Tentative Schedule for House Consideration of the Agriculture/FDA Appropriations Bill

This week’s Analysis and Commentary is entitled “What the FY 24 Appropriations Cycle Tells Us About FY 25.”

 
Tentative Schedule for House Consideration of the Agriculture/FDA Appropriations Bill.  As we previously reported, the House Subcommittee markup is scheduled for Tuesday, June 11.  The full committee markup is scheduled for Wednesday, July 10. The bill is expected to be taken up by the full House during the week of July 22.

The House Appropriations Committee on May 23 approved interim 302(b) allocations, which provide the discretionary spending limits for each bill. The Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill will have a discretionary allocation of $25.873 billion.  According to the House Appropriations Committee, the FY 24 enacted bill had a total discretionary allocation of $26.228 billion.  The proposed level for FY 25 would be a year-over-year reduction of $355 million. 

Funding for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) was a major disagreement between the House and Senate in the FY 24 cycle and likely will be again for FY 25.  The President’s budget request includes an increase of $700 million (about 10%) for WIC, which is the largest discretionary program in the Agriculture/FDA bill taking up more than 26% of the allocation in FY 24.  FDA accounted for about 13.5% of discretionary funding.

Senate Appropriations Update.  The Senate has not yet announced its 302(b) allocations, nor has it announced a markup schedule.  We will provide additional information as it becomes available.

Likelihood of a Continuing Resolution.  With focus building toward the November elections, it seems increasingly likely that appropriations bills may not be finalized until after the election.  Whether that means in a lame duck session or if it all moves into 2025 with the 119th Congress and perhaps a new president is yet to be determined.  

Consequently, we expect another Continuing Resolution of uncertain duration, which, starting October 1, will limit the ability of FDA to undertake any new activities until funding is resolved. 

Regardless, our advocacy for FDA funding needs to stay strong during the next months of mark-ups and negotiations. See Q&A on the Urgent Need for FDA Advocacy and Hurry Up and Wait and Other Appropriations Questions.  

Farm Bill.  While the House Agriculture Committee on May 24 approved H.R. 8467, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024, Committee Chairman GT Thompson (R-PA) has said he does not expect the bill to be considered by the full House until September.   

Disagreements over provisions related to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), climate-related programs, and farm support programs make it unlikely that the bill will be completed.  The Senate Agriculture Committee has not released the text of its proposal, nor has a markup been scheduled.  Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) has said she would rather have no Farm Bill than a bad Farm Bill.  

All of this means that we are likely to see an extension of existing programs rather than new programs, without any impact on the FY 25 Agriculture/FDA appropriations bill.

FDA’s Human Foods Program Reorganization Formally Announced. The formal notice of the reorganization of the Human Foods Program was published in the June 3 edition of the Federal Register. The reorganization implementation is currently targeted for Oct. 1, 2024.  

According to FDA’s announcement last week, the reorganization realigns the functions of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, the Office of Food Policy and Response, and key functions from the Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA) under one program.  The FDA is changing the name ORA to the Office of Inspections and Investigations (OII).

The reorganization is a key step toward a more effective food safety program at FDA, but it will need additional funding and support to reach its potential. Several FDA speakers have noted this in their recent remarks during the Alliance’s budget series of webinars:

• Jim Jones, Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods (summary here; transcript here)

• FDA’s CFO, CSO, CMO, and OCS Staff (summary here; transcript here)

• Michael Rogers, Head of the Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA) and Associate Commissioner for Regulatory Affairs (summary here; transcript here; presentation slides here)