FY2010 Supplemental Appropriations for Agriculture

Jim Monke
Specialist in Agricultural Policy

Two separate bills are advancing in the 111th Congress that could provide nearly $4 billion of supplemental funds for agricultural programs in FY2010. The agricultural provisions in these bills have a relatively small funding impact compared with the nonagricultural provisions in the bills.

H.R. 4213 (commonly known as the "tax extenders" bill) would provide up to $3.6 billion for agriculture-related programs. The House and Senate are trading amendments to reconcile differences between each chamber's version of the bill. The most recent House-passed version from May 28, 2010, includes $1.48 billion for agricultural disaster assistance, $1.15 billion for a settlement of the Pigford lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and $1.06 billion to extend tax provisions for biodiesel and conservation. The Senate-passed version from March 10, 2010, does not contain funding for the Pigford settlement, but does include the other provisions.

H.R. 4899 (a supplemental appropriations bill for war spending and disaster response) would provide smaller appropriations for agriculture, totaling up to $150 million after offsets in the Senate-passed bill and $303 million in a House draft bill. A Senate-passed version from May 27, 2010, would provide $32 million for the farm loan program (to support an additional $950 million of loans), $150 million for international food aid, $18 million for emergency forest restoration, and additional authorities for a rural development housing loan program. It also contains a $50 million offset from the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP). A May 26, 2010, draft summarized by the House Appropriations Committee would provide slightly less for the farm loan program ($27 million to support $850 million of loans), the same $150 million for P.L. 480 for Haiti, significantly more for rural housing loans ($173 million of budget authority to support $12 billion of loan guarantees), and $50 million for food purchases in a domestic nutrition assistance program. The House draft offsets $97 million within agriculture with rescissions from unobligated balances from past emergency appropriations.

Both bills await further floor action to resolve differences between the chambers.


Date of Report: June 4, 2010
Number of Pages: 12
Order Number: R41255
Price: $29.95

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