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Notes from April 27, 2001--
In consecutive day testimonies before the Senate
and House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittees,
Agriculture Secretary Veneman defended her department's FY
2002 budget against critics who asserted that continued
price weakness in a number of crops almost certainly means
that Congress must provide farm aid similar to that provided
last year.
USDA's FY 2002 budget request is $72.7 billion. This is a
$3.3 billion cut from the FY 2001 enacted levels. If you
factor out last year's emergency farm aid, the FY 2002
budget proposal marks an $883 million increase over FY 2001.
Beyond this observation, Veneman's defense of the cut was
essentially two-fold:
- She conceded that "there is continued weakness in
certain sectors of the farm economy." She asserted,
however, that "if additional assistance is needed,
we will work with the Congress to determine the nature
and extent of that assistance." [translation: Don't
bother us with the details now.] She also cited the
contingency reserve in the president's budget, a reserve
which we note will emerge somewhat smaller after the
House-Senate conference on the budget resolution.
- In program after program, Veneman detailed budget
hikes, some of them substantial. Conveniently, she left
out those programs where the budget makes cuts. We list
those programs below, comparing FY 2000 and FY 2001
enacted numbers with the president's budget (numbers in
thousands of dollars). Asterisks mark the programs that
the budget cuts to below FY 2000 levels:
Program FY 2000 FY 2001 Budget
---------------------------------------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Hazardous waste management 15,700 15,700 15,665
*Ag. Res. Svc., Buildings and facilities 52,500 74,200 30,462
Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service
* Research and education activities, CSR 481,881 506,193 407,319
* Coop. forestry and other research 21,932 21,932 21,884
* Hatch Act payments (7 U.S.C. 361a- 180,545 180,545 180,148
* Pay'ts to land grant colleges 30,676 32,676 32,604
* Spec. grants for agr. research (7U 63,238 85,669 2,775
* Competitive research grants 119,300 106,000 105,767
* Animal health and disease programs 5,109 5,109 5,098
1994 research program (7 U.S.C. 30 500 1,000 998
* Higher education challenge grants 4,350 4,350 4,340
* Higher educ. multicultural scholar 1,000 1,000 998
Educ. grants prgm for Hispanic-ser 2,850 3,500 3,492
Alaska/Hawaii native-serving insti 0 3,000 2,993
Secondary agriculture education pr 500 800 798
* Aquaculture grants 4,000 4,000 3,991
Sustainable agriculture research a 8,000 9,250 9,230
Capacity-building grants 9,200 9,500 9,479
* Pay'ts under PL103-382, Sec. 534(a 1,552 1,552 1,549
* Necessary exp. of Research/Educ. A 14,825 18,149 4,511
* Extension Activities 424,174 433,429 413,404
Integrated Activities 39,541 41,941 41,849
* Water quality program 13,000 13,000 12,971
* Food Safety program 15,000 15,000 14,967
* Nat'l agr. pesticide impact assess 4,541 4,541 4,531
FQPA risk mitigation program 4,000 4,900 4,889
For crops affected by FQPA impleme 1,000 1,500 1,497
Methyl bromide transition program 2,000 2,500 2,495
Organic transition program 0 500 499
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service:
* Pest/disease control 4,105 4,105 4,096
Farm Service Agency
* State mediation grants 3,000 3,000 2,993
Rural Development
* Rural Community Advancement program 693,637 762,542 692,125
Farm labor program account 30,000 28,431
Mutual and self-help housing grants 28,000 34,000 33,925
* Rural housing insurance fund (loan aut 4,589,373 4,800,000 4,202,618
* Unsubsidized guaranteed 3,200,000 3,700,000 3,137,968
Rural cooperative development grants 6,000 6,500 6,486
* Rural Development Loan Fund, Loan subs 16,615 19,476 16,494
Rural Economic Development Loans
* (Loan authorization) 15,000 15,000 14,966
* Direct subsidy 3,783 3,911 3,616
Rural Elec and Telecomm Loans Pgm Acc't Loan authorizations:
Electric:
* Direct, 5% 121,500 121,500 121,107
* Direct, Municipal rate 295,000 295,000 294,358
Distance learning and telemedicine Grants 20,000 27,000 26,941
Food and Nutrition Service (formerly FCS):
Commodity assistance program 133,300 140,300 139,991
Total, Food donations programs 141,081 151,081 150,749
As I have said in previous NOTES, agriculture is one of the
weak points in the budget, and the Congress will be forced
at some point this year to enact a substantial amount for
emergency farm aid.
The Secretary's testimony is posted on both the USDA and
the Senate Appropriations Committee web sites. The former,
however, is truncated. For the most complete version, go to http://www.senate.gov/~appropriations/agriculture/testimony/sec42501.htm
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