WASHINGTON, May 13, 2013 – The draft farm bill (S. 10), which the Senate Agriculture, Forestry and Nutrition Committee will consider Tuesday, would reduce direct spending by $18 billion over 10 years, according to a Congressional Budget Office report released today.
This falls short of the estimated $24 billion Senate supporters have suggested would be saved over the life of the bill. However, if sequestration was repealed, the reduction would hit $24.4 billion, CBO said.
The CBO estimates that direct spending authorized by the bill over the 2014-2023 period would total $955 billion.
The report shows CBO’s estimate of the budgetary effects by title; provides estimates pertaining to specific agricultural commodities under Title I of the legislation; and shows estimates for specific provisions within the various titles of the proposal.
“Because the proposal would affect direct spending, pay-as-you-go procedures apply,” the report said. “Enacting the proposed legislation would not affect federal revenues. CBO has not estimated the additional discretionary spending for agricultural programs that would result from implementing the proposal; such spending would be subject to appropriation actions.”
CBO also said it has not reviewed the proposal for intergovernmental or private-sector mandates.
Under sequestration, the report said, $593 million in 2013 spending authority for mandatory agricultural programs was cancelled. The sequestration, in turn, resulted in a reduction of roughly $6.4 billion in CBO’s baseline projections for mandatory agricultural programs, the agency said.
“If the current law requirements concerning sequestration were repealed and the Congress subsequently enacted the committee’s draft legislation, CBO estimates that it would reduce direct spending by $24.4 billion over the 2014-2023 period,” the report said.
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