House Would Block Relocation of NIFA, ERS

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies approved its version of the spending bill for FY 2020 on May 23, 2019. The legislation includes $24.3 billion in discretionary funding, $1 billion above FY 2019. The bill provides $3.3 billion, $387 million above the President’s budget request, for agricultural research programs, including the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). The bill would target funding to research to mitigate crop diseases, improve food safety and water quality, increase production, and combat antimicrobial resistance. NIFA, USDA’s premier extramural agricultural science agency, would receive $1.6 billion, an increase of $135 million above FY 2019. Appropriators have included language in the bill barring the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) from relocating the Economic Research Service (ERS) and the NIFA outside the National Capital Region, a move that has raised concerns from more than 100 stakeholder groups, including AIBS. According to a report by the Washington Post, federal employees at NIFA and ERS have quit their jobs in “unusually large numbers” since the relocation announcement was made in August 2018. However, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue is proceeding with the department’s plan and announced the top three sites for the relocation of NIFA and ERS earlier this month. Th...
Source: Public Policy Reports - Category: Biology Authors: Source Type: news