	Scope of the Agriculture Appropriations Bill

The Agriculture appropriations bill—formally known as the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act—provides funding for the following agencies and departments:
all of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (except the Forest Service, which is funded by the Interior appropriations bill), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the Department of Health and Human Services, and in the House, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). In the House, appropriations jurisdiction for CFTC remains with the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee. Prior to 2008, it was with the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee. 1. 3. 4. Action on FY2011 Appropriations

For the FY2011 Agriculture appropriations bill, no separate floor action and limited formal committee action occurred in the 111 th Congress. The full Senate Appropriations Committee reported an Agriculture appropriations bill ( S. 3606 , S.Rept. The House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee marked up its draft on June 30, 2010, but the bill did not see full committee action nor was it reported. 112-10 ) was enacted with many line-item changes on April 15, 2011. On February 19, 2011, the House passed H.R. 1 , a full-year continuing resolution for FY2011 covering all 12 regular appropriations bills (vote of 235-189). On March 9, 2011, the Senate voted on H.R. 1 , but failed to pass it by a vote of 44-56. Later on March 9, 2011, the Senate also voted on a substitute amendment to H.R. 1 , S.Amdt. It failed by a vote of 42-58. 111-221 ) on July 15, 2010. Full-Year Continuing Resolution

P.L. 112-10 provided $19.9 billion in discretionary appropriations for accounts in the Agriculture appropriations bill, resulting in a $3.4 billion reduction from FY2010 levels (-15%) ( Table 2 ). Discretionary agriculture-related programs fell to $6.89 billion, 6% below FY2010; discretionary conservation programs fell to $889 million, 12% below FY2010; rural development fell to $2.64 billion, 11% below FY2010; discretionary nutrition assistance fell to $7.13 billion, 7% below FY2010; and foreign assistance fell to $1.89 billion, 9% below FY2010. CFTC increased to $202 million, 20% above FY2010 ( Table 3 ). Reductions in Short-Term Continuing Resolutions

Before final agreement was reached on the full-year appropriation, seven short-term continuing resolutions (CRs) were enacted. The total amount is divided between discretionary domestic nutrition assistance programs and the rest of the bill. For FY2011, P.L. 149 ). Of the $3.4 billion total reduction in discretionary programs, about half of the cut ($1.7 billion) was the increase in the amount of rescissions and farm bill limitations.
The Agriculture appropriations bill provides funding for all of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) except the Forest Service, plus the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and, in some cases, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Appropriations jurisdiction for the CFTC is split between two subcommittees—the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee and the Senate Financial Services Appropriations Subcommittee.
For the FY2011 Agriculture appropriations bill, no separate floor action and limited formal committee action occurred in the 111th Congress. The full Senate Appropriations Committee reported an Agriculture appropriations bill (S. 3606, S.Rept. 111-221) on July 15, 2010. The House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee marked up its draft on June 30, 2010, but the bill did not see full committee action nor was it reported. None of the 12 appropriations bills was enacted in 2010.
In the 112th Congress, the House passed H.R. 1, a full-year continuing resolution for FY2011, by a vote of 235-189 on February 19, 2011. For Agriculture, H.R. 1 would have made $5.3 billion in cuts to discretionary programs (-23%), reducing them from $23.4 billion in FY2010 to $18.1 billion for FY2011.
On March 9, 2011, the Senate voted on H.R. 1, but failed to pass it by a vote of 44-56. Later on March 9, 2011, the Senate also voted on a substitute amendment, S.Amdt. 149; it failed by a vote of 42-58. S.Amdt. 149 would have reduced discretionary Agriculture appropriations by $1.7 billion (-7%) from the FY2010 level of $23.4 billion to $21.7 billion.
On April 15, 2011, a final, full-year continuing resolution was enacted as Division B of the Department of Defense appropriation, P.L. 112-10. Seven short-term continuing resolutions (CRs) were enacted in between, some with spending reductions, to prevent a government shutdown before the final agreement was reached for the full-year continuing resolution.
P.L. 112-10 provides $19.9 billion of discretionary funding for Agriculture appropriations, a 15% reduction (-$3.4 billion) from FY2010 levels. Mandatory appropriations for farm programs and domestic nutrition increased a net 7% to $105.1 billion. Thus, the total Agriculture appropriation (mandatory plus discretionary) for FY2011 is $125.0 billion, 3% greater than FY2010.
Discretionary agriculture-related programs fell to $6.89 billion, 6% below FY2010; discretionary conservation programs fell to $889 million, 12% below FY2010; rural development fell to $2.64 billion, 11% below FY2010; discretionary nutrition assistance fell to $7.13 billion, 7% below FY2010; and foreign assistance fell to $1.89 billion, 9% below FY2010. FDA increased to $2.46 billion, 4% above FY2010, and CFTC increased to $202 million, 20% above FY2010.
Cuts to individual agricultural agencies' operating budgets would have been even bigger had it not been for usually large amounts of rescissions of unobligated prior-year balances and limitations on mandatory farm bill programs. Of the $3.4 billion total reduction in discretionary appropriations from FY2010, about half of the cut was the increase in the amount of rescissions and farm bill limitations.