H.R. 2997 Conference Report

Conference Report Accompanying H.R. 2997, the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act 2010

Sponsor	Rep. DeLauro, Rosa L.
Committee	Agriculture
Date	October 7, 2009 (111th Congress, 1st Session)
Staff Contact	Andy Koenig

The House is scheduled to begin consideration of the conference report accompanying H.R. 2997, the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2010, on Wednesday, October 7, 2009, under a rule.  H.R. 2997 was passed in the House on July 17, 2009, by a vote of 266-160.  The Senate passed their version of the bill on July 29, 2009, by a vote of 80-17.  On Wednesday, September 30, 2009, the House passed by a vote of 359-91 a Republican Motion to Instruct Conferees to make the text of the agreed upon bill available in a searchable, electronic format for at least 72 hours prior to its consideration.

 

Agriculture and FDA Discretionary Funding in Millions
	FY 2009 Enacted	Senate Passed	House Passed	Conference Report	Conference Report vs. FY 2009
Appropriation	20,456	23,580	22,892	23,304	2,848
Emergency Spending	7,763	0	0	0	-7,763
Total	28,219	23,580	22,892	23,304	-4,915

 

The conference report for H.R. 2997 contains a total of $23.9 billion in discretionary spending, which is an increase of $2.8 billion or 13.9 percent above the discretionary spending level for FY 2009.  The House-passed version of the bill appropriated $22.9 billion, while the Senate-passed bill contained $23.58 billion.  The conference report is an increase of $412 million or 2 percent above the House-passed bill.  Agencies funded through the bill also received $7.7 billion in discretionary supplemental appropriations from the "stimulus" bill and the FY 2009 supplemental spending bill.  In total, the bill received $28.2 billion in discretionary funding in FY 2009.

H.R. 2997 would provide funding for a number of agencies, including the Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Food and Drug Administration, the Farm Services Agency, the Commodity Assistance Program, WIC, and the Rural Rental Assistance Program.  The following is a summary of the spending highlights and other provisions in the bill.

 

TITLE I-Agricultural Programs

Farm Service Agency:  Provides $1.25 billion for the Farm Services Agency salaries and expenses, an increase of $83 million or 7 percent over FY 2009.  The agency administers the USDA's farm commodity, credit, conservation, disaster and loan programs.

Agricultural Research Service:  Provides $1.17 billion for the Agricultural Research Service, which administers programs that "facilitate the efficient, fair marketing of U.S. agricultural products, including food, fiber, and specialty crops."   The appropriation is an increase of $39 million or 3 percent above FY 2009.

National Institute of Food and Agriculture:  Provides $788 million for the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) research and education activities, an increase of $97 million or 14 percent above FY 2009.   NIFA was established by the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 to "be an independent, scientific, policy-setting agency for the food and agricultural sciences, which will reinvigorate our nation's investment in agricultural research, extension, and education."

 

TITLE II-Conservation Programs

Conservation Operations:  Provides $887 million for the USDA's conservation operations, an increase of $34 million or 4 percent above FY 2009.  The conference report includes $10 million for the Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative that was not included in the President's request.   

Watershed Rehabilitation Program:  Provides $40 million for the Watershed Rehabilitation Program, the same as FY 2009 and the House request.

 

TITLE III-Rural Development programs

Rural Housing Loans:  Authorizes $13.1 billion in loans to construct, repair, or improve dwellings and farm facilities, $5.8 billion or 71% more than FY 2009.

Rental Assistance:  Provides $980 million for the USDA's Rural Rental Assistance Program, an increase of $77 million or 8.5 percent above FY 2009.  The program provides an additional source of support for households with incomes too low to pay the Housing and Community Facilities Programs subsidized rent. 

Rural Cooperative Assistance Grants:  Provides $34 million for Rural Cooperative Assistance Grants, an increase of $22 million or 175 percent above FY 2009.  According to the USDA, the program is responsible for "establishing and operating centers for cooperative development to improve the economic condition of rural areas by developing new cooperatives and improving operations of existing cooperatives."

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service:  Provides $895 million for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, which includes $4 million for buildings and facilities and represents an increase of $14.3 million above FY 2009.  The bill does not include funding for the National Animal Identification System and includes $157 million for animal and plant pests and diseases eradication.

 

TITLE IV-DOMESTIC FOOD PROGRAMS

WIC:  Provides $7.252 billion for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), an increase of $392 million or 5.7 percent over FY 2009.  WIC received $500 million in supplemental appropriations from the "stimulus" bill.

Commodity Assistance Program:  Provides $247 million for the Commodity Assistance Program, an increase of $17 million or 7.4 percent over FY 2009.

 

TITLE V-Foreign Assistance and Related Programs 

International Food and Child Nutrition Grants:  Provides $209 million for the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program Grants, an increase of $109 million or 109 percent above FY 2009.

 

TITLE VI-FDA and Related Programs

FDA:  Provides $2.34 billion in discretionary funding for the salaries and expenses of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), an increase of $318 million or 15 percent above FY 2009.  In addition, the appropriation provides an additional $12 million for FDA buildings and facilities  The Committee Report also stipulates that the Committee intends to authorize the collection of tobacco fees in FY 2010 pursuant to H.R. 1256 the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.

 

OTHER PROVISIONS OF NOTE

Competitive Bidding:  The conference report prohibits the USDA from using any funds to enter into a public/private contact under the OMB Circular A-76-which requires private contractors to compete for federal money to ensure that the U.S. receives maximum value for tax dollars-until report on contracting is submitted.

