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SALT LAKE CITY — Recipients of the Utah Women, Infants and Children Program will continue to receive benefits through October if the federal government shuts down, Gov. Spencer Cox promised on Thursday.
Congress is barreling toward a shutdown if lawmakers can't agree on a spending package by Saturday, which means most federal programs, including food stamps and WIC, would go unfunded. National parks would also be closed, but Cox said last week the state government plans to step in to keep Utah parks open to tourism.
"It's extremely disappointing that Congress is unwilling to fulfill its most basic obligation of funding the government, but Utah is prepared to step up and do what it takes to reduce the impact of a shutdown on Utah families," the governor said Thursday. "In Utah, our number one priority is our families and we will not let down the families who depend on the WIC program."
Utah will use funds from U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide benefits for the more than 44,000 recipients in the state. Between 2020-2021, 18% of all mothers in Utah enrolled in WIC benefits during their pregnancy and 55% of eligible families received benefits, according to a press release from the governor's office.
WIC offers nutrition, breastfeeding services and supplemental foods to pregnant women, mothers and children up to age 5, according to its website.
Cox said lawmakers are willing to provide short-term funding to keep national parks and federal recreation areas open in the state, but said it is dependent on the Department of the Interior agreeing to the plan.
"Our tourism economy is also of vital importance and we've communicated to Interior Secretary (Deb) Haaland our plan to keep Utah's national parks open if she is willing to work with us, and our expectation that any state dollars spent will be restored to the people of Utah," he said.
Utah previously paid to keep the parks operational during shutdowns in 2013 and 2018-2019. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, introduced a bill Wednesday he said would keep all national parks open during a shutdown. He also penned a letter to Haaland asking for "prompt" repayment from the federal government should Utah end up footing the bill.
