Senate subcommittee advances $20.5B bill funding Agriculture, FDA

A Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Tuesday advanced a bill that would fund the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the next fiscal year.

The bill’s contains $20.5 billion in discretionary funding, which is $65 million below the current level and $1.1 billion below President Obama’s request. The bulk of the measure, however, contains $123.3 billion mandatory funding. The text of the bill won’t be released until Thursday.

The GOP-led panel included a controversial policy rider that would require pending 2015 Dietary Guidelines to be based “solely on nutritional and scientific evidence and not extraneous information.” Republicans included this provision in another spending bill as well.

{mosads}The bill also includes a provision that would delay by one year a calorie-count regulation that was scheduled to take effect in December. The FDA, however, announced last week that it would delay the rule anyway until late 2016.

“The bill prioritizes agriculture research and extension activities, promotes rural development efforts, supports food safety and public health initiatives, and prioritizes the development of new medicines and medical devices,” Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) said in a statement.

For the USDA, the bill would fund agricultural research, loan programs for farmers and ranchers, and the agency that evaluates food safety and inspects meat, poultry and egg products.

The bill contains funding for a supplemental nutrition program for women, infants and children, for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for low-income people and for a child nutrition program.

“More needs to be done,” Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) said about the bill’s funding levels. “ In order to protect rural America, our nation’s food supply, and the most vulnerable citizens among us we must have a bipartisan budget agreement that moves this country forward.”

Democrats on the panel said the bill does not include increases for climate change, antibiotic resistance or other research areas.

They also said the bill does not provide requested increases for implementing the FDA Safety and Innovation Act, oversight of drug compounding facilities or evaluating more over-the-counter sunscreens.