Agriculture and Related Agencies: FY2010 Appropriations (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Revised Jan. 4, 2010 |
| Report Number |
R40721 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Jim Monke, Megan Stubbs, Randy Alison Aussenberg, Tadlock Cowan, Renée Johnson, Dennis A. Shields, Randy Schnepf |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
The FY2010 Agriculture appropriations bill provides funding for all of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) except the Forest Service, plus the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Appropriations jurisdiction for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is split between two subcommitteesâthe House Agriculture appropriations subcommittee and the Senate Financial Services appropriations subcommittee.
The FY2010 Agriculture appropriations bill (P.L. 111-80) was enacted on October 21, 2009. This is the first time that the bill was enacted separately since FY2006, and is the earliest that an Agriculture appropriations bill has been enacted since FY1999. The House passed the conference agreement (H.Rept. 111-279 to H.R. 2997) on October 7, 2009, by a vote of 263-162. The Senate passed it one day later on October 8 by a vote of 76-22.
The enacted appropriation contains $121.1 billion, 12% more than FY2009. This total, however, is roughly $3 billion less than the Administration's request or House- and Senate-passed amounts, primarily because of a downward re-estimate of the amount needed for domestic nutrition programs. Most programs see an increase in funding over FY2009. About two-thirds of the $121 billion totalâ$83 billionâis for domestic nutrition programs. The remaining one-thirdâ$38 billionâsupports the rest of USDA (including the farm commodity programs, but excluding the Forest Service), FDA, and CFTC.
Mandatory appropriations total $97.8 billion, $10 billion more than FY2009 (+11%). Nearly two-thirds of this increase is for domestic nutrition assistance ($6.2 billion increase, +9% over FY2009), and most of the rest is for farm commodity programs ($2.8 billion increase, +25% over FY2009) and crop insurance ($0.9 billion increase, +14% over FY2009). Demand for nutrition assistance programs has risen sharply during the current recession.
Discretionary appropriations total $23.3 billion, $2.7 billion more than FY2009 (+13%). This discretionary total is $325 million more than the Administration's request and $404 million more than the House-passed bill, but $253 million less than the Senate-passed bill. The largest discretionary increases are for nutrition assistance, including a $421 million increase for domestic nutrition assistance (+6% over FY2009) and a $590 million increase for foreign food assistance (+39% over FY2009). Discretionary support of agricultural programs increased by $486 million (+7% over FY2009); FDA by $306 million (+15% over FY2009); rural development by $246 million (+9% over FY2009); conservation by $40 million (+4% over FY2009); and CFTC by $23 million (+16% over FY2009).
Among the important differences between the House and Senate bills were supplemental dairy financial assistance and imports of poultry from China. Conferees maintained $350 million for dairy support in response to low prices, along the lines of the Senate bill, but split the amount with $60 million to purchase dairy products and $290 million for direct payments to farmers. Conferees also followed the Senate's approach regarding poultry imports to allow imports from China under specified preconditions.
The appropriation also includes extension of expiring authorities for child nutrition programs. These were due to expire at the end of FY2009, and P.L. 111-80 extends them to September 30, 2010.