Earmarks:  The conference report accompanying H.R. 2997 contains more than 320 earmarks, totaling hundreds of millions of dollars.

"Air Drops":  According to the Republican Staff of the Appropriations Committee, the conference report contains 14 pages of items that were not included in the House or Senate bills and were "air dropped" into the legislation during the conference committee.  These items include authorizations for new child nutrition pilot programs that were not requested by the President and a program that gives cash payments to families in the same amount as school lunch meals if a school closes due to H1N1 flu.

Dairy Subsidies:  The conference report contains $350 million in assistance to dairy producers which was not included in the House-passed bill.  The conference report requires that $60 million is used to purchase surplus cheese.

Chinese Poultry:  Allows the importation of Chinese poultry if the Secretary of Agriculture formally notifies Congress and certain mandatory standards are met, such as inspections of Chinese facilities.

Animal Disease Program:  The conference report includes $1.5 million to move the USDA Arthropod Borne Animal Disease program from Ames, Iowa, to Manhattan, Kansas.  The House bill did not include any funding for the move and some Members have argued that the spending is duplicative and unnecessary.

 

H.R. 2997 Discretionary Spending in Thousands

Program	FY 2009	H.R. 2997	Conference Report	Conference Report vs. FY 2009	% Change
Agricultural Programs
Office of the Secretary	5,174	5,285	5,285	111	2.1%
Executive Operations	35,390	42,251	41,260	5,870	16.6%
Office of the Chief Information Officer	17,527	48,541	61,579	44,052	251.3%
Office of the Chief Financial Officer	5,954	6,466	6,566	612	10.3%
Asst. Sec. for Civil Rights	871	888	895	24	2.8%
Office of Civil Rights	21,551	23,922	23,922	2,371	11.0%
Asst. Secretary for Administration	687	700	806	119	17.3%
Buildings, Facilities and Rental Payment	244,244	326,482	293,093	48,849	20.0%
Hazardous Materials Management	5,100	5,125	5,125	25	0.5%
Departmental Administration	27,011	41,319	41,319	14,308	53.0%
Asst. Secretary for Congressional Relations	3,877	3,968	3,968	91	2.3%
Office of Communications	9,514	9,722	9,722	208	2.2%
Inspector General	85,766	88,781	88,722	2,956	3.4%
General Counsel	41,620	43,601	43,551	1,931	4.6%
Under Sec. for Research, Education, & Economics	609	620	895	286	47.0%
Economic Research Service	79,500	82,478	82,478	2,978	3.7%
National Agricultural Statistics Service	151,565	161,830	161,830	10,265	6.8%
Agricultural Research Service Salaries	1,140,406	1,157,568	1,179,639	39,233	3.4%
National Institute of Food and Agriculture Research	691,043	711,523	788,243	97,200	14.1%
Under Sec. for Marketing and Regulatory Programs	737	753	895	158	21.4%
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service	881,387	885,800	909,665	28,278	3.2%
Agricultural Marketing Service	86,711	90,848	91,148	4,437	5.1%
Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Admin	42,463	42,463	41,964	-499	-1.2%
Food Safety and Inspection Service	971,566	1,018,520	1,018,520	46,954	4.8%
Farm Service Agency	1,170,273	1,248,770	1,253,777	83,504	7.1%
Conservation Programs
Conservation Operations	853,400	869,397	887,629	34,229	4.0%
Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations	24,289	20,000	30,000	5,711	23.5%
Watershed Rehabilitation Program	40,000	40,161	40,161	161	0.4%
Resource Conservation and Development	50,730	50,730	50,730	0	0.0%
Rural Development Programs
Under Secretary for Rural Development	646	660	895	249	38.5%
Salaries and Expenses	192,484	195,987	201,987	9,503	4.9%
Rural Business Program Account	87,385	97,116	97,116	9,731	11.1%
Rental Assistance	902,500	980,000	980,000	77,500	8.6%
Multifamily Housing Revitalization Program Account	27,714	31,756	43,191	15,477	55.8%
Rural Housing Assistance Grants	41,500	45,500	45,500	4,000	9.6%
Farm Labor program account	9,135	11,023	19,746	10,611	116.2%
Rural Community Facilities Program Account	63,830	51,091	54,993	-8,837	-13.8%
Rural Cooperative Development Grants	12,636	30,636	34,854	22,218	175.8%
Rural Water and Waste Disposal Program	556,268	546,230	568,730	12,462	2.2%
Domestic Food Programs
Office of the Under Secretary	610	632	813	203	33.3%
Commodity Assistance Program	230,800	255,570	247,979	17,179	7.4%
WIC	6,860,000	7,541,000	7,252,000	392,000	5.7%
Nutrition Programs Administration	142,595	147,801	147,801	5,206	3.7%
Foreign Assistance and Related Programs
Foreign Agricultural Service Salaries	165,000	177,000	180,367	15,367	9.3%
International Food and Child Nutrition Grants	100,000	199,500	209,500	109,500	109.5%
Commodity Credit Corporation Program Expenses	5,333	6,820	6,820	1,487	27.9%
FDA and Related Agencies
FDA Salaries and Expenses	2,038,964	2,337,656	2,344,656	305,692	15.0%
FDA Buildings and Expenses	12,433	12,433	12,433	0	0.0%
Commodity Futures Trading Commission	146,000	160,600	168,800	22,800	15.6%
Total	20,456	22,892	23,304	2,848	13.9%

 

According to the CBO, H.R. 2997 would appropriate $23.304 billion in discretionary funding for FY 2010.