USDANEWS VOLUME 56 NO. 2 - FEBRUARY 1997

USDA's FY98 Budget Calls for a Gain of $4.6 Billion;
Cut of 1,790 Fed Staff Years

by Ron Hall, Office of Communications

"This is not an easy budget."

With those words, Secretary Dan Glickman set the tone for USDA's presentation of its proposed budget for FY 1998. Speaking at a press conference held on February 6, Glickman and Office of Budget and Program Analysis Director Steve Dewhurst both pointed out that USDA's budget proposal emphasizes a number of Departmental priorities.

"This budget," Glickman underscored, "keeps USDA's core commitments to protect farmers from risk, expand global opportunities, combat hunger, improve food safety, and protect our natural resources--what I call the five major priority items of the Department."

"At the same time," he advised, "this is a budget that demands a great deal of sacrifice from all of us--[and] that sacrifice will start right here at USDA."

Glickman pointed out that the Department has already reorganized and streamlined "to the tune of $3 billion," and that USDA will save $8 billion by 2002, as a result of the reorganization efforts. He noted that USDA's Federal workforce was the smallest it has been since 1970.

Glickman added that, by 2002, the Department will have cut its county field office structure about in half, and that by 2002 that structure will be the smallest it has been since the New Deal. USDA currently has about 2,500 field office "service centers"--down from some 3,700 field locations in 1994--and its goal is to have no more than 2,000 service centers by the end of 1999.

"There's no denying that's a real shock to the system," he advised. "But we can no longer afford to deny that farm programs bear little resemblance to those of [President Franklin Roosevelt] 60 years ago."

"And so, our delivery system must change with the times to better serve farmers and all taxpayers."

"I've looked at the county system," he noted. "We're doing a lot of common-sense restructuring--and I'm confident that we'll make these reductions and improve our services to farmers."

USDA's overall budget proposal for FY98 calls for a program level of over $88.3 billion and federal cash outlays of nearly $58.8 billion. This represents a 5.5 percent increase--by $4.6 billion--from the currently estimated FY97 program level of $83.7 billion, as well as a 3.2 percent increase--by $1.8 billion--from the currently estimated FY97 cash outlay level of over $56.9 billion.

Budget officials generally regard "program level" figures as the best method for describing the total scope of federal activities, including all services, loans, and grants in a budget. This is because "Federal cash outlay" figures--while generally publicized more frequently--often don't clearly reflect the total magnitude of Federal activities, since some loan program outlay figures are either excluded or presented in net terms.

USDA's budget proposes a Federal staffing level for FY98 of 99,866 full-time equivalent positions, or Federal staff years. This represents a decrease of 1,790 Federal staff years from the currently estimated FY97 Federal staff year level of 101,656.

Agencies which reflect proposed increases in Federal staff years include the National Agricultural Statistics Service (an increase of 170 Federal staff years, to total 1,300 Federal staff years), the Risk Management Agency (43, to total 623), the Office of the General Counsel (17, to total 370), the Office of the Chief Economist (9, to total 56), the Office of the Inspector General (8, to total 762), and the Office of the Secretary (2, to total 83).

Agencies with the largest proposed decreases in Federal staff years include the Forest Service (a decrease of 384 Federal staff years, to total 36,800 Federal staff years), the Rural Housing Service (356, to total 6,232), the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (349, to total 6,095), the Farm Service Agency (269, to total 5,877), the Agricultural Marketing Service (226, to total 3,580), the Agricultural Research Service (186, to total 7,614), the Natural Resources Conservation Service (152, to total 12,048), the Food Safety and Inspection Service (51, to total 9,900), the Office of the Chief Financial Officer (35, to total 1,175), the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (19, to total 380), and the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (19, to total 854). The non-Federal county employees of FSA are proposed to be reduced by 1,850 non-Federal staff years, to total 9,879 non-Federal staff years.

By comparison, one year ago USDA's proposed budget for FY97 called for a staffing level of 104,568 Federal staff years--a decrease of 885 from the previous year--and a program level of $84.8 billion--a $3.8 billion increase from the previous year.

Highlights of USDA's FY98 budget proposal include:

• a total program level of $685 million to support modernization of the USDA meat and poultry inspection system, with industry shouldering the costs of in-plant inspection services;
• nearly $9.2 billion to provide economic opportunities in rural America, to include bringing safe drinking water to rural communities and providing over 63,000 home loans;
• full funding of $4.1 billion for USDA's Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC);
• funding of $1.9 billion to support USDA's goal of increasing enrollment in the Conservation Reserve Program to total 36.4 million acres by 2002;
• $200 million for NRCS's Environmental Quality Incentives Program, which provides assistance to help farmers and ranchers conserve natural resources;
• $107 million for Forest Service activities under the Northwest Forest Plan, an assistance initiative for those who have been dependent on Federal timber supplies.

USDA's proposed budget for FY98 was transmitted to Congress earlier on the same day as the Department's press conference. ¤

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