Sponsors (2)
The bill broadens access to fresh local foods and simplifies participation for vendors and WIC recipients—boosting nutrition and market opportunities—at the cost of upfront IT/administrative expenses, added oversight challenges, and potential competitive burdens on the smallest sellers.
Low-income WIC participants (women, infants, children, and families) gain materially increased access to fresh, local, unprepared foods and higher likelihood of redeeming nutrition benefits, improving dietary options and nutritional outcomes.
Small and mid-sized farmers, farmers' markets, and covered agricultural entities see expanded market access because more vendor types are authorized, automatic designations/simplified enrollment are created, and a single online portal lets producers sign up more easily.
WIC participants and vendors benefit from integrated cash-value and coupon functionality onto a predictable EBT/payment-device standard plus vendor technical guidance, simplifying transactions, reducing stigma at checkout, and making acceptance more practical across markets and CSAs.
State agencies, USDA, and small covered entities face meaningful upfront and ongoing administrative and IT costs (payment-device upgrades, portals, Center operations) to implement standards and support new vendor participation.
Expanding eligible redemption locations and automatically authorizing vendors increases oversight and fraud risk, requiring more state monitoring and raising the chance of ineligible redemptions or inconsistent product quality.
Standardizing payment-device requirements and federal compliance norms may favor larger vendors or established brands and disadvantage very small, informal, or resource-constrained sellers who cannot meet technical or cost requirements.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Allows WIC cash-value benefits and coupons to be used at farmers and covered agricultural entities via a single EBT device and creates USDA guidance, an application portal, and technical assistance.
Introduced December 17, 2025 by Lauren Underwood · Last progress December 17, 2025
Allows WIC participants to use WIC cash-value benefits and WIC coupons to buy fresh, local, unprepared foods (including pre-order boxes) directly from farmers and other covered agricultural sellers and requires those benefits to be accessible on a single EBT access device. It directs USDA to issue regulations, create a single online application for producers, publish guidance and best practices, and stand up a Technical Assistance Center to help farmers and market operators accept federal nutrition benefits and implement the changes.