WASHINGTON - Today, the House Appropriations Committee released the Fiscal Year 2024 bill for the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Subcommittee. The bill will be considered tomorrow, May 18th at 9:00 a.m. The markup will be live-streamed and can be found on the Committee’s website.
The Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies bill provides a non-defense discretionary total of $25.313 billion for programs under the jurisdiction of the Subcommittee, $532 million (2.1%) below the FY23 enacted level and $3.622 billion (12.5%) below the FY24 President’s Budget Request. The Subcommittee’s allocation is $17.163 billion, and the House bill includes another $8.150 billion that is offset by clawing back the Democrats’ wasteful spending over the last two years and ending pandemic-era programs. The bill prioritizes agencies and programs that protect our nation’s food and drug supply; support America’s farmers, ranchers, and rural communities; and ensure low-income Americans have access to nutrition programs.
Fiscal Year 2024 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Bill
* Supports our rural communities and strengthens our national security and food supply by:
** Continuing critical investments in agriculture research, rural broadband, and animal and plant health programs;
** Providing sufficient funds to ensure the safety of food, drugs, and medical devices;
** Ensuring that low-income Americans have access to nutrition programs;
** Reining in harmful regulations that dictate how poultry and livestock producers raise and market their animals;
** Preventing the purchase of agricultural land by companies owned by foreign adversaries; and
** Providing a $39 million increase for the Food Safety and Inspection Service to fully fund frontline meat and poultry inspectors.
* Reins in wasteful Washington spending and bureaucracy by:
** Redirecting billions in the partisan bills that contained Democrats’ priorities (American Rescue Plan and Inflation Reduction Act) to help America’s producers and rural communities;
** Including a $32 billion decrease in mandatory SNAP spending from FY23 levels due to the end of increased pandemic-era benefits and a decrease in participation rates;
** Restricting the USDA Secretary’s discretionary spending authority on unauthorized, non-emergency programs; and
** Directing USDA to focus hiring efforts in state and county offices to assist producers and rural communities, rather than continuing to bloat the DC bureaucracy.
* Protects the lives of unborn children by:
** Including a provision that ends mail-order chemical abortion drugs.
A summary of the bill is available.
Bill text is available.
Source: U.S. Department of HCA