TEFAP Alliance Blog

May 2004

In This Issue:
• Political Stalemate Delaying 2005 Funding
• States Forego Food for Transportation Funds
• More Bonus Foods Being Bought in FY2004
• Higher Cost Food Items Lowered TEFAP Poundage in FY2003
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Political Stalemate Delaying 2005 Funding
Congressional disagreements over taxes and spending have put fiscal year 2005 appropriations on indefinite hold. Both the House and Senate have passed fiscal year 2005 budget resolutions, giving shape to broad parameters for federal spending next year, but a conference committee appointed in March has made no progress on reconciling differences between the two chambers.
Traditionally, the budget resolution sets overall spending limits for the federal government and then allocations are provided to each appropriations subcommittee to work within. However, without a budget resolution, the appropriations process has stalled. One of the key sticking points is the Senate’s pay-as-you-go (also referred to as PAYGO) requirement, budget language that mandates offsets for additional spending and perhaps even for tax cuts beyond those agreed to in the budget resolution.
Some observers think that appropriators may soon proceed without the framework of a budget resolution, while others believe the whole fiscal 2005 funding process may be delayed until after the November elections.

States Forego Food for Transportation Funds
Given an option to swap food dollars for funds to meet storage and distribution needs, TEFAP agencies in nearly all states did just that this year, according to figures released last month by the Food and Nutrition Service of the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). USDA authorized states to convert up to $10 million of the fiscal year 2004 appropriation from food entitlement funds to administrative needs, and 45 of the 50 states elected to do so.
Only Arizona, Hawaii, Ohio, and Oklahoma chose to keep the maximum amount of TEFAP funds in food. New York used a portion on the food funds for transportation and storage. In all, $9,255,794 of the $10 million available went for distribution, an amount similar to fiscal year 2003, and reflective of the “long-established need” for additional administrative dollars, commented a USDA official.

More Bonus Foods Being Bought in FY2004
USDA recently listed 11 foods purchased to date and offered to TEFAP as bonus items in the current fiscal year. Those foods are: frozen turkey breasts, canned salmon, canned orange juice*, fruit and nut mix*, dried cherries, dates, figs, tomatoes, walnuts, non-fat dry milk*, and pudding*. Purchases of items marked with an asterisk are on-going; the others are being purchased in limited quantities.
However, the USDA list, publicized in April, is already being expanded. A 3.5 million pound purchase of frozen strawberries was announced in early April, though it is not certain whether some of it will be directed to TEFAP. USDA staff also told Washington Update that fresh pears, apricots, and dried plums may soon be offered to TEFAP. And if Members of Congress have their way, potatoes will be available, too. A 26-member, bipartisan Congressional Potato Caucus, representing 12 potato-producing states, has petitioned USDA to buy bonus spuds.
Bonus supplies of dry milk are going the other way, however. Due to a very significant and sudden reversal in the commercial market, the government has stopped purchasing non-fat dry milk and is actually selling its stocks back to industry. Non-fat dry milk remains a TEFAP bonus item, but the quantities available have been in storage for a year or longer.

Higher Cost Food Items Lowered TEFAP Poundage in FY2003
USDA statistics comparing TEFAP operations for fiscal years 2002 and 2003 show that although more money was spent, fewer pounds of bonus commodities were provided to food distribution agencies last year. The reason for the difference, according to USDA officials was the price per pound of items purchased.
Plenty of potatoes (14 to 19 cents/pound), orange juice (25 cents/pound), and dried beans (30 cents/pound) were purchased and delivered in fiscal year 2002. However, major buys of meats and processed foods in fiscal 2003, such as bison ($2.93/pound), catfish ($2.79/pound), pudding ($1.58/pound), and ham ($1.23/pound), affected the overall quantity provided. In addition, a number of foods purchased during fiscal 2003 were not actually scheduled for delivery until after the start of the 2004 fiscal year. In spite of the reduced poundage, however, a total of 40 bonus items and a wide variety of foods were provided in fiscal 2003.

WASHINGTON UPDATE is published monthly for the TEFAP Alliance by Weinberg & Vauthier Consulting, 419 West Broad Street, Suite 204, Falls Church, VA 22046; telephone: 703-532-5700; fax: 703-532-5780; email: zyweinberg@earthlink.net

Washington Update
Monday, May 10, 2004

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