White House Seeks $123.5 Million Supplemental Ag Appropriation.

February 29, 2000

The White House's FY 2000 Supplemental Appropriation request to Congress for agriculture, includes $13 million for the Risk Management Agency's FCIC Fund, $81 million for CCC Fund producer-owned marketing association loan forgiveness, and $29.5 million for the Rural HousingService.

This year's supplemental request calls for a total of $123.5 million in new budget authority for USDA to support $147.5 million in emergency agricultural and rural housing programs. Specifically, the request calls for:

-- $13 million for USDA to provide premium discounts to purchasers of crop insurance reinsured by the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (this additional crop insurance funding would ensure that the discount provided would be 30%, as originally estimated and announced by USDA, rather than the 28% that would be provided based on available funding, and would preclude the need to seek many small reimbursements averaging $10 each from producers to recover the excess premium);

-- $81 million of forgiveness of USDA loans to producer-owned marketing associations that suffered losses from recent hurricanes (as a result of hurricanes in 1999, including Hurricanes Dennis, Floyd, and Irene -- a number of tobacco and peanut associations suffered losses to uninsured crops in storage after the association had purchased them from producers);

-- $15.9 million to support $40 million in low-interest loans to construct about 1,000 rental housing units for low-income rural residents who were displaced from their homes or rental units by the hurricanes; and

-- $13.6 million in rental assistance on newly constructed units, which will ensure that eligible low-income tenants pay no more than 30% of their income on housing.

Appropriations language is also included that would make emergency funds previously appropriated for the Emergency Conservation Program eligible to be used to repair essential farm structures and equipment damaged by the hurricanes.