Agriculture and Related Agencies: FY2019 Appropriations Updated January 3, 2019 Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov R45230 Agriculture and Related Agencies: FY2019 Appropriations Summary The Agriculture appropriations bill funds the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) except for the Forest Service. It also funds the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and—in even-numberedevennumbered fiscal years—the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

Agriculture appropriations include both mandatory and discretionary spending. Discretionary amounts, though, are the primary focus during the bill'’s development. The largest discretionary spending items are the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); agricultural research; FDA; rural development; foreign food aid and trade; farm assistance programs; food safety inspection; conservation; and animal and plant health programs. The main mandatory spending items are the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), child nutrition, crop insurance, and the farm commodity and conservation programs paid by the Commodity Credit Corporation.

. For FY2019, both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees reported agriculture bills ( (H.R. 5961, , S. 2976) in May 2018. The Senate amended and passed its version as Division C of a four-bill minibus on August 1, 2018 (H.R. 6147). In the absence of a final appropriation, Congress enacted two continuing resolutions through, but these expired on December 21, 2018 (P.L. 115-245115245, Division C; and H.J.Res 143).

P.L. 115-298). Beginning December 22, 2018, a partial government shutdown (funding lapse) began limiting operations, since Agriculture appropriations is one of the seven funding bills not continued. Some “excepted” functions such as food safety and commodity grading can continue during the funding lapse. The Trump Administration requested $17 billion for discretionary-funded accounts within the jurisdiction of Agriculture appropriations, a reduction of $6.2 billion from FY2018 (-27%). Both the House-reported and Senate-passed bills generally reject most of the proposed reductions.

The discretionary total of the House-reported bill is $23.23 billion, which would be $14 million less than enacted in FY2018 (-0.1%). The discretionary total of the Senate-passed bill is also $23.23 billion. However, the Senate bill'’s total would be $229 million more than enacted in FY2018 (+1%) on a comparable basis that excludes the CFTC. The Senate-passed bill would provide about $250 million more than the House-passed bill on a comparable basis.

The primary changes at the agency level that comprise the Among the primary differences between the bills and from FY2018 include the following: Both the House and Senate bills would increase FDA appropriations (+$308 million in the House bill; +$159 million in the Senate bill). Both bills increase appropriations for animal and plant health programs (+$16 million to +$19 million). The House bill would provide more base funding for rural water and waste disposal (+$81 million), but none of the extra money that was provided separately in FY2018. The Senate bill would not change the base funding for rural water but continues $400 million of the extra funding from last year. For rural broadband, both the House and Senate bills would continue extra funding from a FY2018 a FY2018 pilot ($550 million in the House bill; $425 million in the Senate bill). The House bill would increase appropriations for agricultural research (+$79 million), and the Senate bill would increase Agricultural Research Service programming (+98 million) but would not provide any money for not fund any construction (-$141 million). Both bills provide less for WIC (-$175 million in the House bill, and -$25 million in the Senate bill), though the Senate bill has a larger rescission from prior-year WIC funds than does the House bill. The House bill would reduce base funding for the international Food for Peace program (-$100 million) and does not renew extra funding provided last year (-$116 million), while the Senate bill would keepkeeps it constant overall.

. The appropriations also carry mandatory spending—largely determined in separate authorizing laws—that would total $122 billion. Thus, the overall total of the both bills is about $145 billion.

Both bills contain policy provisions affecting disaster programs, rural definitions, industrial hemp, animal products, nutrition programs, dietary guidelines, CFTC, and tobacco products.

Both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees have reported Agriculture appropriations bills for FY2019 (H.R. 5961, S. 2976). The Senate amended and passed its version as Division C of a four-bill minibus (H.R. 6147). In the absence of a final appropriation, FY2019 began under two continuing resolutions that last until December 21 (Table 1).

Specifically, the House Appropriations Committee passed its bill, H.R. 5961, on May 16, 2018, after the Agriculture Subcommittee passed its markup on May 9. The Senate Appropriations Committee passed its bill, S. 2976, on May 24, 2018, after the Agriculture Subcommittee passed its markup on May 22. The full Senate passed a four-bill minibus containing agriculture appropriations on August 1, 2018 (Figure 1, Appendix B).

