Senate
On May 22, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved, 30-0, the FY2015 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Related Agencies spending bill (S. 2389). The Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA, and Related Agencies approved the measure on May 20.
The measure would provide $142.654 billion in overall funding in FY2015 for the Department of Agriculture, the FDA, and various related programs, according to the committee report. This amount is $2.784 billion below FY2014 and $22.528 billion below President Obama’s FY2015 budget request.
The bill includes $6.623 billion for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), which is $93 million below the amount provided in FY2014.
The following chart summarizes funding levels for programs important to women and their families.
| Program/Agency | FY2014 | President’s FY2015 Request | FY2015 |
| Department of Agriculture – Domestic Food Programs | |||
| Food and Nutrition Service | $108.585 billion | $112.047 billion | $109.802 billion |
| Child Nutrition Programs | $19.288 billion | $20.537 billion | $20.497 billion |
| Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) | $6.716 billion | $6.823 billion | $6.623 billion*
|
| Special Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) | $82.17 billion | $84.256 billion | $82.251 billion |
| Commodity Assistance Program | $269.701 million | $275.701 million | $275.701 million |
| Department of Agriculture – Foreign Assistance Programs | |||
| P.L. 480 Title II Food for Peace | $1.466 billion | $1.4 billion | $1.466 billion |
| McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition | $185.126 million | $185.126 million | $185.126 million |
| Food and Drug Administration | |||
| FDA | $2.552 billion | $2.575 billion | $2.588 billion |
| User Fees | $1.826 billion | $2.162 billion | $1.902 billion |
| Mammography User Fees | $19.318 million | $19.705 million | $19.705 million |
*Funding for WIC includes $60 million for breastfeeding support.
House
On May 20, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA, and Related Agencies approved, by voice vote, its version of the FY2015 Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA, and Related Agencies spending bill (as-yet-unnumbered).
According to the committee summary, the bill would provide $142.5 billion in overall funding for FY2015. This amount is $3 billion below FY2014 and $1.5 billion below President Obama’s FY2015 request. Of that total, the bill would allocate $20.9 billion in discretionary funds, equal to the amount enacted in FY2014.
WIC would receive $6.6 billion in FY2015. This amount is $93 million below FY2014 and $200 million over the president’s request. The amount reflects estimates of declining enrollments in the WIC program. The bill includes $25 million for states to transition from paper vouchers to electronic benefit transfer (EBT).
Child nutrition programs would receive $20.5 billion in mandatory funding, $1.2 billion over FY2014. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program) would receive $82.3 billion in mandatory funds. This amount is $81 million over FY2014 and $2 billion below the administration’s request.
International food assistance programs would receive $1.7 billion under the legislation. The Food for Peace program would receive an increase of $66 million over the president’s request, while the McGovern-Dole program would receive an increase of $13 million over the president’s request.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would receive $4.5 billion in FY2015. This amount is $98 million over FY2014 and includes $2.6 billion in discretionary funds and $1.9 billion in user fees.
Additional details will be made available when the committee releases its report.
