Evergreen Reporter

Washington, D.C. — On June 23, the Senate Appropriations Committee, led by Chair Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), voted to advance the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies funding bill for fiscal year 2024 that Senator Murray played a key role in writing. In addition to important investments in agricultural research, food safety, rural development, and robust funding for nutrition assistance programs—with a significant funding boost for WIC—Murray also secured funding for key Washington state priorities as well as $8.45 million in Congressionally Directed Spending Requests for four projects in Washington state. This does not include funding for national programs that will later be allocated on a competitive or formula-specific basis. The Senate Appropriations Committee voted 28-0 to advance the legislation, where it now awaits full consideration by the Senate.

“At the most basic level: we can’t have strong communities if families can’t put food on the table or kids go hungry—that’s as important as it is obvious,” Senator Murray said at today’s committee markup. “This bill makes important investments in our farms, in our food supply, in food safety, and in our families–and it fully funds nutrition programs like WIC which so many families rely on.”

“We have put forward a serious, bipartisan bill that will help prevent families from going hungry across Washington state and the country,” Murray continued. “This bill also provides serious investment in Washington state’s farmers. Washington state’s agricultural industry is a driving force behind our economy, and this bill provides federal dollars for research into issues like Little Cherry Disease and livestock resiliency that will support farmers and ranchers across the state.”

In the draft legislation, Murray secured $8.45 million in Congressionally Directed Spending requests for four important projects in Washington state:

1. $1.4 million for the City of Roslyn to renovate their 120-year-old historic Old City Hall.
2. $3 million for the completion of repairs and capital improvements at USDA’s Agricultural Research Service facility in Prosser.
3. $1.05 million for Kittitas County for upgrades to public safety radio network and equipment for interoperable communications improvements.
4. $3 million for Okanogan County to upgrade their public safety radio network and purchase mobile and portable radios for first responders.

Murray also secured robust funding in the bill for key national priorities of hers, including: nutrition assistance and child nutrition programs, securing a $613 million increase in funding for WIC; a $48.6 million increase in funding for the Agricultural Research Service, USDA’s premier in-house research agency; a $20 million increase in funding for the FDA; $1.6 billion for rental assistance to ensure rural Americans have access to safe and affordable housing; and a $46.7 million increase for the Food Safety and Inspection Service to ensure the agency is not forced to reduce staffing levels, which would jeopardize food safety and exacerbate supply chain delays; and full funding for critical international food aid programs.

A full summary of the bill is available HERE.

Bill text, as amended, is available HERE.

Congressionally Directed Spending projects included in the bill are available HERE.

Original source can be found here.