House Agriculture Spending Bill Puts Some Programs Funding Below
Farm Bill Levels, Notes NCGA (6-10-05)
The House passed a $99.65 billion fiscal year (FY) 2006 agriculture
spending bill this week representing an increase of $93 million
over President George W. Bush’s request and the same as the
FY 2005 enacted level. The bill provides for $16.83 billion in discretionary
spending and $82.822 billion in mandatory spending. However, the
bill decreases funding for a variety of farm bill authorized programs.
The bill passed by a vote of 408 - 18.
"NCGA understands
that we are in a time of extreme budgetary constraints and every
program is under scrutiny to find funding reductions, so we stay
within our budget limitations,” said NCGA President Leon Corzine.
"NCGA has worked with the committee to include funding for
our top farm program priorities and is working to ensure our priorities
will receive the appropriate funding to ensure they remain viable
programs for corn growers."
The House Appropriations Committee is on an aggressive schedule
to complete all appropriations measures by the July 4 recess. The
spending measure includes almost $940 million for the Natural Resources
Conservation Service and $794 million for conservation operations,
cutting the program by over $60 million from the FY 2005 funding
levels. The bill provides more than $2 billion for a variety of
conservation programs, but the conservation levels are below those
set in the 2002 farm bill.
For example, the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, which
pays farmers to make environmental improvements to equipment and
working lands, is funded at more than $1 billion, the same as last
year's levels and $200 million below the farm bill number.
The Conservation Security Program, which aims to reward farmers
who practice conservation and to provide incentives to help further
their efforts on working lands, received $258 million--more than
$50 million higher than the program has received in the past but
not up to the levels of envisioned in the farm bill. The Ground
and Surface Water Conservation Program is funded at $51 million,
approximately 15 percent below farm bill levels. Wildlife Habitat
Incentives would come in at $60 million, approximately 30 percent
below farm bill levels.
However, the bill restores the renewable energy and energy efficiency
grant program to farm bill levels of $23 million.
The House voted down an amendment that sought to strike language
in the bill pushing back the implementation of the mandatory country-of-origin
labeling program for meat and meat products from September 2006
to September 2007.
The amendment, offered by Rep. Dennis Rehberg (R-Mont.) and Rep.
Darlene Hooley (D-Ore.), was opposed chiefly by the House Appropriations
Committee Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration,
and Related Agencies Subcommittee Chairman Henry Bonilla (R-Texas),
who called the tentative program "a nightmare to producers."
The House vote on country-of-origin labeling signified a strengthening
of opposition for a mandatory program. A similar amendment, also
offered by Rehberg and Hooley in 2003, was defeated.
The Senate is expected to take up its agriculture spending measure
in two weeks.