The House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday passed its FY2022 Agriculture Appropriations bill by a voice vote.
For fiscal year 2022, the bill provides discretionary funding of $26.55 billion, an increase of $2.851 billion over FY2021 enacted levels. Including $170.15 billion in mandatory funding for programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the bill totals $196.7 billion for the fiscal year.
The bill includes $1.153 billion for the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), an increase from FY2021’s $1.092 billion.
The bill text can be found here.
The bill now heads to the full chamber for a vote. It can be combined with any of the other 12 appropriations bills into a “minibus” or combined with all of them to form an “omnibus.”
Both chambers must pass their appropriations bills before a conference can take place. No new provisions may be added in a conference. Once conferenced and both chambers agree on the same bill, both must pass the newly-conferenced bill before it heads to the President for his signature.
The Senate Appropriations Committee has not released any of its appropriations bills for FY2022.
Another concern prior to the end of the fiscal year is the debt ceiling. The Budget Control Act of 2011 set federal borrowing limits each fiscal year, known as the debt ceiling. Congress voted in July 2019 to suspend the limit through July 31, 2021. Congress must reach an agreement on borrowing levels before then or the Treasury Department will take actions to fulfill its debt obligations until no longer viable, at which point a sequester would be triggered.