Congressional Research Service Agriculture and Related Agencies: FY2019 Appropriations Contents Status of FY2019 Agriculture Appropriations ................................................................................. 1 Scope of Agriculture Appropriations ............................................................................................... 3 Recent Trends in Agriculture Appropriations .................................................................................. 5 Action on FY2019 Appropriations .................................................................................................. 7 Administration’s Budget Request ............................................................................................. 7 Discretionary Budget Caps and Subcommittee Allocations...................................................... 8 House Action ............................................................................................................................. 8 Senate Action ............................................................................................................................ 9 Continuing Resolutions ........................................................................................................... 10 Government Shutdown............................................................................................................. 11 Policy-Related Provisions ....................................................................................................... 20 Figures Figure 1. Timeline of Action on Agriculture Appropriations, FY1999-FY2019 ............................. 3 Figure 2. Scope of Agriculture and Related Agencies Appropriations ............................................ 4 Figure 3. Discretionary Agriculture Appropriations, by Title, FY2009-FY2019 ............................ 6 Figure 4. Inflation-Adjusted Agriculture Appropriations, FY2009-FY2019................................... 7 No table of figures entries found. No table of figures entries found. Tables Table 1. Status of FY2019 Agriculture Appropriations ................................................................... 1 Table 2. Agriculture and Related Agencies Appropriations, by Title, FY2018-FY2019 ................. 2 Table 3. Agriculture and Related Agencies Appropriations, by Agency, FY2016-FY2019 .......... 14 Table 4. Selected Policy Provisions in FY2019 Agriculture Appropriations ................................ 20 No table of figures entries found. Table A-1. Sequestration from Accounts in Agriculture Appropriations ....................................... 24 Table A-2. Sequestration of Mandatory Accounts in Agriculture Appropriations ......................... 26 Table B-1. Congressional Action on Agriculture Appropriations Since FY1996 .......................... 28 Appendixes Appendix A. Budget Sequestration ............................................................................................... 24 Appendix B. Action on Agriculture Appropriations, FY1996-FY2019 ........................................ 28 Congressional Research Service Agriculture and Related Agencies: FY2019 Appropriations Contacts Author Contact Information .......................................................................................................... 29 Congressional Research Service Agriculture and Related Agencies: FY2019 Appropriations Status of FY2019 Agriculture Appropriations In the absence of a final appropriation, FY2019 began under two continuing resolutions that lasted until December 21, 2018 (Table 1). Beginning December 22, a partial government shutdown began limiting operations of agencies that are funded in Agriculture appropriations, since the FY2019 appropriation has not been enacted. Some “excepted” functions such as food safety and commodity grading can continue during the funding lapse. Both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees have reported Agriculture appropriations bills for FY2019 (H.R. 5961 on May 16, 2018, and S. 2976 on May 24, 2018). The Senate amended and passed its version as Division C of a four-bill minibus (H.R. 6147 on August 1, 2018). See Figure 1 Appendix B for a more complete picture of the timeline. Higher discretionary budget caps in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (P.L. 115-123) may facilitate enactment of a final) have facilitated development of the appropriation. The discretionary total of the House-reported bill is $23.23 billion and would be $14 million less than enacted in FY2018 (-0.1%; Table 2). The discretionary total of the Senate-passed bill is also $23.23 billion. However, the Senate bill'’s total would be $229 million more than enacted in FY2018 (+1%) on a comparable basis that excludes the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).¹1 The Senate-passed bill would provide about $250 million more than the House-passed bill on a comparable basis.

The appropriations also carry mandatory spending—though that is largely determined in separate authorizing laws—that would total nearly $122 billion. Thus, the overall total of each of the proposed bills is about $145 billion.

The Trump Administration released its FY2019 budget request on February 12, 2018,²2 along with the detailed justification from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).³3 The Administration requested $17 billion of discretionary Agriculture appropriations (including CFTC), which would have been a reduction of $6.2 billion from FY2018 (-27%).

Congressional Research Service R45230 · VERSION 12 · UPDATED 2 Agriculture and Related Agencies: FY2019 Appropriations Figure 1. Timeline of Action on Agriculture Appropriations, FY1999-FY2019

Source: CRS.

