Farm Bill Primer: Programs Without Baseline Beyond FY2024 (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Revised Nov. 28, 2023 |
| Report Number |
IF12115 |
| Report Type |
In Focus |
| Authors |
Jim Monke |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
In preparation for the next farm bill, Congress may give
consideration to a subset of 20 programs in the 2018 farm
bill (Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, P.L. 115-334)
that do not have a budget baseline for funding beyond
FY2023. These 20 programs received $886 million of
mandatory funding during the five years of the 2018 farm
bill (out of total mandatory spending of $428 billion across
all farm bill programs). Programs that receive mandatory
funding do not require annual discretionary appropriations.
From a budgetary perspective, many programs are assumed
to continue beyond the end of their authorization. That is,
they have a continuing baseline beyond the end of a farm
bill, which gives them built-in future funding if
policymakers decide that the programs should continue, or,
if not, the baseline can be reallocated or used as an offset
for deficit reduction. Reauthorizing farm bill programs
without baseline would have a positive score (cost) and
likely need to be offset by reductions elsewhere.
