Sponsors (4)
The bill expands access to and standardizes the safety of donor human milk—particularly benefiting high‑risk and low‑income infants—while imposing new regulatory, administrative, and fiscal burdens that could raise costs, strain small milk banks, and require careful state and federal implementation to avoid reducing local access.
Hospitalized, premature, and medically vulnerable infants (and their parents) gain clearer, more reliable access to standardized, pasteurized donor human milk for clinical use, improving safety and availability in medical settings.
Low-income mothers and infants (including WIC participants) can use WIC-authorized collection and storage pathways so donated milk can be captured and routed to milk banks, increasing access to human milk for infants who need it.
Hospitals and nonprofit milk banks receive clearer federal definitions and safety guidance that standardize collection, handling, and pasteurization practices, improving consistency, trust, and clinical protocols across providers.
Small or volunteer nonprofit milk banks and some hospitals may face higher compliance costs from new definitions and minimum standards, risking reduced local supply, higher donor‑milk prices, and consolidation or closures that limit geographic access.
Using WIC funds to collect and store donor milk creates safety risks if collection, screening, and handling are not strictly managed before milk is processed by banks, potentially endangering infants.
States and state agencies will incur administrative and implementation burdens (new logistics, contracts, staffing, infrastructure) to collect, store, and transfer donor milk, increasing program complexity and costs at the state level.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Allows WIC-related funds for donor milk collection/transfer, authorizes HHS grants to nonprofit milk banks for emergency capacity, funds awareness campaigns, and requires safety standards.
Creates new federal support to increase access to screened donor human milk by allowing WIC-related funds to be used for collection and transfer activities, authorizing competitive HHS grants to nonprofit milk banks to expand emergency capacity, funding a public awareness campaign, and requiring HHS to develop minimum safety standards for donor milk and donor milk–derived products.
Official title: To protect and expand access to pasteurized, donor human milk, and for other purposes.
Introduced April 28, 2026 by Christina Houlahan · Last progress April 28, 2026