The VA, HUD and Independent Agencies appropriations bill includes funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and a number of independent agencies. This report describes some of the key issues affecting agency funding in FY1997.

The FY1997 agriculture appropriations act (P.L. 104-180) was signed into law on August 6, 1996. P.L. 104-180 provides $52.84 billion in FY1997 budget authority for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and related agencies, an amount which is $5.60 billion below the Administration's FY1997 request and $10.25 billion below the FY1996 enacted level. Much of the reduction in funding from FY1996 levels is attributable to an $8.9 billion reduction in the reimbursement for net realized losses of the Commodity Credit Corporation, which is the funding mechanism for USDA's commodity programs. The act also requires recipients of the new farm bill-authorized market transition payments to use eligible land for farm production, or place it in a conserving use.