House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) prepared a $28 million supplemental funding bill Tuesday that would help the U.S. Food and Drug Administration address a shortage of infant formula around the country.

The legislation would provide the FDA “with the resources to prevent fraudulent products from being placed on shelves and to help acquire better data on the infant formula marketplace,” the committee said in a press release. It would also expand the workforce focused on formula at the FDA, as well as the inspection staff.

The shortage results in part from quality control issues at a manufacturing facility owned by Abbott Nutrition. The largest supplier in a market dominated by just a handful of firms, Abbott closed the facility in February following the deaths of two infants from rare bacterial infections, resulting in a national shortage of infant formula. Abbott maintains that its formula was not responsible for the deaths.

“While we know we have more work to do to get to the bottom of serious safety concerns at an Abbott facility and the FDA's failure to address them with any sense of urgency, this bill is the first step to help restock shelves and end this shortage," DeLauro said in a statement.

Calling the infant deaths “sinful,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) told reporters Tuesday that indictments were possible, but provided no details.

Pelosi also said that House Democrats will put forth a second bill that would ease rules in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) to allow for a wider range of purchases on an emergency basis.

What’s next: The first legislative effort to address the infant formula shortage, the bill is on track for a vote in the House Thursday. But it faces questions about how effective it would be in combating the formula shortage. It also faces a very high hurdle in the Senate, where Republicans are expected to oppose it if it makes it through the House.

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