Republicans Advance Agriculture-FDA Funding Bill that would Raise Costs on Farmers, Cut Assistance for Hungry Families

WASHINGTON — During today’s House Appropriations subcommittee markup of the 2027 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies funding bill, House Democrats highlighted how the bill would raise costs on American farmers, cut assistance to hungry families, and defund programs that support rural communities.

The bill:

• Increases costs for farmers and rural communities by steeply cutting critical investments, including water and waste grants to help the poorest communities get safer water services, and slashing the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) loans in half.
• Hurts farmers by cutting the number of federal and local employees who help them access government resources they are promised.
• Threatens access to food for hardworking and vulnerable Americans, failing to ensure that every eligible recipient can access their benefits, by not providing the full fruit and vegetable benefit to USDA's Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).  
• Slashes Food for Peace, which provides American farmers with additional revenue and helps feed hungry children around the globe, while USDA proceeds to start implementing the program after the administration gutted USAID.

“It is hard to make America healthy again when this bill takes fruit and vegetables from over 5 million women, infants, and children and eliminates the Healthy Food Financing Initiative. When ag producers and rural communities are struggling with skyrocketing costs over the past year, this bill is cutting staff and programs on which they rely at the Farm Service Agency, Rural Development and NRCS,” Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member Sanford Bishop, Jr. (D-GA-02) said. “This bill makes it harder for rural communities to have clean water and affordable utilities, and it unfortunately retreats from investment in our rural businesses. Finally, the majority is offering caustic riders that simply take the focus away from agriculture and the real challenges we face. Rural America needs help now more than ever and I hope that we can improve this bill as the appropriations process continues.”

Congressman Sanford Bishop, Jr.’s opening remarks can be found here.

“This bill hurts American farmers, hungry families, and rural communities,” said House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03). “This bill cuts grocery vouchers specifically for women, infants and children. It pares back assistance for rural communities, slashing water and waste grants and cutting resources to help provide broadband service in rural areas. And it eliminates many rural development staff who help farmers access the benefits they are entitled to. Under this bill, American farmers will lose out on the revenue they receive by growing food for the Food for Peace Program, while more children around the globe go hungry. Farmers and working families continue to struggle under this administration’s cost of living crisis. This bill would make it worse. Republicans are willing to increase funding by hundreds of billions of dollars to fight foreign wars. But when it comes to supporting American farmers and hungry families, all they can do is cut, cut, cut. The American people deserve better.”

Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro’s opening remarks can be found here.

A summary of House Republicans’ 2027 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies bill is here. A fact sheet of the bill is here. The text of the bill is here. The subcommittee markup will be webcast live and linked on the House Committee on Appropriations website.

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