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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food and Nutrition Service
Statement of Roberto Salazar, Administrator
Food and Nutrition Service
Before the Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development,
and Related Agencies
April 14, 2005
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and members of the Subcommittee for
allowing me this opportunity to present testimony in support of the fiscal year
2006 budget request for the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS).
The Food and Nutrition Service is the agency charged with
managing fifteen nutrition assistance programs which create the Nation’s
nutrition safety net and providing Federal leadership in America’s ongoing
struggle against hunger and poor nutrition. Our stated mission is to increase
food security, reduce hunger and improve health outcomes in partnership with
cooperating organizations by providing children and low-income people access to
nutritious food and nutrition education in a manner that inspires public
confidence and supports American agriculture. The budget request clearly
demonstrates the President’s continuing commitment to this mission and our
programs.
A request of $59 billion in new budget authority is contained
within the fiscal year 2006 budget to fulfill this mission through the fifteen
FNS nutrition assistance programs. These critical programs touch the lives of
more than 1 in 5 Americans over the course of a year. Programs funded within
this budget request include the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), which will
provide nutritious school lunches to almost 30 million children each school day,
the WIC Program, which will assist with the nutrition and health care needs of
8.5 million at risk pregnant and postpartum women, infants and children each
month, and the Food Stamp Program (FSP), which will ensure access to a
nutritious diet each month for an estimated 29.1 million people. The remaining
programs include the School Breakfast Program (SBP), The Emergency Food
Assistance Program (TEFAP), the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), the Child
and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), the Food Distribution Program on Indian
Reservations (FDPIR), and the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) and the
Farmers’ Market Programs. FNS seeks to serve the children and low-income
households of this Nation and address the diverse circumstances though which
hunger and nutrition-related problems present themselves and affect our
participants within the design and delivery methods of our programs.
The resources we are here to discuss represent an investment in
the health, self-sufficiency, and productivity of Americans who, at times, find
themselves in need of nutrition assistance. Under Secretary Bost, in his
testimony, has outlined the three critical challenges which the Food, Nutrition
and Consumer Services team has focused on under his leadership: expanding access
to the Federal nutrition assistance programs; addressing the growing epidemic of
overweight and obesity; and, improving the integrity with which our programs are
administered. In addition to these fundamental priorities specific to our
mission, the President’s Management Agenda provides an ambitious agenda for
management improvement across the Federal Government as a whole. I would like to
report on our efforts to address three specific items under this agenda;
reducing improper payments and enhancing the efficiency of program delivery,
building partnerships with faith and community based organizations, and
systematically planning for the human capital challenges facing all of the
Federal service.
The Challenge of Improper Payments
Good financial management is at the center of the President’s
Management Agenda. As with any Federal program, the nutrition assistance
programs require sustained attention to program integrity. We cannot sustain
these programs over the long term without continued public trust in our ability
to manage them effectively. Program integrity is as fundamental to our mission
as program access or healthy eating. Our efforts to minimize improper program
payments focus on 1) working closely with States to improve Food Stamp payment
accuracy; 2) implementing policy changes and new oversight efforts to improve
school meals certification; and 3) improving management of Child and Adult Care
Food Program providers, and vendors in WIC. We have identified these 4 programs
as programs susceptible to significant improper payments and will continue to
enhance the efficiency and accuracy with which these programs are delivered. I
am happy to report that in fiscal year 2003, the most recent year for which data
is available, we have achieved a record level of Food Stamp payment accuracy
with a combined payment error rate of only 6.63 percent. This is the fifth
consecutive year of improvement, making it the lowest rate in the history of the
program. With this budget request, we will continue our efforts with our State
partners toward continued improvement in the payment error rate. We will
continue efforts to address the issue of proper certification in the school
meals programs in a way that improves the accuracy of this process without
limiting access of eligible children. New analytical work will begin under this
budget request to better assess the accuracy of eligibility determinations in
the Child and Adult Care Food Program.
Faith-based and Community Organizations Outreach
Faith-based organizations have long played an important role in
raising community awareness about program services, assisting individuals who
apply for benefits, and delivering benefits. President Bush has made working
with the faith-based community an Administration priority, and we intend to
continue our outreach efforts in FY 2006. The partnership of faith-based
organizations and FNS programs, including TEFAP, WIC, NSLP, and the CSFP, is
long-established. Most faith-based schools participate in the NSLP and many
child care providers and sponsors are the product of faith-based organizations.
