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cost estimate
May 24, 2012
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As introduced in the United States Senate on May 24, 2012
This legislation 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 the Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2012 would bring total direct spending for those USDA programs to $969 billion over the 2013-2022 period—$23.6 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 the bill would not affect revenues.
The bill 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 $28 billion over the next five years, assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts.
The bill contains no intergovernmental mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA).
The bill would impose private-sector mandates, as defined in UMRA, on entities in the dairy industry. 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).