Del.icio.us  Digg  facebook  MySpace  Twitter  Google  Bookmark Me  LinkedIn  StumbleUpon  Permalink

Vilsack Says Budget Cuts Complicated by Fiscal Year

U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says USDA might be able to deal with a 14% budget cut for the rest of this fiscal year, but argues the House GOP is effectively proposing twice that.

Vilsack says fiscal 2011 is complicated by the lack of a full-year budget with funding under a stop-gap continuing resolution that expires next month. He says USDA and other agencies will face difficulty in managing Congressionally-directed budget cuts in about half a fiscal year. He used 15% as an example.

"That may be something that would be more easily managed during the course of a 12-month fiscal year as opposed to managing in the remaining portion of a fiscal year which might only be six months," Vilsack said. "So in effect what you're doing with a 15% cut is imposing a 30% reduction on the remaining part of the budget year."

And the Secretary says such a cut will have to be managed very carefully.

"You're going to have to take a look at how you can best manage any reduction whatever it might be in a way that maintains the services important to folks in rural America to the extent that you can, maintain the programs and the integrity of the programs to the extent that you can," Vilsack said.

One example is loan guarantees for rural development projects. Vilsack announced loans and grants for 16 projects in 10 states this week.

"Often times you look at loan guarantees and what kind of fees will be charged to reduce the budget impact of those guarantees so that you continue to allow for a significant amount of lending capacity," Vilsack said.

Vilsack says maintaining FSA office staffing will be another priority.

House Republicans are targeting the USDA-FDA budget for more than $3 billion in current fiscal year spending cuts. By Vilsack's arithmetic that adds up to a 28% cut over the remainder of the current fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.