On June 13, the House Appropriations Committee passed, by voice vote, the FY2014 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Related Agencies spending bill (as-yet-unnumbered). The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA, and Related Agencies approved the measure on June 5 (see The Source, 6/7/13).
According to the committee report, the bill would provide $19.5 billion in discretionary funding in FY2014 for programs and agencies at the Department of Agriculture, FDA, and related agencies. This amount is $1.287 billion below FY2013 and $515.818 million below President Obama’s FY2014 budget request.
During consideration of the bill, the committee approved, 27-21,an amendment by Rep. John Culberson (R-TX) to prohibit funding from going to states for the Special Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) unless participants are deemed eligible under current law.
The following chart contains funding levels for programs important to women and their families.
|
Program/Agency |
FY2013* |
President’s Request |
|
|
Department of Agriculture – Domestic Food Programs |
|||
|
Child Nutrition Programs |
$19.891 billion |
$20.487 billion |
$20.452 billion |
|
Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) |
$6.869 billion |
$7.142 billion |
$6.655 billion |
|
Special Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) |
$77.29 billion |
$78.39 billion |
$76.332 billion |
|
Commodity Assistance Program |
$247.57 million |
$271.701 million |
$265.892 million |
|
Department of Agriculture – Foreign Assistance |
|||
|
P.L. 480 Title II Food for Peace |
$1.434 billion |
$0** |
$1.15 billion |
|
McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition |
$183.816 million |
$185.126 million |
$180.32 million |
|
Food and Drug Administration |
|||
|
FDA |
$2.461 billion |
$2.549 billion |
$2.485 billion |
|
User fees |
$1.699 billion |
$1.795 billion |
$1.795 billion |
*In September 2012, Congress enacted a continuing resolution (CR) (P.L. 112-175), which later was extended through September 2013 (see The Source, 3/25/13). The funding levels in the CR later were subject to an across-the-board reduction, also known as sequester, imposed by the Budget Control Act (P.L. 112-25). Unless otherwise noted, FY2013 funding levels noted do not reflect enactment of the CR and sequester.
**The president’s FY2014 budget proposes moving the Food for Peace program under the jurisdiction of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
