TEFAP Alliance Blog

July 2004

In This Issue:

• Budget Deadlock Continues; Appropriations Stalled as Congress Recesses
• Re-engineering Initiative Finalized
• TEFAP Eligibility and The New Medicare Drug Card
• More Bonus Fruit on the Way
• **********
• Budget Deadlock Continues; Appropriations Stalled as Congress Recesses
• It’s politics before spending this year. Congress began a prolonged election-year summer recess on July 24, with major business – including next year’s budget and spending plan – still pending. Lawmakers have tacked on two weeks to the normal vacation month of August – the last week in July for the Democratic convention in Boston and the first week in September for the Republican convention in New York. Members of Congress will not resume deliberations in Washington until September 7.
• Republican leaders in the House and Senate have failed to agree to a budget resolution for fiscal year 2005 due to differences on the extension of tax cuts and the imposition of spending restraints. Consequently, appropriations bills dependent on budget numbers have been frozen. Congress passed the first of 13 separate appropriations bills – for the military – on July 23.
• However, all other appropriations bills, including one for agriculture (H.R. 4766) that has passed the House, will not be considered until September at the earliest. H.R. 4766 maintains TEFAP funding at $140 million for food purchases and $50 million for storage and distribution grants. Those levels are unlikely to be raised, but could be lowered, if there are budget cuts or across-the-board reductions.
• When Congress returns, there will be only 18 legislative days remaining before the scheduled October 1 adjournment for the fall elections. It appears increasingly likely that there will be a post-election lame duck session of Congress to deal with the budget and an omnibus appropriations bill for fiscal 2005.
•
• Re-engineering Initiative Finalized
• The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has completed its multi-agency, four-year Food Distribution 2000 initiative, also known as Food Distribution BPR (Business Process Re-engineering), which has updated and streamlined federal commodity programs. In a July 21, 2004 news release, top USDA officials reviewed the changes made “with a great sense of accomplishment.”
• USDA noted the following improvements as a result of the BPR process:
• A national Electronic Commodity Ordering System (ECOS), which has allowed food to be ordered and orders tracked over the Internet;
• A Commodity Hold and Recall System to help respond to food safety concerns when food is recalled or spoiled;
• Adoption of commercial labels for most commodity food packages, replacing a separate label that identified – and to some stigmatized – foods as USDA commodities;
• Progress made toward National Processing Agreements with national approvals for end product data schedules;
• Expanded allowances for substitutions of products in commodity processing;
• Revised commodity specifications and standards that more closely follow commercial definitions; and
• Designation of a single “USDA Point of Contact” for state agencies and other commodity program customers.
• The news release was issued by USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service, Agricultural Marketing Service, Food Safety and Inspection Service, and Farm Service Agency, which are all involved in the procurement, processing, and distribution of commodities.
•
• TEFAP Eligibility and the New Medicare Drug Card
• USDA’s Food Distribution Division has issued a policy memorandum, dated June 29, 2004, stating that the eligibility of elderly and disabled persons TEFAP should not be affected by receipt of the new Medicare prescription drug card. The memo was provided in response to news reports that drug benefits were causing a loss of eligibility for food stamps and other nutrition assistance programs.
• The policy memo clearly states the “any subsidy a household receives through the prescription drug discount card program must not be treated as income or resources in determining eligibility for participation in TEFAP.”
•
• More Bonus Fruit on the Way
• Earlier this month USDA announced additional planned purchases of fruit for donation to child nutrition and food distribution programs, including TEFAP. On July 9, USDA revealed it would buy approximately 22 million pounds of frozen freestone peaches, 3.9 million pounds of canned pineapples, and 13.1 million pounds of pineapple juice. A July 22 news release stated that USDA would purchase another 40.5 million pounds of clingstone and freestone peaches, in addition to 26.9 million pounds of canned mixed fruit.

• 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
Thursday, July 29, 2004

mvauthier :: Jul.26.2004 :: Washington Update :: No Comments »:: Print This Post

Trackback this post | Feed on Comments to this post