Facing a funding deadline on November 17, 2023, and potential government shutdown, Congress passed H.R. 6363, the Further Continuing Appropriations and Other Extensions Act of 2024 last week. The bill passed the House by a vote of 336-95 and the Senate by a vote of 87-11 and was successfully signed into law by President Biden before the deadline. The bill allows more time to consider individual appropriations bills, prevents an end-of-year omnibus and, most importantly to the agricultural community, grants a one-year extension of the farm bill through September 30, 2024.
More specifically, H.R. 6363 does the following:
- Extends funding through January 19, 2024 for:
- Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and related agencies
- Energy and Water Development
- Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and related agencies
- Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and related agencies
- Extends funding through February 2, 2024, for:
- Commerce, Justice, Science, and related agencies
- Department of Defense
- Financial Services and General Government
- Homeland Security
- Interior, Environment, and related agencies
- Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and related agencies
- Legislative Branch
- State and Foreign Operations and related programs
- Provides extensions for the following expired programs:
- Extends the farm bill through September 30, 2024
- Extends funds for Community Health Centers, Teaching Health Centers, Special Diabetes Programs, and national health security authorities through January 19, 2024
- Continues support of providers in rural and underserved areas with delays of scheduled cuts to Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) cuts and an extension of the Geographic Practice Cost Index (GPCI) floor through January 19, 2024, and delays planned cuts for laboratories for one year
- Extends the National Flood Insurance Program through February 2, 2024
“We are grateful Congress passed a farm bill extension to avoid serious program disruptions and we encourage President Biden to sign it. However, we urge both the House and Senate to stay focused on a new, modernized farm bill that recognizes the many changes and challenges of the past five years,” says American Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall. “The current farm bill was written before the pandemic, before inflation spiked, and before global unrest sent shock waves through the food system. We need programs that reflect today’s realities. So much work has been done by the agriculture committees in both the House and Senate over the past 18 months to prepare to craft a smart and effective farm bill. Congress must keep that momentum going.”
The four leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees – Chairwoman Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Ranking Member Sen. John Boozman (R-AR), Chairman Rep. GT Thompson (R-PA), and Ranking Member Rep. David Scott (D-GA) – released a statement following the passage of H.R. 6363: “As negotiations on funding the government progress, we were able to come together to avoid a lapse in funding for critical agricultural programs and provide certainty to producers. This extension is in no way a substitute for passing a 5-year Farm Bill and we remain committed to working together to get it done next year.”
View the full text of H.R. 6363 here.
View AFBF’s letter in support of extending the farm bill for one year here.
