To Members of the NASULGC System:

House and Senate negotiators have completed work on the F.Y. 2005 Budget Resolution. The final agreement of the joint conference committee included the "Sense of the Senate" language offered by Sen. Charles Grassley concerning "funding restoration for agriculture research and extension."

See: www.nasulgc-bac.com/brt_reports/04-MAR-12.htm

This is an important development for the NASULGC system and further indication that your grassroots contacts are having an impact on Congress.

The conference report on the budget resolution is to be debated on the House floor today and is likely to come up in the Senate tomorrow. Although the legislation is expected to pass the House, the outcome in the Senate is less certain. Here are the details:

	The conference agreement would set an F.Y. 2005 discretionary spending cap of $821.4 billion, a 4.2 percent increase over F.Y. 2004.
	Defense would be increased 6.8 percent to $420.8 billion and homeland security 11.6 percent to $31.2 billion.
	All other discretionary spending would rise just 0.9 percent to $369.4 billion, a $3.1 billion increase over last year.
	Within non-defense, non-homeland security spending, however, foreign aid programs would see a 9 percent increase and veterans' programs, education, and NASA would also see generous increases, meaning that other domestic programs could face cuts.

The funding totals are just guidelines for the House and Senate Appropriations committees, which will set final discretionary spending levels. The budget agreement also assumes $50 billion in spending for Iraq and Afghanistan, over and above the $821.4 billion total.

SEE section 606 - “Sense of the Senate Supporting Funding Restoration for Agriculture Research and Extension” at pages 75-76 of the following link: www.house.gov/budget/fy05confagrmntleg.pdf

Fred Clark and Fred Hutchison, The BRT