Posted June 2, 2014
On
Thursday, the House Appropriations Committee approved the fiscal year 2015
Agriculture Appropriations bill on a vote of 31-18, according to a press
release available here. Farm Futures also
published an article available here and High Plains
Journal here.
The
proposed legislation funds important agricultural and food programs and
services such as food and medical product safety, animal and plant health
programs, rural development and farm services, marketplace oversight, and
nutrition programs.
The
bill includes $20.9 billion in discretionary funding, which is equal to the
fiscal year 2014 enacted level. The total bill is at $142.5 billion with both
discretionary and mandatory funding for various nutrition programs.
“This bill invests in the people of
this country – in their safety, their livelihoods, and their communities – and
ensures that our agricultural industries are successful, productive, and safe,”
House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers said. “ In addition, this bill
supports nutrition programs that help to make sure our most vulnerable –
including children and the elderly – do not go hungry, and funds important programs
to keep our food and drug supply safe.”
Sensitive subjects on this bill were
debated for several hours such as the provision to allow schools suffering from
“economic hardship” to seek a temporary waiver from the compliance with school
lunch regulations during the 2014-2015 school year, according to Farm Futures.
“That's the concern – one of the
concerns with the waiver – it's so difficult to determine if a school district
is really financially struggling,” Vilsack said. “And it's somewhat puzzling,
because we're actually putting additional money into the program.”
“USDA has continued to show
flexibility in implementing these new standards, and Congress should focus on
partnering with USDA, states, schools, and parents to help our kids have access
to more healthy foods, not less,” Vilsack said in High Plains Journal.
For more information on farm bills,
please visit the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
