(NAFB.com) – Senate Ag Chair Debbie Stabenow and Ranking Member John Boozman led a bipartisan group of senators who introduced legislation to address baby formula shortages.

The bill is aimed at helping families who rely on the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). The Access to Baby Formula Act has a companion bill in the House. It would give USDA more flexibility during a crisis like the shortages currently facing the country. The flexibility would ensure that the brand or type of formula families can buy isn’t restricted by program rules, allowing families to purchase whatever is available in the store. Formula manufacturers would be required to have a plan in place to respond to shortages.

“This is an extremely stressful time for parents who are looking high and low for baby formula,” Stabenow says. “Almost half of all babies born in the U.S. rely on the WIC program.”