CRS. Scope of Agriculture Appropriations

The Agriculture appropriations bill—formally known as the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act—funds all of USDA, excluding the U.S. Forest Service. It also funds the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In even-numbered fiscal years, the act carries CFTC funding under a practice started in FY2008 for handling House-Senate jurisdictional differences.

Jurisdiction is with the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations and their respective Subcommittees on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies. The bill includes mandatory and discretionary spending, but the discretionary amounts are the primary focus during the bill'’s development. The scope of the bill is shown in Figure 2.

. The federal budget process treats discretionary and mandatory spending differently:⁴

• 4  4 Discretionary spending is controlled by annual appropriations acts and receives most of the attention during the appropriations process. The annual budget resolution⁵ See CRS Report R44582, Overview of Funding Mechanisms in the Federal Budget Process, and Selected Examples. Congressional Research Service R45230 · VERSION 12 · UPDATED 3 Agriculture and Related Agencies: FY2019 Appropriations  resolution5 process sets spending limits for discretionary appropriations. Agency operations (salaries and expenses) and many grant programs are discretionary.
• Mandatory spending⁶ Mandatory spending6—though carried in the appropriation and usually advanced unchanged—is controlled by budget rules during the authorization process.⁷7 Spending for so-called entitlement programs is set in laws such as the 2014 farm bill⁸bill8 and 2010 child nutrition reauthorizations.⁹

9 In the FY2018 Agriculture appropriations, discretionary appropriations were 16% ($23.3 billion) of the $146 billion total. Mandatory spending carried in the act comprised $123 billion, about 84% of the total. About $99 billion of the $123 billion mandatory amount could be attributed to programs in the 2014 farm bill (Figure 2). Some programs are not in the authorizing jurisdiction of the House or Senate Agriculture Committees.

Figure 2. Scope of Agriculture and Related Agencies Appropriations (FY2018 budget authority in billions of dollars)

Source: CRS. Does not show some agencies under $0.5 billion. Includes General Provisions with agencies. Notes: SNAP = Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; CCC = Commodity Credit Corporation; FCIC = Federal Crop Insurance Corporation; Section 32 = Funds for Strengthening Markets, Income and Supply; WIC = 5 See CRS Report R42388, The Congressional Appropriations Process: An Introduction. Mandatory spending creates funding stability and consistency compared to annual discretionary appropriations. In agriculture, it originated with farm commodity programs that had uncertain outlays due to weather and markets. 7 See CRS Report 98-560, Baselines and Scorekeeping in the Federal Budget Process. 8 P.L. 113-79. See CRS In Focus IF10783, Farm Bill Primer: Budget Issues. 9 P.L. 111-296. See CRS Report R44373, Tracking the Next Child Nutrition Reauthorization: An Overview. 6 Congressional Research Service R45230 · VERSION 12 · UPDATED 4 Agriculture and Related Agencies: FY2019 Appropriations Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children; CSFP = Commodity Supplemental Food Program; FDA = Food and Drug Administration; FSA = Farm Service Agency; RMA = Risk Management Agency; FSIS = Food Safety and Inspection Service; APHIS = Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

Within the discretionary total, the largest discretionary spending items are the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); rural development; agricultural research; FDA; foreign food aid and trade; farm assistance program salaries and loans; food safety inspection; conservation; and animal and plant health programs (Figure 2).

). The main mandatory spending items are the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, and other food and nutrition act programs), child nutrition (school lunch and related programs), crop insurance, and farm commodity and conservation programs that are paid through USDA's ’s Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC). SNAP is referred to as an "“appropriated entitlement"” and requires an annual appropriation.¹⁰10 Amounts for the nutrition program are based on projected spending needs. In contrast, the CCC operates on a line of credit. The annual appropriation provides funding to reimburse the Treasury for the use of this line of credit.

. Recent Trends in Agriculture Appropriations

Over time, changes by title of the Agriculture appropriations bill have generally been proportionate to changes in the bill'’s total discretionary limit, though some activities have sustained relative increases and decreases. Agriculture appropriations peaked in FY2010, declined through FY2013, and since then have increased (Figure 3). Comparisons to historical benchmarks, though, may be affected by adjustments for inflation (Figure 4). In FY2018, USDA reorganization affected the placement of some programs between Titles I and II of the bill.

