Glickman Outlines 2001 Budget Proposal Release No. 0034.00 Mary Beth Schultheis (202) 720-4623 Susan McAvoy (202) 720-4623 GLICKMAN OUTLINES 2001 BUDGET PROPOSAL Proposes farm safety net improvements, enhanced conservation programs, and increased investments in nutrition programs, food safety, and water quality WASHINGTON, February 7, 2000 Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman today outlined the Clinton Administration's proposed budget for the U.S. Department of Agriculture for fiscal year 2001. Glickman highlighted proposed new spending to provide a stronger safety net for farmers, boost the President's Lands Legacy Initiative, and increase nutrition assistance for needy Americans. Overall, the budget recommends $65 billion in USDA spending, a nearly 9 percent decrease from fiscal year 2000, which was inflated by off- budget, emergency spending. "The President's budget is fiscally sound, while making key strategic investments in the farm safety net, protection of our natural resources, anti- hunger efforts, and further economic development of rural America," said Glickman. Glickman called the President's proposal for a more cost-effective safety net the centerpiece of the budget. The new safety net proposal will enhance farm income support, increase environmental benefits, improve risk management, and expand economic opportunities for farms and rural areas. Glickman outlined a number of key initiatives in the budget proposal. They include PROVIDING OPPORTUNITIES AND ASSISTANCE FOR AMERICA'S FARMERS The FY 2001 budget includes an income assistance program to provide supplemental income assistance payments to eligible producers of wheat, feed grains, rice, upland cotton, and oilseeds. The supplemental payments would be provided to eligible producers if their projected nationwide gross income for the crop falls below 92 percent of the preceding five-year average. The budget provides for an additional $1.3 billion for a Farm Conservation Programs Initiative, which includes a new $600 million Conservation Security Program to provide annual payments to farmers and ranchers who implement sound conservation practices. The FY 2001 budget would extend the premium discount available in 1999 and 2000 for farmers who purchase buy-up coverage for crop insurance. The premium discount and the costs associated with higher participation are expected to total $640 million. The budget also requests $100 million to establish coverage for multi-year losses and $100 million to provide livestock producers with price protection. The Administration proposes using $80 million to provide capital equity for new livestock and other processing cooperatives. The proposal would help address concerns about market concentration and provide farmers with an additional source of income through cooperative ownership. INVESTING IN OUR LANDS, FORESTS, AND ENVIRONMENT The budget includes $236 million as part of the President's $1.4 billion Lands Legacy Initiative. Of these funds, $130 million will be used to acquire lands valuable for recreation, wildlife habitat, and watershed protection; $60 million will be used to fund the Forest Legacy Program; and $40 million will be used to provide grants to states and localities to establish, expand, or maintain urban and community forests and open spaces. In addition, the Farmland Protection Program is funded at $65 million. The budget proposes an increase of $284 million for USDA's Clean Water Action Plan for a total funding level of more than $1 billion. It provides $325 million for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, an increase of $151 million, and $10 million to fund a new competitive partnership grants program to provide coordination for locally-led conservation efforts and direct technical assistance to landowners. PROVIDING NUTRITION ASSISTANCE FOR NEEDY AMERICANS The FY 2001 budget requests $36.4 billion for nutrition assistance programs for needy Americans. This includes $10.4 billion for child nutrition programs, including $6 million to fully fund a pilot project to evaluate providing breakfasts to all children regardless of income. $21.2 billion is allocated for the food stamp program, which will allow USDA to expand its food stamp nutrition education efforts for eligible non-participants, reach out to legal immigrants, provide greater support for working families by loosening the restrictions on the value of their vehicles, continue to aggressively fight error and fraud, and fully implement the EBT system. $4.3 billion is requested for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children. This request reflects a $137 million increase that will be used to fund the program for an average of 7.4 million participants with an objective of reaching 7.5 million participants by the end of the year. This money will also be used to develop electronic benefits transfer systems and promote special state projects that will help improve the delivery of WIC services. ENSURING A SAFE FOOD SUPPLY For FY 2001, USDA is requesting a total of more than $165 million, an increase of $29 million over the 2000 level, to support the President's Food Safety Initiative. Most of this increase would be used to expand research and education efforts. Building on USDA's success in reducing microbial contamination of meat, poultry, and eggs, the budget includes an increase of $5.8 million to enhance federal-state partnerships and implement the Shell Egg Action Plan. INVESTING IN RURAL AMERICA The budget provides almost $13 billion, an increase of $1.3 billion, for direct loans, loan guarantees, grants, and technical assistance to help improve the quality of life for rural Americans and to create opportunities for rural businesses and cooperatives to compete in the global marketplace. The budget includes a request for $1.3 billion in direct loans and $3.7 billion in guaranteed loans to provide safe, affordable home ownership opportunities for almost 64,000 rural Americans. The Administration is committed to ensuring that there are more job opportunities for rural Americans and will provide nearly $1.3 billion in direct and guaranteed business and industry loans to help create 40,000 more jobs in rural communities. The FY 2001 budget proposes $300 million for Healthy Investment in Rural Environments, creating new private-sector jobs in rural and forest- dependent communities. CONDUCTING RESEARCH TO IMPROVE OUR QUALITY OF LIFE The President's budget proposes a 50 percent increase in funding to accelerate the development, production, and commercialization of biobased products and bioenergy. This includes $24 million for research to improve the conversion of agricultural materials and feedstocks into biofuels, enhance the development of biobased materials from agricultural commodities via the use of advanced technologies, and expand the development of useful components and feedstocks for new biobased products. The budget proposes an increase of $32 million for the Global Change Research Program which supports research to understand the human and natural forces that influence the earth's climate and the impact of climate change on agriculture and forests. The proposal includes $561 million, an increase of nearly one-third, for the Invasive Species Initiative, including funds for a new early warning system to help detect and rapidly eradicate newly introduced invasive species. IMPROVING SERVICES FOR EVERY AMERICAN The budget continues strong support for USDA civil rights activities, including an increase for alternative dispute resolution programs to help resolve equal employment opportunity complaints at an early stage; an increase for the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization programs to provide maximum opportunity for small disadvantaged and small women-owned businesses; and additional funding for the Office of Civil Rights and Office of Outreach to ensure that all eligible customers have access to USDA programs and services. USDA is committed to making changes in the county-based field agencies in order to efficiently use resources and provide the best customer service. USDA has co-located field offices of the county-based agencies and requested a $75 million increase in funding for the implementation of a common computing environment that will optimize information sharing, customer service, and staff efficiencies.