USDA Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Hearing Overview
January 1, 2021
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The Frame
This hearing sets the stage for the federal budget bill that determines funding levels for rural infrastructure, housing assistance, and agricultural research programs that impact farmers and rural communities nationwide.
Potentially affected actors named in the source documents. Mention is not a position.
Farmers and Ranchers
They are impacted by the availability of USDA loans, research funding, and potential foreclosure assistance.
Rural Residents
They are affected by federal funding levels for rural broadband, water infrastructure, and affordable housing programs.
USDA Employees
They are affected by staffing levels and resource allocation for departmental operations.
Last recorded activity January 1, 2021.
Next step not available in the current record.
Summary
Key Facts
- The USDA is currently short approximately 500 workers in its rural development mission area.
- There are 61,670 farm families currently delinquent on USDA loans, bankrupt, or facing foreclosure.
- The USDA workforce at the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has been reduced by 25% while program resources have doubled.
- Departmental administration procurement responsibilities have nearly doubled while the workforce has been cut by 43%.
- Agricultural research funding has dropped from 4.3% to 2.3% of total non-defense federal research allocations over the last decade.
- Every $1 invested in agricultural research yields a $17 return on investment.
- USDA oversees a $230 billion loan portfolio and manages $30-$40 billion in loans and grants annually.
- Rural housing units are at risk of converting from subsidized to market-rate as existing loans are paid off.
- The USDA discretionary budget has grown by 14.3% over the last 8-9 years, compared to 27.4% for non-defense discretionary spending overall.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is the USDA struggling with staffing?
What is happening to rural housing?
How many farmers are currently in financial distress?
Why It Matters
This hearing sets the stage for the federal budget bill that determines funding levels for rural infrastructure, housing assistance, and agricultural research programs that impact farmers and rural communities nationwide.
News Coverage
Lobbying Activity
1-800 Contacts, Inc.
2026
“Issues and legislative proposals related to contact lenses Issues related to the Federal Trade Commission Contact Lens Rule H.R.8773: Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2025 H.R. 9027: Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2025 HR 4282 S. 3354, Curtis QUIET Act.”
ADOBE INC
2026
“IT Modernization and Digital Service delivery issues; Digital Service Delivery IT Acquisition, and Content Authenticity and digital provenance issues; Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI); artificial intelligence; content provenance; privacy; technology in and competition issues; AI innovation and the economy; Content provenance and AI Labelling; IT modernization; Support for H.R. 9112 - CREATOR Act”
AARP
2026
“P.L. 119-21, One Big Beautiful Bill Act H.R. 8867, Planning for Long-term Aging Needs (PLAN) Act H.R. 5861, Legacy Act of 2025 H.R. 9393, the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act. H.R. 9396, the Prior Authorization Accountability Act. S. 4916, the Aging with Artificial Intelligence Act. H.R. 8100, Safe Staffing Saves Lives Act. S. 3886, Nurses Belong in Nursing Homes Act. H.R. 6766/S. 3492, the Essential Caregivers Act of 2025. H.R. 7966/S. 4118, Hospice Care Accountability, Reform, and Enforcement (Hospice CARE) Act. S. 2120, the Older Americans Act Reauthorization Act of 2025 H.R. 5575, the Firefighters Assisting Seniors to Emergency Response (FASTER) Act of 2025. H.R. 3954/S. 4641, Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act. H.R.5554/S.2831, Stand Strong for Medicare Act. S. 3439/H.R. 6735, Connecting Caregivers to Medicare Act and efforts related to the bill S. 1227/H.R. 2491, Alleviating Barriers for Caregivers Act S. 668/H.R. 3183, Supporting Access to Falls Education and Prevention and Strengthening Training Efforts and Promoting Safety Initiatives (SAFE STEPS) for Veterans Act of 2025 CMS-1851-P, Hospice Proposed rule. CMS-1843-P, Skilled Nursing Facility Proposed rule. CMS-1844-P, Home Health Proposed rule. No bill number. Health care transparency. No bill number. Discussed use of artificial intelligence and health data technology. No bill number. Discussed health-related policies and activities around the fall respiratory virus season. No bill number. Discussed health insurance affordability proposals. No bill number. Discussed Nursing Home staffing standards, safety, and quality. No bill number. Discussed Nursing home transparency and ownership requirements. No bill number. Discussed home health, hospice, and long-term care. No bill number. Discussed falls prevention. No bill number. Discussed social isolation. No bill number. Discussed HUD Assisted Living Requirements No bill number. Discussed family caregiving. No bill number. Discussed AARP paper on Medicare Caregiver Training Services. No bill number. Discussed Medicaid community engagement interim final rule, including the family caregiver exemption. No bill number. Discussed the paid direct care workforce in long-term care. No bill number. Discussed the unaffordability of long-term care. No bill number. Discussed Money Follows the Person Rebalancing Demonstration Program and Medicaid HCBS spousal impoverishment protections. No bill number. Discussed Medicaid fraud and family caregivers, Medicaid self-direction programs. No bill number. Discussed sandwich generation family caregiver hearing and submitted a statement for the record discussing family caregivers and sandwich generation caregivers, programs that support them, AARP caregiving resources, and federal policies to support sandwich generation caregivers and caregivers more broadly. No bill number. Discussed long-term care. No bill number. CMS-2453-NC; Medicaid Program; 2028 Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services Quality Measure Set Submitted comments No bill number. Discussed expanding access to home care. No bill number. Discussed the increasing cost of home care No bill number. Discussed HSA use for telehealth chronic care management services/subscriptions. No bill number. Discussed artificial intelligence and technology”
1-800 Contacts, Inc.
2026
“Issues and legislative proposals related to contact lenses Issues related to the Federal Trade Commission Contact Lens Rule H.R.8773: Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2025 H.R. 9027: Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2025 HR 4282 S. 3354, Curtis QUIET Act.”
1-800 Contacts, Inc.
2026
“Issues and legislative proposals related to contact lenses Issues related to the Federal Trade Commission Contact Lens Rule H.R.8773: Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2025 H.R. 9027: Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2025 HR 4282 S. 3354, Curtis QUIET Act.”
ILLINOIS ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL BOARDS
HILLNORTH LLC
on behalf of POB VENTURES
HILLNORTH LLC
on behalf of POB VENTURES
HILLNORTH LLC
on behalf of POB VENTURES
1-800 Contacts, Inc.
2025
“Issues and legislative proposals related to contact lenses Issues related to the Federal Trade Commission Contact Lens Rule H.R.8773: Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2025 H.R. 9027: Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2025 HR 4282 S. 3354, Curtis QUIET Act.”
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Agricultural Research Funding Decline
Agricultural research as a percentage of federal non-defense research has been cut in half over the last decade, despite a high return on investment.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.govinfo.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance85How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy40Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment20Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz30Current news / social attention level
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