The stacked bars in Figure 3 represent the discretionary authorization for each appropriations title. The total of the positive stacked bars is the budget authority in Titles I-VI. Prior to FY2018, it was higher than the official discretionary spending allocation (the line) because of the 10 See CRS Report RS20129, Entitlements and Appropriated Entitlements in the Federal Budget Process. Congressional Research Service R45230 · VERSION 12 · UPDATED 5 Agriculture and Related Agencies: FY2019 Appropriations budgetary offset from negative amounts in Title VII (general provisions) and other scorekeeping adjustments that were negative mostly due to limits on mandatory programs and rescissions.

Figure 3. Discretionary Agriculture Appropriations, by Title, FY2009-FY2019

Source: CRS. CRS. Note: For FY2019, Adm. is the Administration'’s request, H.R. is committee-reported H.R. 5961 and Sen. is Senate-passed H.R. 6147. Includes CFTC in Related Agencies in all years.

Figure 4. Inflation-Adjusted Agriculture Appropriations, FY2009-FY2019

Congressional Research Service R45230 · VERSION 12 · UPDATED 6 Agriculture and Related Agencies: FY2019 Appropriations Figure 4. Inflation-Adjusted Agriculture Appropriations, FY2009-FY2019 Source: CRS. CRS. Note: For FY2019, Adm. is the Administration'’s request, H.R. is committee-reported H.R. 5961 and Sen. is Senate-passed H.R. 6147. Includes CFTC in Related Agencies in all years. Budget authority is millions of dollars adjusted to FY2019 using the gross domestic product price deflator.

Action on FY2019 Appropriations

Administration' Administration’s Budget Request

The Trump Administration released its FY2019 budget request on February 12, 2018,¹¹11 one week later than the usual first Monday in February. USDA concurrently released its more detailed budget summary and justification,¹²12 as did the FDA,¹³13 and the independent agencies of the CFTC¹⁴ CFTC14 and the Farm Credit Administration (FCA).¹⁵15 The Administration also highlighted some of the proposed reductions and eliminations separately.¹⁶

16 From these documents, the congressional appropriations committees evaluated the request and began to consider their own bills in the spring of 2018. For accounts in the jurisdiction of the Agriculture appropriations bill, the Administration'’s budget proposed $17.4 billion, a 25% reduction from FY2018 (Table 2, , Figure 3).

The timing of the Administration's budget request for FY2019 preceded Congress enacting the ). 11 OMB, FY2019 Budget of the U.S. Government, Appendix, https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/appendix. USDA, FY2019 USDA Budget Summary; and USDA, 2019 Budget Explanatory Notes, http://www.obpa.usda.gov. 13 FDA, FY2019 FDA Justification of Estimates for Appropriations, https://www.hhs.gov/about/budget/index.html. 14 CFTC, FY2019 CFTC Budget Request, https://www.cftc.gov/sites/default/files/idc/groups/public/documents/file/ cftcbudget2019.pdf. 15 FCA, FY2019 FCA Proposed Budget, https://www.fca.gov/Download/BudgetFY2019.pdf. 16 OMB, FY2019 Budget of the U.S. Government, Major Savings and Reforms. 12 Congressional Research Service R45230 · VERSION 12 · UPDATED 7 Agriculture and Related Agencies: FY2019 Appropriations The timing of the Administration’s budget request for FY2019 preceded Congress enacting the final, omnibus FY2018 appropriation in March 2018. Therefore, amounts in the FY2018 column of the Administration'’s budget documents are based on FY2017 and the continuing resolution and are not reliable indicators of the enacted FY2018 levels that came later.

Discretionary Budget Caps and Subcommittee Allocations

Budget enforcement for appropriations has both procedural and statutory elements.

