News
House FY21 budget bill increases ag spending
The fiscal year 2021 spending package passed by the U.S. House on Friday includes nearly 24 billion dollars in funding for the USDA and FDA.
That’s about 500 million dollars more than those agencies received this year.
The bill includes more than one billion dollars to expand rural broadband, an increase of 435 million dollars. It also increases funding for USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and Agriculture Research Service.
The bill also includes several Democratic-sponsored amendments designed to stymie recent policy moves by the Trump Administration. One would block Trump’s use of emergency authority to keep meat plants open as essential services during the pandemic. Another would prevent the administration from changing requirements for federal environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act.
The legislation would also stop the administration from carrying out rules tightening eligibility for SNAP benefits.
It’s unclear when the Senate plans to address the spending measures.
