Summary of Agriculture Division of 2015 Omnibus Appropriations Act

December 9, 2014
Press Release

 

2014 Total enacted level:       $20.9 billion

2015 Committee mark:           $20.9 billion

2015 Omnibus:                        $20.6 billion

Highlights and key points:

  • $6.6 billion for Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), which is sufficient to meet expected need in 2015. 
  • $1.47 billion for Food for Peace (P.L.480) grants, which is the same as the 2014 enacted level and $66 million above the request.
  • $2.6 billion for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which is $37 million more than the 2014 enacted level and $4 million more than the request.
  • $1.016 billion for the USDA food safety and inspection program, which is $6 million more than the 2014 enacted level and $15 million more than the request.
  • $1.51 billion for the Farm Service Agency, which is $22 million more than the 2014 enacted level and $61 million over the request.
  • $25 million for FDA in emergency spending, which fully funds the administration’s Ebola request.

Policy Issues

  • The agreement does not include a House policy rider allowing schools to receive waivers from complying with improved lunch and breakfast nutrition standards in the Healthy, Hunger-free Kids Act.  The agreement allows states to grant exemptions from whole grain standards to schools that demonstrate hardship in procuring specific products, and requires further study on reduced sodium standards, similar to the Senate provisions.
  • The agreement does not include a House policy rider making potatoes unconditionally available in the WIC program.  The agreement, while making potatoes available, requires that the ultimate decision on their availability be based on review by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and USDA.
  • The agreement includes Democratic amendments to ban horse slaughter for human consumption, and prohibit funding for processed poultry products imported from China in the school lunch, breakfast, summer food service, and child and adult care food programs.

PRINTABLE VERSION

Subcommittees: 
Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies (113th Congress)
113th Congress