NPC lauds potato priorities maintained in 2024 spending bill

The National Potato Council is applauding priorities it says benefit the U.S. potato industry maintained in a spending bill for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration passed last week by the House Appropriations Committee.

The Fiscal Year 2024 spending bill, passed June 14, would provide a total of $25.3 billion for USDA, FDA and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, representing a 2% reduction from the agencies’ combined FY23 budgets.

Despite program cuts, the bill maintained several potato industry priorities, according to the NPC, including:

• The rebuffing of a proposed elimination of $4 million in funding for National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s Potato Research Special Grants, which support competitive potato breeding projects across the country.
• Language that prohibits USDA from limiting potato access to the national school breakfast program.
• Specialty Crop Research Initiative matching waiver language for public institutions.

“When our growers came to D.C. during the NPC Washington Summit, they emphasized the need for these priorities during their visits with their members of Congress,” Dean Gibson, National Potato Council vice president of legislative affairs, said in the release. “While many programs took a haircut or were reduced entirely, we can be proud that our advocacy helped maintain these priorities in the House budget. Now, our job is to ensure these priorities are maintained as the bill goes to the House floor and through the Senate.”