Senate Hearing on USDA Fiscal Year 2022 Budget
January 1, 2021
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The Frame
The proposed $3 billion increase in USDA will determine the level of federal support for rural broadband, housing, water infrastructure, and nutrition programs like SNAP for the upcoming fiscal year.
Potentially affected actors named in the source documents. Mention is not a position.
Farmers and Ranchers
They are subject to changes in federal agricultural policy, commodity support, and infrastructure investment.
SNAP Recipients
The withdrawal of the categorical eligibility rule maintains their current access to nutrition assistance.
Rural Residents
They are the primary targets for proposed investments in broadband, housing, and water infrastructure.
Last recorded activity January 1, 2021.
Next step not available in the current record.
Summary
Key Facts
- The USDA requested a total budget authority of approximately $23-24 billion for fiscal year 2022.
- The budget request represents an increase of nearly $3 billion over the previous year.
- The budget includes increased funding for research, rural development grants, and personnel hiring.
- The USDA withdrew a rule regarding SNAP broad-based categorical eligibility that would have removed millions from the program.
- The administration has $60 billion in unobligated pandemic assistance funds remaining from a total of $124 billion previously allocated.
- The budget proposal includes an expansion of the Dairy Business Initiative to include other agricultural sectors.
- The subcommittee is prioritizing investments in rural broadband, housing, and water/wastewater infrastructure.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the total budget increase requested by the USDA?
What happened to the proposed SNAP eligibility rule change?
How much pandemic assistance funding remains unspent?
Why It Matters
The proposed $3 billion increase in USDA will determine the level of federal support for rural broadband, housing, water infrastructure, and nutrition programs like SNAP for the upcoming fiscal year.
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.
Unspent Pandemic Funds
Nearly half ($60B of $124B) of the pandemic assistance provided to the USDA remains unspent, which is a point of contention for committee members.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.govinfo.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance85How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy40Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz20Current news / social attention level
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