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To Members of the NASULGC System:
The Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee met yesterday
and sent its spending bill for F.Y. 2006 on to the full Senate
Appropriations Committee for consideration. As you know, this
measure contains funding for programs administered by the USDA's
Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES).
Highlights of the Senate action are described below and detailed in documents posted to the nasulgc-bac.com Web site at
the following locations:
www.nasulgc-bac.com/documents/FY2006/Senate.xls
www.nasulgc-bac.com/documents/FY2006/House-Senate.doc
Highlights of Senate Bill
With few exceptions, CSREES line items in F.Y. 2006 would be
funded at their F.Y. 2005 levels. The exceptions are set forth
in the following table:
| Research & Education Line Items |
F.Y. 2005 |
Senate Mark |
Change |
| Evans-Allen |
36,704,000 |
37,477,000 |
+773,000 |
| Special Research Grants |
120,314,000 |
110,281,000 |
-10,033,000 |
| National Research Initiative |
179,552,000 |
190,000,000 |
+10,448,000 |
| Alternative Crops |
1,186,000 |
833,000 |
-353,000 |
| Resident Instruction and Distance Ed. Grants |
496,000 |
0 |
-496,000 |
| Agrosecurity Education |
0 |
750,000 |
+750,000 |
| Federal Administration |
42,546,000 |
38,193,000 |
-4,353,000 |
| Extension Line Items |
F.Y. 2005 |
Senate Mark |
Change |
| 1890 Institutions Extension |
32,868,000 |
33,643,000 |
+775,000 |
| Expanded Food & Nutrition Ed. Program |
58,438,000 |
62,909,000 |
+4,471,000 |
| New Technologies for Ag Extension (eXtension) |
0 |
2,000,000 |
+2,000,000 |
| Federal Administration and Special Grants |
21,883,000 |
22,443,000 |
+560,000 |
| Integrated Activities
Line Item |
F.Y. 2005 |
Senate Mark |
Change |
| Food and Agriculture Defense Initiative |
8,928,000 |
10,000,000 |
+1,072,000 |
Discussion
The Senate, like the House of Representatives, has rejected
the proposal in the President's F.Y. 2006 Budget Request to
reduce by 50 percent funding for the Hatch and McIntire-Stennis
formula fund programs and to eliminate funding for the Animal
Health & Disease program.
With respect to the President's proposal to transfer Sec. 406
line items to the National Research Initiative (NRI), the Senate
did not concur with the House. The Senate has rejected the
consolidation of the Sec. 406 funding lines within the NRI.
The Senate, even in this tight budgetary year, was able to make
modest increases to several of the line items singled out by the
Budget and Advocacy Committee of NASULGC's Board on Agriculture
Assembly for "priority attention." These line items included:
(1) the NRI; (2) Agrosecurity Education; (3) EFNEP; (4)
eXtension; and (5) the Food and Agriculture Defense Initiative.
In addition, the Senate made increases to two other programs of
importance to the 1890 Institutions: (1) Evans-Allen; and (2)
1890s Extension.
The only item on the BAC's "priority attention" list to receive
a decrease under the Senate mark was the Resident
Instruction and Distance Education Grants line item for the
land-grants in the U.S. territories. However, the House did
agree to continue funding for this important program at last
year's level of $500,000 and we will continue to fight hard for
this line item when the House and Senate meet to reconcile
differences between the two versions of the Ag Appropriations
bill.
Next Steps
The Senate Appropriations Committee is scheduled to take up
the Ag spending bill tomorrow afternoon, and changes to CSREES
accounts are possible. Floor debate on this bill may occur in
July, following the Independence Day recess.
Fred H. Hutchison
Fleishman Hillard
Government Relations
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