,038       + 519       + 479       + 240
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                                                                         Hawaii
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9...............................      66,830       5,570       2,785       2,571       1,286     123,636      10,303       5,152       4,756       2,378
10..............................      73,020       6,085       3,043       2,809       1,405     135,087      11,258       5,629       5,196       2,598
11..............................      79,210       6,601       3,301       3,047       1,524     146,539      12,212       6,106       5,637       2,819
12..............................      85,400       7,117       3,559       3,285       1,643     157,990      13,166       6,583       6,077       3,039
13..............................      91,590       7,633       3,817       3,523       1,762     169,442      14,121       7,061       6,517       3,259
14..............................      97,780       8,149       4,075       3,761       1,881     180,893      15,075       7,538       6,958       3,479
15..............................     103,970       8,665       4,333       3,999       2,000     192,345      16,029       8,015       7,398       3,699
16..............................     110,160       9,180       4,590       4,237       2,119     203,796      16,983       8,492       7,839       3,920
Each add'l family member add....     + 6,190       + 516       + 258       + 239       + 120    + 11,452       + 955       + 478       + 441       + 221
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The table of this Notice contains the income limits by household 
size for the 48 contiguous States, the District of Columbia, and all 
United States Territories, including Guam. Separate tables for Alaska 
and Hawaii have been included for the convenience of the State agencies 
because the poverty guidelines for Alaska and Hawaii are higher than 
for the 48 contiguous States.
    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 1786.

Cynthia Long,
Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service.
[FR Doc. 2024-02922 Filed 2-12-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-30-P