The procedural elements are associated with the budget resolution and are enforced through points of order. Typically, each chamber'’s full Appropriations Committee receives a top-line procedural limit on discretionary budget authority, referred to as a "“302(a)"” allocation, from the Budget Committee via an annual budget resolution passed by each chamber. The Appropriations Committees then each in turn subdivide their allocation among their subcommittees, referred to as the "“302(b)"” allocations.¹⁷

17 The statutory elements impose limits on discretionary spending in FY2012-FY2021 and are enforced through discretionary budget caps and sequestration (2 U.S.C. 901(c)).¹⁸18 The Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA, P.L. 112-25) set discretionary budget caps through FY2021 as a way of reducing federal spending.¹⁹19 Bipartisan Budget Acts (BBAs) in 2013, 2015, and 2018 (P.L. 113-67, , P.L. 114-74, and P.L. 115-123, respectively) have avoided sequestration on discretionary spending—with the exception of FY2013—by raising those caps (Appendix A).²⁰

).20 In February 2018, the BBA raised the FY2019 cap on nondefense discretionary spending by $68 billion and the cap on defense spending by $85 billion.²¹21 It also provided language to execute (or "deem" “deem”) those higher caps for the appropriations process without following the usual procedures for an FY2019 budget resolution.²²

22 Under these higher caps and authorities, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees proceeded to mark up the FY2019 appropriations bills. The Agriculture appropriations bills are receiving roughly the same subcommittee allocation ("“302(b)"” allocation) in each chamber that was used to complete the FY2018 appropriation under the BBA. For FY2019, the subcommittee allocations for agriculture appropriations are

•   House: $23.273 billion (H.Rept. 115-710, May 23, 2018), including the CFTC.
• Senate: $23.235 billion (S.Rept. 115-260, May 24, 2018), excluding the CFTC.

House Action

The House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee marked up its FY2019 bill on May 9, 2018, by voice vote.²³23 On May 16, 2018, the full Appropriations Committee passed and reported an amended bill (H.R. 5961, , H.Rept. 115-706) by a vote of 31-20 (Table 1, , Figure 1).

The $23.23 billion discretionary total in the House-reported FY2019 Agriculture appropriation ). 17 CRS Report R42388, The Congressional Appropriations Process: An Introduction. CRS Report R42972, Sequestration as a Budget Enforcement Process: Frequently Asked Questions. 19 CRS Report R43411, The Budget Control Act of 2011: Legislative Changes to the Law and Their Budgetary Effects. 20 Looking to the future, though, the budget caps for FY2020 and FY2021 remain unchanged from the original BCA in 2011. They are less than the revised caps for FY2019. Unless the caps change, this implies less future spending. 21 CRS Insight IN10861, Discretionary Spending Levels Under the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018. 22 CRS Report R45157, The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 and an FY2019 Budget Resolution. 23 The House subcommittee draft is at https://docs.house.gov/meetings/AP/AP01/20180509/108287/BILLS-115HR18 Congressional Research Service R45230 · VERSION 12 · UPDATED 8 Agriculture and Related Agencies: FY2019 Appropriations The $23.23 billion discretionary total in the House-reported FY2019 Agriculture appropriation would be $14 million less than enacted in FY2018 (-0.1%; Table 2, , Figure 3). Generally speaking, the House-reported bill does not include most of the reductions proposed by the Administration and continues the trend of appropriations from prior years.

Table 3 provides details at the agency level. The primary changes from FY2018 at the agency level that comprise the relatively flat $14 million overall decrease in the House-reported bill would do the following:

•       Increase base FDA appropriations by $308 million (+11%). However, it does not continue to separate FDA funding for the opioid crisis that was in the General Provisions title of the FY2018 appropriation (-$94 million).
• Increase agricultural research (+$79 million, +2.6%) by raising appropriations for the Agricultural Research Service and National Institute of Agriculture.
• Increase the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) by $16 million (+1.7%).
• Increase the Rural Utility Service by $82 million (+13%), mostly in the base funding for rural water and waste disposal programs. However, it does not continue separate funding for rural water that was in the General Provisions title last year (-$500 million) or for telemedicine for the opioid crisis (-$20 million). It reduces separate funding for a broadband pilot program while continuing to fund some of it through the General Provisions title (-$50 million).
• Decrease discretionary appropriations for domestic nutrition assistance programs by reducing WIC by $175 million (-2.8%) and the commodity assistance programs by $15 million (-4.7%). However, the reduction scored in the General Provisions title by rescinding WIC carryover balances is smaller in FY2019, retaining more budget authority (+$500 million).
• Decrease the base funding in international food assistance Food for Peace grants by $100 million (-6.2%) and not continue the extra funding that was in the General Provisions title of the FY2018 appropriations (-$116 million).

