COLUMBUS, Ohio — The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bipartisan spending package that earmarks billions of dollars for state and federal projects.  

What You Need To Know

  • The WIC program is in line to receive $1 billion from the package

  • Ohio will get $300 million from the package to go toward construction

  • The Mid-Ohio Food Collective received $2 million for its Eastland Prosperity Center project 

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, also known as WIC, received a funding boost of $1 billion in the new House-passed spending package. The extra funds would bring the mandatory spending on the program to more than $7 billion.

WIC helps low-income mothers, with children under the age of five, gain access to nutritious food. Lawmakers say the extra funds were needed in order for states to avoid having to establish a waitlist for the program. The Mid-Ohio Food Collective works closely with families who use these services. They said this money will help keep families afloat, especially as many COVID-19 funds and programs are expiring. 

“What people may not realize is programs like SNAP, formerly known as food stamps and WIC have a much larger impact than our work could ever do across the country,” said Mike Hochron, who serves as the Senior Vice President of Communications for the Mid-Ohio Food Collective. “For every one meal that food banks provide, SNAP provides over nine meals, so making sure that those federal programs remain strong is essential to our nation’s food security. I think we can all agree that nobody in our community should go hungry.”

The spending package also earmarks $2 million for a new anti-hunger center for the east side of Columbus. The funds were a bipartisan request from representative Mike Carey and Senator Sherrod Brown. The Mid-Ohio Food Collective is spearheading what it’s calling Eastland Prosperity Center. It would be their biggest Mid-Ohio Market, with over 67,000 square feet of space. While the project is still in its fundraising phase, the Collective said that the federal money will allow it to provide more than just food. 

“We’re looking at those other services that we know the community needs,” said Hochron. “That is health care, it’s services for families and young children, it’s looking at those other wraparound services, connecting people to benefits and those federal programs that we’re talking about and bringing all of those together under one roof in a community where all of our service data shows there’s an incredible need.”

Along with money for community and social programs, Ohio is set to receive $300 million in funding for construction projects. This will include over $5 million to widen streets and create sidewalks. Congresswoman Joyce Beatty also locked down $850,000 to improve U.S. 62 which will lead into Intel’s new semiconductor plant. Another round of voting on the federal budget is set to occur later this month.