On April 19, the House Appropriations Committee approved, by voice vote, the FY2017 Agriculture, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Rural Development, and Related Agencies spending bill (as-yet-unnumbered). The Subcommittee on Agriculture, FDA, Rural Development, and Related Agencies approved the measure on April 13 (see The Source, 4/15/16).
According to the committee report, the bill would provide $21.299 billion in discretionary funding in FY2017. This amount is $451 million below FY2016 and $281 million below President Obama’s FY2017 budget request.
Among other provisions, the measure would continue the breastfeeding peer counseling program and infrastructure within the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) (p. 56) and urges the FDA to implement changes that require mammography reports to include information on a patient’s breast density (p. 69).
The following chart details funding for programs important to women and their families.
|
Program/Agency |
FY2016 |
President’s FY2017 Request |
FY2017 |
|
Department of Agriculture – Domestic Food Programs |
|||
| Food and Nutrition Service | $109.796 billion | $111.763 billion | $109.683 billion |
| Child Nutrition Programs | $22.15 billion | $23.231 billion | $23.176 billion |
| Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) | $6.35 billion | $6.35 billion | $6.35 billion |
| Special Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) | $80.849 billion | $81.689 billion | $79.673 billion |
| Commodity Assistance Program | $296.217 million | $313.193 million | $315.139 million |
|
Department of Agriculture – Foreign Assistance |
|||
| P.L. 480 Title II Food for Peace | $1.466 billion | $1.35 billion | $1.466 billion |
| McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition | $201.626 million | $182.045 million | $201.626 million |
