Congresswoman Barbara Lee Releases Statement on Fiscal Year 2021 Agriculture-Rural Development-FDA Funding Bill
Washington, D.C. –Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-13), member of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and related agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, issued the following statement in response to the introduction of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 Agriculture, Rural Development-FDA Funding legislation.
This legislation provides $23.98 billion in discretionary funding to agencies and programs within the Department of Agriculture, the Farm Credit Administration, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and the Food and Drug Administration, investing in rural community infrastructure, domestic and international food programs, programs that serve farmers and ranchers, agriculture research, and oversight of the commodity futures market.
“I’m pleased to see that our legislation builds on the four COVID-19 relief bills Congress passed this spring and provides much needed relief to underserved and rural communities,” said Congresswoman Lee. “This bill prioritizes food programs and services to help address food insecurity, among other vital needs for vulnerable families, which are all the more critical as people struggle to make ends meet during this global pandemic.”
“This legislation rejects Trump’s cuts to critical assistance programs and ends the Trump administration’s cruel SNAP rule that targets people in areas with high unemployment rates. During a pandemic and time of economic hardship the likes of which we’ve not see in our life-times, when families are lining up for blocks at food banks, we can and must keep fighting for increases to vital benefits and against these Trump rules and cuts tooth-and nail.”
Some of Congresswoman Lee’s top priorities included in the bill can be found below:
Food and Nutrition Programs – The legislation contains discretionary funding, as well as mandatory funding required by law, for food and nutrition programs within the Department of Agriculture. This includes funding for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and child nutrition programs.
- Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) – The bill provides $5.75 billion in discretionary funding for WIC, which is $298 million above the budget request.
- Child nutrition programs – The bill provides for $25.131 billion in mandatory funding for child nutrition programs. This is an increase of $1.516 billion above the FY 2020 enacted level. This funding will provide free or reduced-price school lunches and snacks for children who qualify for the program. The bill provides $552 million for the Summer Food Service Program to ensure low-income children continue to receive nutritious meals when school is not in session. In addition, the bill provides $50 million for the Summer EBT program, $35 million for school kitchen equipment grants, and $15 million for school breakfast expansion grants.
- Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) – The bill provides for $68.277 billion in required mandatory spending for SNAP. This includes $3 billion for the SNAP reserve fund.
International Food Assistance Programs – The legislation contains $2 billion for international food aid and to promote U.S. agricultural exports overseas. This includes $1.775 billion for Food for Peace grants and $235 million for the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition program. These programs work to reduce famine and increase food security overseas.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – The FDA receives a total of $3.212 billion in discretionary funding in the bill, an increase of $40.8 million above the 2020 enacted level. Total funding for the FDA, including revenue from user fees, is $5.99 billion. Within this total, the Committee provides targeted increases for medical product and food safety activities, including new initiatives to advance new influenza vaccine manufacturing technologies, support for a new, crosscutting activity enhancing food and medical product safety and includes funding to develop a framework for regulating CBD products. In addition, the bill includes a strong focus on continuing FDA’s efforts to enable faster responses to foodborne illness outbreaks and increase the safety and cybersecurity of medical devices. The bill also appropriates $70 million to accelerate medical product development as authorized in the 21st Century Cures Act.
Food Safety and Inspection Service – The legislation includes $1.087 billion for food safety and inspection programs. These mandatory inspection activities help ensure the safety and productivity of the country’s meat and poultry industry, and keep safe, healthy food on American tables. The funding provided will maintain nearly 8,800 frontline inspection personnel for meat, poultry, and egg products at more than 6,400 facilities across the country.
Conservation Programs – The bill provides $1 billion to help farmers, ranchers, and other private landowners conserve and protect their land. This includes $167 million for infrastructure for watershed and flood prevention and watershed rehabilitation projects.
Agricultural Research – The bill provides $3.3 billion – $90 million above the fiscal year 2020 level – for agriculture research programs, including the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). This funding will support research at all ARS facilities to help mitigate and stop devastating crop diseases, improve food safety and water quality, increase production, and combat antimicrobial resistance. This funding also includes important research investments in U.S. land-grant colleges and universities, including a significant increase for the 1890 institutions, and for the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s premier competitive research program.
The text of the bill can be found here.
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