07.18.17

SUMMARY: Senate Subcommittee Approves FY2018 Agriculture Appropriations Bill

WASHINGTON (Tuesday, July 18, 2017) – The fiscal year 2018 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies bill provides a total discretionary funding level of $20.525 billion, which is $352 million below the fiscal year 2017 enacted level and $4.8 billion above the President’s request.  The bill does not contain poison pill riders.

 

U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Ranking Member of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies subcommittee said:  “This bill was developed in a bipartisan manner, and funds programs that Americans rely on every day, protecting them from the devastating cuts proposed in the Administration’s budget.  The bill maintains important food and drug safety programs, rejects the President’s proposal to eliminate vital rural housing, small business and clean water programs, and protects agricultural research programs that help our farmers and ranchers continue to be the most productive and efficient in the world.  But we continue to be limited by Budget Control Act caps that cause many important needs to be left behind, including rural infrastructure, conservation, education and more.  We need to work together to develop a bipartisan budget agreement to lift these caps, so we can give Americans the budget certainty and smart investments they deserve.”

 

The agriculture bill funds the activities of the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).  The funding in this bill impacts the lives of every American.  It includes programs that provide a better quality of life for rural Americans, programs that protect the environment, programs that help our farmers and ranchers succeed, and domestic nutrition programs that help feed low-income Americans and children.  It also contains international food aid funding, which is vital during this time of unprecedented hunger worldwide.  The Food and Drug Administration ensures the safety of the food and drug supply in an increasingly complex world.  Although the President wanted to slash the Department of Agriculture by nearly a quarter and cut FDA funding by more than a third, this bill rejects nearly all of those devastating cuts, and protects most programs at the fiscal year 2017 level. 

 

Key USDA programs are described below.

 

Agricultural Research

 

Total funding for agriculture research is $2.8 billion, which is $300 million more than the President’s request. 

 

  • Agricultural Research Service:  USDA’s premier in house research agency, the Agricultural Research Service, is funded at $1.18 billion, which is $12 million more than fiscal year 2017.  The bill does not allow for the termination of research programs or the closure of laboratories. 

 

  • National Institute of Food and Agriculture:  Total funding for the National Institute of Food and Agriculture is $1.4 billion, which is $7 million more than fiscal year 2017.  Included in this funding is $375 million for the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, which is still short of the authorized level of $700 million, $30 million for the Sustainable Agriculture and Research Education Program, and $5 million for the Organic Transition Program. 

 

Agricultural Marketing Service

 

  • The Agricultural Marketing Service includes a $3 million increase to the National Organic Program, the first programmatic increase for this program in several years.  This brings total National Organic Program funding to $12.094 million.  At a time when the organics industry is growing at an extremely rapid pace, this increase is important to protect the value of the USDA organic seal, ensuring that consumers can remain confident in the integrity of these products.

 

Conservation

 

  • The bill provides a slight increase for conservation technical assistance, which helps producers implement voluntary conservation measures on their farms.  The budget proposed to cut funding for these activities by more than 10 percent. 

 

  • The bill also maintains funding for the Watershed and Flood Prevention program, which provides technical and financial assistance to local entities for watershed structures, easements and land treatments for mitigating flood risks.  This important infrastructure program, which protects homeowners and public facilities, was eliminated in the President’s budget.  Yet, even with this funding, a significant backlog of funding needs remains.

 

Rural Development

 

Funding and program levels for Rural Development are all generally maintained at fiscal year 2017 levels.

  • Housing Programs:  This bill rejects the President’s proposal to eliminate single family and multi-family housing direct loans.  These programs offer homeownership opportunities and affordable rental housing for very low and low income rural households.  One billion dollars in single family housing loans and $35 million in multi-family housing loans are provided.  Rural housing needs, however, continue to significantly outweigh the assistance provided in this bill. 

 

  • Water and Waste Disposal Programs:  The bill rejects the President’s proposal to eliminate loan and grant programs that enable remote rural communities to obtain clean water and sanitary waste disposal systems.  Over $1.75 billion in loans and grants are provided, which will assist over 2.2 million rural residents.  Even with the rejection of the President’s budget proposal, a backlog of more than $2 billion in needed upgrades to safe and sanitary water supplies remain.

 

  • Rural Business Programs:  The bill rejects the President’s proposal to eliminate loan and grant programs that promote rural business development and income growth.  Almost $1 billion in rural business development loans and grants are provided.

 

  • Community Facilities Direct Loans:  Community Facilities direct loans (that can be used to finance any essential community facility, including libraries, hospitals, health care centers, adult and child day care facilities, etc.) are increased by $400 million, from $2.6 billion to $3 billion. 

 

Nutrition

 

The nutrition programs funded in this bill are an important safety net for some of the most vulnerable Americans.  This bill protects all nutrition programs and rejects the budget proposal that would have devastated participants of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

 

  • Child Nutrition Programs:  Total funding for Child Nutrition Programs is $24.296 billion, which is $1.5 billion above fiscal year 2017.  Included in this funding is $30 million for school equipment grants and $23 million for Summer EBT. 

 

  • Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC):  The WIC programs play an important role in ensuring healthy pregnancies and the healthy growth of children.  The bill provides full funding for the program.  The funding level also provides an increase of $20 million for breastfeeding peer counselors.

 

  • Commodity Supplemental Food Program: The bill provides $238 million for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program.  These funds will provide seniors with healthy and nutritious supplemental food.

 

International Food Aid

 

The bill rejects the budget proposal to eliminate important international food aid programs.  America has a long standing tradition of providing urgent food aid to those in need worldwide.    Currently, the world is witnessing a humanitarian crisis not seen in 70 years. 

 

  • PL 480 Title II:  Although the President’s budget proposed to take aim at the most vulnerable people in the world, this bill rejects that proposal and maintains funding for PL 480 at the fiscal year 2017 level.  However, needs for this program worldwide are growing exponentially, as the world is watching at least one famine take place, and several other countries are on the verge. 

 

  • McGovern-Dole International Food for Education Program:  The McGovern-Dole program is funded at $206 million, which is $5 million over fiscal year 2017.  Included in this funding is $15 million for local and regional procurement.  This program, which provides food to children in school in developing countries, is often the only reason those children, especially girls, keep coming.  The President’s budget proposed to end this program. 

 

Food and Drug Administration

 

This bill rejects the budget proposal to cut the FDA’s funding by more than 1/3.  This cut would have decimated funding for food safety, drug and device approvals and safety monitoring, blood safety and preparedness programs.  The bill maintains the Food and Drug Administration’s funding at the fiscal year 2017 levels.  It also includes $60 million provided in mandatory funding through the CURES Act for advancing new drug therapies.  

 

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