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. 

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 (1) by striking subparagraphs (B) and (C); 

5 (2) by inserting the following after subpara6 graph (A): 

7 ‘‘(B) PRESENCE FOR CERTAIN DETER8 MINATIONS AND EVALUATIONS.— 

9 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Each individual 

10 seeking certification, recertification, or a 

11 nutritional risk evaluation for participation 

12 in the program authorized under this sec13 tion shall be provided an appointment that 

14 is, at the option of the individual— 

15 ‘‘(I) in-person, by telephone, or 

16 through video technology that permits 

17 2-way, real time interactive commu18 nications, as determined by the Sec19 retary; or 

20 ‘‘(II) through other formats that 

21 permit 2-way, real time interactive 

22 communications, as determined by the 

23 Secretary. 

24 ‘‘(ii) ADA COMPLIANCE.—Any format 

25 made available for an appointment under 

26 clause (i) shall be accessible to an indiVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:16 Apr 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2424.IH H2424

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1 vidual in accordance with the Americans 

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

3 12101 et seq.) and section 504 of the Re4 habilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794). 

5 ‘‘(iii) NUTRITIONAL RISK EVALUA6 TIONS FOR REMOTE CERTIFICATION.—If 

7 an individual is certified for participation 

8 in the program under clause (i) through a 

9 format other than in-person, a State agen10 cy shall— 

11 ‘‘(I) to the maximum extent prac12 ticable, collect anthropometric data 

13 necessary to evaluate the nutritional 

14 risk of that individual within 30 days 

15 of the appointment; and 

16 ‘‘(II) collect such data not later 

17 than 90 days after the appointment. 

18 ‘‘(iv) INTERIM ELIGIBILITY FOR NU19 TRITIONAL RISK.— 

20 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—A State 

21 agency may consider an applicant who 

22 meets the income eligibility standards 

23 to be temporarily eligible on an in24 terim basis to participate in the pro25 gram and may certify any such indiVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:16 Apr 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2424.IH H2424

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1 vidual for participation immediately, 

2 without delaying certification until a 

3 nutritional risk evaluation is made. 

4 ‘‘(II) NUTRITIONAL RISK EVAL5 UATION.—A nutritional risk evalua6 tion of such individual shall be com7 pleted not later than 90 days after the 

8 individual is certified for participation 

9 pursuant to subclause (I). 

10 ‘‘(III) TERMINATION.—If a State 

11 agency does not collect data in accord12 ance with clause (iii)(II) or the indi13 vidual is subsequently determined to 

14 not meet nutritional risk criteria, the 

15 certification of that individual shall 

16 terminate on the date described in 

17 such clause (iii)(II) or the date of 

18 such determination, as applicable.’’; 

19 and 

20 (3) by redesignating subparagraphs (D) 

21 through (F) as subparagraphs (C) through (E), re22 spectively. 

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

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


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1 is amended by conforming the margin of subparagraph 

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

3 SEC. 3. REMOTE BENEFIT ISSUANCE. 

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

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

6 amended— 

7 (1) in the third sentence— 

8 (A) by striking ‘‘vouchers by mail’’ and in9 serting ‘‘food instruments by mail, remote 

10 issuance, or other means’’; and 

11 (B) by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and in12 serting the following: 

13 ‘‘(iii) DISAPPROVAL OF STATE

14 PLAN.—The Secretary’’; 

15 (2) in the second sentence— 

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

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

18 remote issuance, or other means in the State 

19 plan’’; and 

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

21 the following: 

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

23 (3) by striking ‘‘(B) STATE AGENCIES’’ and all 

24 that follows through ‘‘to obtain vouchers.’’ and in25 serting the following: 


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1 ‘‘(B) DELIVERY OF FOOD INSTRUMENTS.— 

2 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—State agencies may 

3 provide for the delivery of food instruments, in4 cluding electronic benefit transfer cards, to any 

5 participant through means that do not require 

6 the participant to travel to the local agency to 

7 obtain food instruments, such as through mail8 ing or remote issuance.’’. 

9 (b) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall revise sec10 tion 246.12(r) of title 7, Code of Federal Regulations, by 

11 striking paragraph (4). 

12 SEC. 4. ANNUAL INVESTMENT IN WIC TECHNOLOGIES. 

13 Section 17(h) of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 

14 U.S.C. 1786(h)) is amended— 

15 (1) in paragraph (2)(B)— 

16 (A) by striking clause (ii); and 

17 (B) by striking the subparagraph designa18 tion and all that follows through ‘‘clause (ii) 

19 and’’ and inserting the following: 

20 ‘‘(B) ALLOCATION FOR NUTRITION SERV21 ICES AND ADMINISTRATION.—Except as pro22 vided in’’; and 

23 (2) in paragraph (10)— 


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1 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

2 ‘‘2010 through 2015’’ and inserting ‘‘2024 

3 through 2029’’; and 

4 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

5 clause (ii) and inserting the following: 

6 ‘‘(ii) $60,000,000 shall be used to es7 tablish, develop, improve, replace, or ad8 minister technology platforms, including 

9 management information systems and sys10 tems that allow for secure communication 

11 of information between health care pro12 viders and program clinics in order to fa13 cilitate sharing information necessary for 

14 certification, establishing nutrition risk, or 

15 for the provision of health care services, 

16 that enhance program services, access to 

17 the program, or redemption of benefits, of 

18 which up to $5,000,000 may be used for 

19 Federal administrative cost;’’. 

20 SEC. 5. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

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

22 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit 

23 to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

24 of the Senate and the Committee on Education and the 

25 Workforce of the House of Representatives a report on 


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1 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 to— 

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

22 (B) incorporate the use of digital tools into 

23 the program certification process; 

24 (C) integrate nutrition education and 

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1 ticipants into remote technologies and plat2 forms; and 

3 (D) securely manage program participant 

4 data. 

Æ 


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