FDA FY 1992 APPROPRIATIONS SET AT $ 759.9 MIL.

FDA FY 1992 APPROPRIATIONS SET AT $ 759.9 MIL. under an agreement reached Oct. 3 by House and Senate negotiators on the Agriculture/FDA funding bill. Senate conferees ceded to the House bill's higher funding levels and other provisions in all areas except for the allotment for buildings and facilities. The House had proposed $ 10.3 mil. for buildings and facilities versus the Senate's $ 8.3 mil. ("The Pink Sheet" July 29, T&G-1). The added $ 2 mil. in the House bill was earmarked for planning for FDA's consolidated campus, but Senate negotiators pointed out that the FY 1992 Postal Service/General Government appropriations bill contains nearly $ 200 mil. for campus planning and construction (see related story below). The bill would provide $ 725.9 mil. for FDA salaries and general expenses; the Senate had proposed $ 704 mil... It also provides $ 25.6 mil. for rental payments. The $ 759.9 agency total is about $ 70 mil. more than FDA's FY 1991 appropriations. The conference bill must still be ratified by both House and Senate. A House floor vote is expected Oct. 8 or 9 and the Senate vote is expected shortly thereafter. The compromise retains the House's provision that would require FDA to submit a specific appropriations request for funds that would have come from user fees under the Bush Administration's budget plan. Absent the request, FDA would receive $ 537 mil. for salaries and expenses in 1992, $ 188.8 mil. less than the compromise funding level of $ 725.9 mil. Both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees have previously expressed strong objections to the Bush Administration's approach of including user fee revenues in its FDA budget plan before such fees are authorized in statute. The upcoming House-Senate conference report on Agriculture/FDA appropriations is expected to discuss this issue further. The conference agreement, however, struck provisions in the Senate bill that would have withheld $ 45.4 mil. of the allocation until FDA declares a funding "emergency" and another $ 51.5 mil. until the last day of the fiscal year. Those provisions to juggle FDA's accounts, as well as the Senate's lower proposed funding levels, arose because the Senate Appropriations Committee gave its Agriculture/FDA Subcommittee $ 500 mil. less to work with than did the House committee ("The Pink Sheet" Aug. 5, p. 5). However, Senate subcommittee members indicated early on that they wanted to increase FDA's budget in the House-Senate conference.