A month ago, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue unveiled a USDA reorganization plan that creates a new sub-cabinet post, undersecretary for trade, and eliminates the position of undersecretary for rural development. Two key Senate Democrats appealed to Perdue, ahead of congressional testimony this week, to retain the rural development slot, saying there is widespread support in rural America for the position.
Perdue is scheduled to testify before the USDA budget at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Tuesday. The senior Democrat on the subcommittee, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, joined the senior Democrat on the Agriculture Committee, Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, in writing to Perdue to “respectfully request that you maintain a Senate-confirmed under secretary for rural development.”
The proposed budget would eliminate more than 40 programs, cut rural development funding by 30 percent, and reduce staffing by nearly 20 percent, said the senators. Eliminating the undersecretary slot at the same time that programs are being cut dramatically “is very concerning,” they said. Perdue claimed the reorganization would elevate rural development because the function would report directly to him. During a House hearing, he said he will take an active hand in rural economic development and hire an energetic assistant, “sitting next to me, with walk-in privileges,” to handle the day-to-day duties. “I welcome the responsibility,” he said.
The National Association of Realtors said the reorganization “would hinder the ability of RHS [the USDA’s Rural Housing Service] to help provide safe, stable housing for rural families.” In fiscal 2015, the RHS financed or guaranteed the construction or renovation of 10,840 units of multifamily housing and provided rental assistance to 249,000 rural families, the NAR said in a letter filed in response to a USDA request for public comments.
“The housing needs of rural America deserve equal footing with all of USDA’s program missions, including adequate staffing and resources,” said the group. “Creating an undersecretary for trade does not obligate USDA to eliminate an undersecretary or downgrade any other mission area.”
The nonprofit National Housing Conference also called for retention of the rural development post. “The proposed reorganization cannot elevate rural development effectively if the funding for rural housing programs is significantly decreased. The lack of a rural development undersecretary would also make it challenging to truly elevate RD [rural development].”
At the annual meeting of the Delta Council over the weekend, Perdue said “economic groups [are] what we sorely need in rural America” and that as chairman of a White House task force, he would find ways, including by eliminating regulations, to pump life into rural areas. “We’re going to come up with ideas and implement them,” he said in remarks prepared for delivery in Cleveland, Miss.
The 2014 farm law called for creation of an undersecretary for trade and foreign agricultural affairs and directed the USDA to present a reorganization plan to the House and Senate Agriculture committees, with implementation coming “not later than one year after the submission of the report.” The USDA says the reorganization will take effect once consultations with the committees are completed.
It would be the first restructuring of the USDA in a generation but, as presented, would redraw the agency’s organizational tree without changing operations at the local level. For example, Perdue would put all of USDA’s stewardship programs under the control of the undersecretary who oversees crop subsidies. His plan does not call for closing local offices or co-locating the agencies that run the programs—two ideas that have generated fireworks for years. Congress routinely bars the USDA from closing local offices without a go-ahead from Capitol Hill.
“While we certainly support the goal of streamlining delivery of USDA programs, it is critical this move not diminish the important work NRCS [the Natural Resources Conservation Service] does to protect our land and water,” said Stabenow and Merkley, referring to Perdue’s proposed configuration of agencies.
Agricultural and conservation groups are often riven by arguments about whether an undersecretary could even-handedly promote crop production and the preservation of fragile lands at the same time. Perdue’s plan would put the question to a real-life test.
Fifteen rural and farm groups signed a letter to Congress last month opposing the elimination of the rural development undersecretary.
To read the letter by Stabenow and Merkley, click here. Comments are due by Wednesday.
To read public comments on the USDA reorganization, click here.
To read the 10-page USDA report to Congress on reorganization, click here.