In addition to discretionary spending, the appropriations also carry funding for mandatory spending—largely determined in separate authorizing laws—that would total $121.82 billion, about $936 million less than in FY2018 because of automatic changes in economic conditions and entitlement enrollment rather than any change from congressional action. Thus, the overall total of the House-reported bill is about $145 billion.

Senate Action

Senate Action The Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee marked up a FY2019 bill on May 22, 2018, by voice vote. On May 24, 2018, the Appropriations Committee passed and reported an amended bill (S. 2976, , S.Rept. 115-259) by a vote of 31-0. On August 1, 2018, the Senate passed a four-bill minibus (H.R. 6147) by a vote of 92-6, with agriculture as Division C (Table 1, , Figure 1).

). The discretionary total of the Senate-passed bill is also $23.23 billion. However, the Senate bill's ’s total would be $229 million more than enacted in FY2018 (+1%) on a comparable basis that excludes the CFTC, since the latter was part of the enacted FY2018 appropriation. The Senate- SC-AP-FY2019-Agriculture-SubcommitteeDraft.pdf, and the draft of the committee report is at https://docs.house.gov/ meetings/AP/AP00/20180516/108312/HRPT-115-HR-FY2019-Agriculture.pdf. Congressional Research Service R45230 · VERSION 12 · UPDATED 9 Agriculture and Related Agencies: FY2019 Appropriations passed bill would provide about $250 million more than the House-reported bill would on a comparable basis computed by subtracting CFTC from the House bill.

Table 3 provides details at the agency level. The primary changes from FY2018 at the agency level that comprise the Senate-passed bill'’s overall $228 million increase are the following:

•       Increase base FDA appropriations by $159 million (+6%). Like the House bill, it does not continue separate FDA funding for the opioid crisis that was in the General Provisions title of the FY2018 appropriation (-$94 million).
• Increase APHIS by $19 million (+1.9%), slightly more than the House bill.
• Decrease discretionary appropriations for domestic nutrition assistance programs by reducing WIC by $25 million (-0.4%). This is a smaller reduction than in the House bill. In the rescissions in the General Provisions title, the reduction is smaller than was rescinded in FY2019 (+$400 million). Nonetheless, the Senate bill' bill’s rescission is greater than in the House bill.
• Increase international nutrition assistance by raising the base funding for Food for Peace grants by $116 million (+7.2%). The extra funding that was in the General Provisions title of the FY2018 appropriations is not continued (-$116 million).
• Decrease the four agricultural research agencies by $44 million (-1.4%), mostly by providing no funding for ARS building and facilities (-$141 million), while increasing ARS salaries and expenses (+$98 million).
• Decrease the extra funding for rural development compared to the amount provided in the FY2018 General Provisions (-$100 million for rural water, -$175 million for broadband). Base funding for rural development is unchanged overall.

The Senate-passed bill'’s mandatory spending is virtually identical to that of the House-reported bill ($121.82 billion). Its overall total of discretionary and mandatory appropriations is $145 billion. Continuing Resolutions billion.

Continuing Resolutions

In the absence of a final FY2019 Agriculture appropriation, Congress enacted two continuing resolutions (CRs) to continue government operations beyond October 1, 2018—through December 21, 2018 (P.L. 115-245, Division C, from 10/1/2018 P.L. 115-245, Division C (through 12/7/2018), and H.J.Res 143 (through 12/21/2018).²⁴

, and P.L. 115-298 through 12/21/2018).24 When the last CR expired without further enacted budget authority, a partial government shutdown began on December 22. Some “excepted” functions such as food safety and commodity grading can continue during the funding lapse, as explained in “Government Shutdown.” In general, a CR continues the funding rates and conditions that were in the previous year's appropriation.²⁵’s appropriation.25 The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) may prorate funding to the agencies on an annualized basis for the duration of the CR through a process known as apportionment.²⁶26 For the 81 days (22%) of FY2019 through December 21, the CRs

