WC Georgia News

WASHINGTON, DC – On May 18, 2023, Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr., Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies – and all subcommittee Democrats – opposed the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Agriculture appropriations bill offered by the Majority. The bill passed on a party-line vote and now moves to the full House Appropriations Committee for consideration.

“I am extremely disappointed that this bill will shortchange America’s rural and underserved communities, restricting their ability to access water and waste systems, nutritious food, and affordable electricity,” said Ranking Member Sanford Bishop, Jr. “The federal government should be a steadfast partner for farmers and for smaller communities whose budgets cannot meet the large, upfront costs of critical quality-of-life projects. Too much is at stake in this bill – from the food we eat, to the medicines on which we rely, and the fiber and materials that help clothe and build our country. Unfortunately, these cuts will hurt the most vulnerable and blunt the forward progress being made to grow our economy for everyone. The American people deserve better.”

READ: Congressman Bishop’s opening remarks during markup of the FY 2024 Ag, Rural Development, FDA, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill

WATCH: Congressman Bishop’s opening remarks during markup of the FY2024 Ag, Rural Development, FDA, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill

The FY 2024 Ag Appropriations bill: 

• Fails to meet the challenges of today by bringing USDA funding down to 2006 levels
• Underfunds the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Program for 2024, affecting 5 million women and children
• Imposes burdensome and unnecessary work requirements for SNAP, which exacerbates the cycle of poverty in rural communities and leaves low-income families hungry
• Guts over $3 billion in investments for rural electric cooperatives to provide affordable energy for rural communities
• Slashes rural water and wastewater funding by over 30%, preventing over 300 communities from accessing clean drinking water
• Cuts rural housing loans by 30%, preventing over 2,800 families from buying a home
• Eliminates funding for the 1% Distressed Communities Program for small towns who cannot afford water and sewer renovations to get arsenic and lead out of their drinking water
• Zeroes out vital programs, such as the Healthy Forests Reserve Program, Watershed and Flood Prevention Program, and Urban Agriculture Program
• Reduces the ReConnect program for expanded broadband internet services by $88 million
• Eliminates assistance to distressed FSA farm loan borrowers who are currently in immediate danger of losing their farms

Every spring, the House Appropriations Committee’s twelve subcommittees begin preliminary markups of discretionary spending for the following fiscal year budget. After subcommittee markups, the bills move to full Committee markup, before being brought to the full U.S. House of Representatives for consideration. 

Full text of the Fiscal Year 2024 appropriations bill for the Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA, and Related Agencies can be found at: https://docs.house.gov/meetings/AP/AP01/20230518/115996/BILLS-118--AP--Agriculture-FY24AgSubcommitteeMark.pdf.

 Original source can be found here.