The Agriculture appropriations bill provides significant spending increases at a time when our country faces grave fiscal challenges.

Total Spending
FY 2010- $124.2 billion (14.5% increase over FY 2009)
FY 2009- $108.1 billion (20.8% increase over FY 2008)
Stimulus- $26.5 billion
FY 2008- $90.7 billion

Discretionary Spending
FY 2010- $23.3 billion
This represents a 12.7% increase over FY 2009 discretionary spending.

Mandatory Spending
FY 2010- $100.8 billion
This is a 15% increase over FY 2009 mandatory spending.

Amendment 2243-Stimulus Double Dipping
Programs in this bill received more than $26 billion in the 2009 Stimulus legislation. Many of these programs are now receiving another full annual appropriation for FY 2010 only a few months later. In some cases, certain programs and accounts will have received the equivalent of three years' appropriation when totaling funds from FY 2009 appropriations, the Stimulus, and now the FY 2010 appropriation.

Amendment 2244-Digital Television Funding Elimination
The transition from analog to digital broadcasting is largely complete and entirely complete among high-powered broadcasters. Transition assistance is currently being addressed by at least three existing federal initiatives. The President, in his FY 2010 Budget, proposed to eliminate USDA's Rural Development Public Television Grant Program, because it is duplicative of these existing efforts. This amendment would save taxpayers $4.9 million and streamline federal initiatives to address the digital transition.

Amendment 2245-Specialty Cheese 
The bill provides $3 million to support development and expansion of the specialty cheese industry, of which $2 million is directed to Wisconsin and $1 million to Vermont. Specialty and Artisanal cheese has become popular in the United States. This growing popularity reflects the quality of cheese production and underscores the fact that government intervention or interference is not needed for the success of this growing industry. This amendment would eliminate funding for specialty cheese and save taxpayers $5 million.

Amendment 2246-USDA Conference Spending
In 2001, USDA spent $6 million on conferences. Within five years, this amount more than tripled to $19 million in 2006. This amendment would cap the amount spent on conferences by USDA at $12 million next year, which is twice the amount spent in 2001 but million less than what the Department has been spending every year since. This amendment will ensure USDA has more than enough funds to pay for gatherings and meetings while ensuring that more federal resources are available for our nation's agriculture priorities.

Amendment 2247/2248-Competitive Bidding
The federal government awards hundreds of billions of dollars annually in contracts and grants. It is becoming a common practice for agencies and Congress to bypass the federal process for competitively awarding contracts and grants. During his campaign for President, Barack Obama pledged to change the way Washington spends taxpayers' money, in part, by eliminating no bid contracts. This amendment would require that all grants and contracts (and earmarks-#2247) awarded under this act be competitively bid. This amendment would ensure that members of Congress and the federal government are good stewards of taxpayer dollars and support the President in his efforts to eliminate no-bid contracts.

Read Dr. Coburn's oversight report on the USDA's Wasteful Conference Spending here.