• continue the terms of the FY2018 Agriculture appropriations act (Section 101) and exclude the FY2018 change in mandatory program spending (CHIMP) on 2018, the CRs: 24 CRS Report R42647, Continuing Resolutions: Overview of Components and Recent Practices. CRS Report RL34700, Interim Continuing Resolutions (CRs): Potential Impacts on Agency Operations. 26 For example, if a CR lasts for three months, then 3/12 of the previous fiscal year amount may be apportioned to limit agency spending. See OMB, “Apportionment of the Continuing Resolution(s) for Fiscal Year 2019,” September 28, 2018, https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/bulletin_no_18_05.pdf. 25 Congressional Research Service R45230 · VERSION 12 · UPDATED 10 Agriculture and Related Agencies: FY2019 Appropriations  continued the terms of the FY2018 Agriculture appropriations act (Section 101) and exclude the FY2018 change in mandatory program spending (CHIMP) on the Biomass Crop Assistance Program, which is not authorized for FY2019; and  providedthe Biomass Crop Assistance Program, which is not authorized for FY2019; and
• provide sufficient funding to maintain mandatory program levels, including for nutrition programs (Section 110)—this is standard language for recent years'’ CRs but is additionally important for SNAP, because some authorizations in the 2014 farm bill began expiring after FY2018.²⁷

27 CRs may adjust prior-year amounts through anomalies or make specific administrative changes. Five anomalies specifically applyapplied to the agriculture appropriation induring both CRs:

• 1. Child Nutrition Programs: Programs: apportionment for a summer foods program sufficient to allow it to be operational by May 2019 (Section 114).
• 2. Rural 2. Rural Utilities Service: allows a loan authorization level for the Rural Water and Waste Disposal program of $4.141 billion (Section 115).
• 3. Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC):CCC): allows CCC to receive its transfer about a month earlier than usual, prior to a final report and audit. Many farm bill payments to farmers are due in October 2018 in addition to USDA'’s plan to make supplemental payments under a trade assistance program.²⁸28 Without the anomaly, CCC might exhaust its $30 billion line of credit (Section 116).
• 4. Agricultural Research Service:: an additional $42 million for operations and maintenance at the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) being built in Manhattan, Kansas, and being transferred to USDA from the Department of Homeland Security (Section 117).
• 5. Department of Homeland Security (DHS):: DHS may transfer up to $15 million to USDA to support NBAF operations (Section 125).

CRS-19 Agriculture and Related Agencies: FY2019 Appropriations Policy-Related Provisions

In addition to setting budgetary amounts, the Agriculture appropriations bill has also been a vehicle for policy-related provisions that direct how the executive branch should carry out the appropriation. These provisions may have the force of law if they are included in the text of the appropriation, usually in the General Provisions, but their effect is generally limited to the current fiscal year. Sometimes, the provisions amend the U.S. Code and have long-standing effects.

The explanatory statement that accompanies the final appropriation, and the House and Senate report language that accompanies the committee-reported bills, may also provide policy instructions. These documents do not have the force of law but often explain congressional intent, which the agencies are expected to follow.

Table 4 compares some of the major policy provisions that have been identified in the General Provisions (Title VII) of the FY2019 Agriculture appropriations bills. Many of these provisions have been included in past years'’ appropriations laws.

Appendix A. CRS. Congressional Research Service R45230 · VERSION 12 · UPDATED 23 Agriculture and Related Agencies: FY2019 Appropriations Appendix A. Budget Sequestration Budget Sequestration

Sequestration is a process to reduce federal spending through automatic, largely across-the-board reductions that permanently cancel mandatory and/or discretionary budget authority.²⁹ 40 Sequestration is triggered as a budget enforcement mechanism when federal spending would exceed statutory budget goals.³⁰41 Sequestration is currently authorized by the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA; P.L. 112-25).

). Table A-1 shows the rates of sequestration that have been announced and the total amounts of budget authority that have been cancelled from accounts in Agriculture appropriations. Table A-2 provides additional detail at the account level for mandatory accounts.

Table A-2. Discretionary Spending For discretionary spending, sequestration is authorized through FY2021 if discretionary defense and nondefense spending exceed caps that are specified in statute (2 U.S.C. 901(c)).

In FY2013, the timing of the appropriations acts and the first year of sequestration resulted in triggering sequestration on discretionary spending.

