To Members of the NASULGC System:

The Budget and Advocacy Committee (BAC) and The BRT have been working diligently over the past month -- since release of the president's budget on Feb. 2 -- to get ready for the F.Y. 2005 budget and appropriations season. This report contains several items:

▪ A report from the BAC's February meeting.
▪ The BAC's priority requests for F.Y. 2005.
▪ Report from the CARET-AHS meeting.
▪ Letters to the Senate and House Budget Committees.
▪ New documents posted to the nasulgc-bac.com web site.

The BAC Meeting on Feb. 9 and 10
The BAC met in Washington, DC during the second week of February to finalize its F.Y. 2005 requests for CSREES and other agencies. This meeting capped a process initiated by the BAC at its June 2003 meeting. At the Feb. session, the BAC confirmed the three CSREES requests it had been developing, added a fourth priority, and agreed to support the president's agrosecurity initiatives.

The BAC's Priority Requests
1. Restore the $20.6 million cut from 33 CSREES accounts in the F.Y. 2004 appropriations bill (the so-called 10% cuts).

2. Provide large increases for 1890s facilities and capacity building and lesser (but nonetheless significant) increases for 1994s research and extension, Hispanic education partnerships, and the insular areas resident instruction and distance education program (authorized in the 2002 farm bill but not yet funded.)

3. Restore the 10% cut for the Expanded Food Nutrition and Education Program (EFNEP) in the F.Y. 2004 bill and provide a $10 million increase spread over three years. (The requested level for EFNEP this year is $62 million, a $10 million increase over the F.Y. 2004 as enacted level.)

4. Adopt the $180 million funding level for the National Research Initiative as proposed in the president's budget request (a $16 million increase over the F.Y. 2004 as enacted level), and modest increases in the institution challenge grant and international science and education programs.

In addition to these four requests, the BAC also agreed to support the president's agrosecurity initiatives, which include $30 million for the animal and plant diagnostic network and the EDEN program and a new $5 million line item for a higher education agrosecurity education effort.

The CARET-AHS Meeting on Feb. 29 to March 2
Members of NASULGC's Council for Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching (CARET) and the Academic Heads Section (AHS) met in their annual joint session earlier this week. The BRT helped organize the meeting and participated extensively in the program. As you know, one of the principal objectives of the joint CARET-AHS meeting is to prepare these representatives of the NASULGC system to deliver our messages and requests on Capitol Hill.

The BRT's presentations and the materials distributed to the CARET-AHS attendees have all been posted to the nasulgc-bac.com web site and are listed below.

Letters Delivered to House and Senate Budget Committees
The congressional Budget Committees are hard at work on the F.Y. 2005 budget resolution. Since the agriculture portion of the budget was hit hard last year (-$800 million) and since the president's budget proposes further reductions (-$1.2 billion), the BAC has joined with other agriculture-related organizations in sending letters to the leadership of the Budget Committees. Those letters have also been posted to the web site and are listed below.

New Documents on www.nasulgc-bac.com

Overview of the BAC's F.Y. 2005 Request
Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension
The CSREES requests (for internal use only)

Justification Documents
Restore the 10 Percent Cuts
Equity for all land-grants: 1890s, 1994s, Hispanic Ed., Insular Areas
Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP)
Competitive Grants Programs: NRI, Challenge Grants, International
Agrosecurity

Paragraphs and Forms for Congressional 'Member Request' Letters
Restore the 10 Percent Cuts
1890s Facilities
1890s Capacity Building
1994s Research
1994s Extension
Hispanic Education Partnership
Insular Areas Resident Instruction and Distance Education
Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program
National Research Initiative
Institution Challenge Grants
International Science and Education

Budget Committee Letters
The BAC's Senate and House Letters
Joint Letter from Commodity Groups

BRT PowerPoint Presentations to the CARET- AHS Meeting
Advocacy 101
F.Y. 2005 Appropriations - Part One
F.Y. 2005 Appropriations - Part Two

It has been a busy month, but much remains to be done prior to the deadlines for submission of letters to the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittees by House members (March 25) and senators (April 1). Look for a BRT Call to Action on this matter within the next few days.

Fred H. Hutchison
Fleishman-Hillard Government Relations