Agriculture and Related Agencies: FY2017 Appropriations

Summary

The Agriculture appropriations bill funds all of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) except for the Forest Service. It also funds the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and—in even-numbered fiscal years—the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

Agriculture appropriations include both mandatory and discretionary spending. Discretionary amounts, though, are the primary focus during the bill’s development, since mandatory amounts are generally set by authorizing laws such as the farm bill.

The largest discretionary spending items are the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); agricultural research; FDA; rural development; foreign food aid and trade; farm assistance programs; food safety inspection; conservation; and animal and plant health programs. The main mandatory spending items are the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), child nutrition, crop insurance, and the farm commodity and conservation programs paid by the Commodity Credit Corporation.

Both the House and the Senate Appropriations Committees have reported their FY2017 Agriculture appropriations bills (H.R. 5054, S. 2956). The discretionary total of the House-reported bill is $21.299 billion, which would be $451 million less than enacted in FY2016. The discretionary total of the Senate-reported bill is $21.250 billion. On a comparable basis, the Senate bill is $201 million more than the House bill if the CFTC appropriation is subtracted from the House bill to adjust for CFTC jurisdiction. Both bills also carry mandatory spending totaling $126.4 billion, bringing the overall total in excess of $147 billion.

In addition to setting budgetary amounts, the Agriculture appropriations bill also is a vehicle for policy-related provisions that direct how the executive branch should carry out the appropriation. Notable policy provisions in the FY2017 bills include:

GIPSA rule. The House-reported bill would prohibit the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) from finalizing and implementing a livestock and poultry marketing rule—the “GIPSA rule.”

Horse slaughter. Both the House- and Senate-reported bills would prohibit the Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) from inspecting horse slaughter facilities.

Checkoff programs. The House report calls for USDA to recognize that checkoff boards are not subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

Tobacco products. The House-reported bill would grandfather all e-cigarettes and other newly deemed tobacco products so that manufacturers would not have to file a premarket application.

SNAP-authorized retailers. Both bills would limit the scope of rules about inventory requirements for SNAP-authorized retailers.

SNAP households reporting requirements. Both bills would require SNAP households to report to the state agency a move out of the state beginning in FY2017 and each year thereafter.

School meals nutrition standards. The House-reported bill again would require exemptions from a 100% whole grain requirement, and prevent USDA from implementing a sodium requirement without scientific evidence.

Export promotion office in Cuba. The Senate committee report recommends fully funding an Administration request to open a Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) office in Cuba.