In FY2014-FY2018, Bipartisan Budget Acts in 2013, 2015, and 2018 (BBAs; P.L. 113-67, , P.L. 114-74, and P.L. 115-123, respectively) have avoided sequestration on discretionary spending. These BBAs raised the discretionary budget caps that were placed in statute by the BCA and allowed Congress to enact larger appropriations than would have been allowed.

For FY2019, the BBA in 2018 similarly provides a higher discretionary cap that may avoid sequestration (see "“Discretionary Budget Caps and Subcommittee Allocations").

”). 40 41 CRS Report R43411, The Budget Control Act of 2011: Legislative Changes to the Law and Their Budgetary Effects. CRS Report R42972, Sequestration as a Budget Enforcement Process: Frequently Asked Questions. Congressional Research Service R45230 · VERSION 12 · UPDATED 24 Agriculture and Related Agencies: FY2019 Appropriations Mandatory Spending Authorization of Sequestration Authorization of Sequestration

For mandatory spending, sequestration is presently authorized through FY2027, having been amended and extended by acts that were subsequent to the BCA (2 U.S.C. 901a(6)). That is, sequestration continues to apply annually to certain accounts of mandatory spending and is not avoided by the BBAs (Table A-1).

). The original FY2021 sunset on the sequestration of mandatorymandatory accounts has been extended four times as an offset to pay for avoiding sequestration on discretionarydiscretionary spending in the near term or as a general budgetary offset for other authorization acts:

• 1. Congress extended the duration of mandatory sequestration by two years (until FY2023) as an offset in BBA 2013.³¹
• 42 2. Congress extended it by another year (until FY2024) to maintain retirement benefits for certain military personnel (P.L. 113-82).
• ). 3. Congress extended sequestration on nonexempt mandatory accounts another year (until FY2025) as an offset in BBA 2015.³²
• 43 4. Congress extended sequestration on nonexempt mandatory accounts by another two years (until FY2027) as an offset in BBA 2018 (P.L. 115-123 Division C, §30101(c)).³³

44 Exemptions from Sequestration

Some farm bill mandatory programs are exempt from sequestration. Those expressly exempt by statute are the nutrition programs (SNAP, the child nutrition programs, and the Commodity Supplemental Food Program)³⁴45 and the Conservation Reserve Program.³⁵46 Some prior legal obligations in the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation³⁶Corporation47 and the farm commodity programs may be exempt³⁷ be exempt48 as determined by OMB.³⁸

49 Generally speaking, the experience since FY2013 is that OMB has ruled that most of crop insurance is exempt from sequestration, while the farm commodity programs, disaster assistance, and most conservation programs have been subject to it.³⁹

50 42 CBO, Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013, December 11, 2013, https://www.cbo.gov/publication/44964. CBO, Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, October 28, 2015, https://www.cbo.gov/publication/50938. In addition to extending sequestration and related to mandatory spending in agriculture, crop insurance was used as an additional budgetary offset in BBA 2015. The effect was temporary, however, and the crop insurance reduction was restored. For more background, see the section on crop insurance and the Standard Reinsurance Agreement in CRS Report R44240, Agriculture and Related Agencies: FY2016 Appropriations. 44 CBO, Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, February 8, 2018, https://www.cbo.gov/publication/53556. 45 2 U.S.C. 905 (h). 46 2 U.S.C. 905(g)(1)(A). 47 2 U.S.C. 905 (g)(2). 48 2 U.S.C. 906 (j). 49 Some administrative expenses may be subject to sequestration, and therefore programs that are otherwise exempt may have a relatively small sequesterable amount compared to their total budget authority as shown, for example, in Table A-2 for the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation, SNAP, child nutrition programs, and WIC. 50 CRS Report R42050, Budget “Sequestration” and Selected Program Exemptions and Special Rules. 43 Congressional Research Service R45230 · VERSION 12 · UPDATED 25 Agriculture and Related Agencies: FY2019 Appropriations Implementation of Sequestration Implementation of Sequestration

Sequestration on nonexempt mandatorymandatory accounts continues in FY2019. Nonexempt mandatory spending is to be reduced by a 6.2% sequestration rate and thus paid at 93.8% of what they would otherwise have provided. This results in a reduction of about $1.5 billion from mandatory agriculture accounts in FY2019.