Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., today released a list of items in the fiscal year 2014 omnibus appropriations bill that she considers to be accomplishments of her negotiations in the bill, including a number that affect food, agriculture and rural areas.

The bill is expected to pass both houses of Congress and go to President Barack Obama for his signature by the end of the week. The current continuing resolution expires Wednesday, and the House today passed an extension of that resolution through Saturday.

Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md.
Among the items on Mikulski’s list of omnibus bill accomplishments:

• Infant feeding — Includes a $194 million increase in the Women, Infants, and Children nutrition program, which provides health care and nutrition to low-income pregnant women, breastfeeding women, and infants and children under the age of 5. The increase would provide 87,000 more mothers and children with nutrition assistance than last year.
• Home energy assistance — Increases investment in the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) by $169 million, which would provide home energy assistance to 415,000 additional households year.
• Weather forecasting — Includes $1.89 billion for the development of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s satellite systems, $207 million more than 2013, to keep the next generation of weather forecasting satellites on-track and on-budget. “One-third of U.S. GDP is affected by climate and weather, from farmers trying to protect livestock and crops, to cities relying on energy from wind turbines and solar panels, to air travelers trying to get home safely and on time through storms,” the news release said.
• Army Corps of Engineers — Provides $5.467 billion, an increase of $748 million, funding Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund activities, increasing resources for flood and storm damage reduction, ecosystem restoration, navigation and environmental infrastructure projects.
• Environmental Protection Agency — Increases funding by $299 million over last year, reversing three years of cuts and preventing employee furloughs.
• Energy Department Office of Science — Increases budget by $450 million to develop new computer systems and experimental science facilities. Additional funding also focuses on the discovery of new materials for the generation, storage, and use of energy and improved biofuels production.
• Customs and border protection — Increases funding by $715 million over the fiscal year 2013 sequester level, which would pay for 2,000 new enforcement officers at border crossings.
• Energy efficiency and renewable energy — Provides $1.9 billion for the Energy Department's EERE program, a $182 million increase over last year and $1.1 billion above the House bill’s level. This is aimed at accelerating development of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies, including biofuels, electric vehicles, and advanced manufacturing.
• Land and Water Conservation Fund — Provides $306 million in funding, despite the House subcommittee bill’s zeroing out of the land acquisition and state grant programs.
• Rural Veterans Administration health care — Provides full funding of $250 million.
• National Institute of Food and Agriculture — Consolidates or eliminates duplicative programs such as those within the Agriculture Department’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the news release said.

• FY2014 Consolidated Appropriations Act: A Win for Families, Jobs and the Economy (Fact Sheet)