S. 3240 would amend and extend a number of major programs administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), including those addressing farm income support, food and nutrition, land conservation, trade promotion, rural development, research, forestry, energy, horticulture, and crop insurance.
When combined with estimated spending under CBO’s baseline projections for those programs, CBO estimates that enacting S. 3240 would bring total direct spending for those USDA programs to $970 billion over the 2013-2022 period—$23.1 billion less than we project would be spent if those programs were continued as under current law.
Pay-as-you-go procedures apply because enacting the legislation would affect direct spending. Enacting S. 3240 would not affect revenues.
The act also would authorize appropriations over the 2013-2017 period for existing and new USDA programs involving research and education, nutrition, trade promotion, rural development, credit assistance, forestry, and conservation initiatives. CBO estimates that implementing those provisions would cost about $29 billion over the next five years, assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts.
S. 3240 contains no intergovernmental mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA).
The nontax provisions of S. 3240 would impose private-sector mandates, as defined in UMRA, on entities in the dairy industry and spectators of animal fighting ventures. Because the cost of some of the mandates would depend on future regulations, CBO cannot determine whether the aggregate cost of the mandates would exceed the annual threshold established in UMRA for private-sector mandates ($146 million in 2012, adjusted annually for inflation).
