Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “WIC Healthy Beginnings Act of 2021”.
WIC Healthy Beginnings Act of 2021
A BILL
To amend the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to require the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a publicly available database of bid solicitations for infant formula under the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children.
Sec. 2 Database of bid solicitations for infant formula under the WIC program
Section 17(h)(8)(A) of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786(h)(8)(A)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(xi) Database of bid solicitations
“(I) In general—Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this clause, the Secretary shall make available to the public on a website of the Department of Agriculture a fully searchable database that shall contain the information described in items (aa) through (dd) of subclause (II) relating to bid solicitations of State agencies for infant formula under the program.
“(II) State agencies—In soliciting bids for infant formula under the program, a State agency shall submit to the Secretary, not later than 5 business days after the date of the bid solicitation, a description of the bid solicitation, including—
“(aa) the title of the bid solicitation and the State agency administering the bid solicitation;
“(bb) the website hyperlink and other information needed for the purpose of submitting a bid in response to the bid solicitation;
“(cc) the contact information and website hyperlink for the State agency administering the bid solicitation, for the purpose of gathering additional information relating to the bid solicitation; and
“(dd) the period during which bids are accepted or the due date for bids, as applicable, under the bid solicitation.
“(III) Publication—Not later than 5 days after receiving a description of a bid solicitation under subclause (II), the Secretary shall publish the information on the database established under subclause (I).
“(IV) Guidance—The Secretary shall issue guidance to implement this clause.
“(V) Liability limitation—A State, State agency, or the Federal Government shall not be liable in a civil suit or claim in a State or Federal court based on the performance or failure to perform a duty, function, or activity required by this clause.”