In addition, the majority of organizations such as food pantries and soup
kitchens that actually deliver TEFAP benefits are faith-based. Across the
country, faith-based organizations have found over the years that they can
participate in these programs without compromising their mission or values. They
are valued partners in an effort to combat hunger in America. I am happy to
report that in the past 6 months we have provided 16 grant awards of
approximately $2 million to community and faith-based organizations to test
innovative food stamp outreach strategies to reach underserved, eligible
individuals and families.
Human Capital Management
We currently estimate that up to 80 percent of our senior
leaders are eligible to retire within five years, as is nearly 30 percent of our
total workforce. FNS must address this serious challenge by improving the
management of the agency’s human capital, strengthening services provided to
employees, and implementing programs designed to improve the efficiency,
diversity, and competency of the work force. With just nominal increases for
basic program administration in most years, the Food and Nutrition Service has
reduced its Federal staffing levels significantly over time. We have compensated
for these changes by building strong partnerships with the State and local
entities which administer our programs and taking advantage of technological
innovations. We are extremely proud of what we have accomplished; full funding
of the nutrition programs administration request in this budget is vital to our
continued success.
Now, I would like to review some of the components of our
request under each program area.
Food Stamp Program
The President’s budget requests $40.7 billion for the Food Stamp
account including the Food Stamp Program and its associated nutrition assistance
programs. These resources will serve an estimated 29.1 million people each month
participating in the Food Stamp Program alone. Included in this request is the
continuation of the $3 billion contingency reserve provided for the program in
fiscal year 2005. While we anticipate the improvement in the general economy
will at some point begin to impact the program, predicting the turning point of
participation continues to be challenging. To better meet this challenge, we
have proposed, as an alternative to the traditional contingency reserve,
indefinite funding authority for program benefits and payments to States and
other non-Federal entities. In addition, we have made a concentrated effort to
encourage working families, senior citizens and legal immigrants to apply for
benefits.
We need to ensure program access is administered in an equitable
manner across all States. The budget contains a proposal to eliminate
categorical Food Stamp eligibility for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
participants who receive only non-cash TANF services. This proposal, with
partial implementation in FY 2006, is expected to impact 161,000 persons and
reduce benefits by $57 million among persons with incomes above the normal food
stamp thresholds. Fully implemented in FY 2007, this change is estimated to
affect approximately 312,000 individuals and save $113 million annually. The
President’s proposal ensures that Food Stamp benefits go to the individuals with
the most need and retains categorical eligibility for the large number of
recipients who receive cash assistance through TANF, SSI and General Assistance.
Included in the budget is a proposal to add the Food Stamp Program to the list
of programs for which States may access the National Database of New Hires.
Access to this National repository of employment and unemployment insurance data
will enhance States’ ability to quickly and accurately make eligibility and
benefit level determinations, improving program integrity. This proposal is
expected to produce a net program savings of $2 million annually beginning in
fiscal year 2007.
The budget also requests a continuation of a policy included in
last year’s Appropriations to exclude special military pay received by members
of the armed forces serving in combat zones when determining food stamp benefits
for their families back home. Over the next year, we will also be working with
members of this Committee to rename the Food Stamp Program to better reflect its
purpose of providing nutrition assistance and promoting health among low-income
families.
Child Nutrition Programs
The budget requests $12.4 billion for the Child Nutrition
Programs, which provide millions of nutritious meals to children in schools and
in childcare settings every day. This level of funding will support an increase
in daily School Lunch Program participation from the current 29 million children
to approximately 30 million children. Requested increases in these programs
reflect rising school enrollment, increases in payment rates to cover inflation,
and proportionately higher levels of meal service among children in the free and
reduced price categories. We will also put into practice program changes and new
activities resulting from the 2004 reauthorization of these programs. These
include implementing the newly authorized Fruit and Vegetable Program, and
continuing our efforts to promote healthy behaviors by supporting the
implementation of local wellness policies. We created the HealthierUS Schools
Challenge to encourage communities to improve the foods offered at school and
other aspects of a healthy school nutrition environment and to recognize schools
that made improvements.
WIC
The President’s budget includes $5.51 billion for the Special
Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, the WIC Program.
The request will provide food, nutrition education, and a link to health care to
a monthly average of 8.5 million needy women, infants and children during fiscal
year 2006. We will continue, with a budget request of $15 million, an initiative
begun in fiscal year 2004 and authorized in the program’s 2004 reauthorization,
to enhance breastfeeding initiation and duration. The $125 million contingency
fund provided in the fiscal year 2003 appropriation and reestablished in fiscal
year 2005, continues to be available to the program. We currently anticipate
using a small portion of the reserve in fiscal year 2005 for projected program
costs; the President’s budget replenishes the reserve to the $125 million level.
Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP)
The Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) serves elderly
persons and at risk low-income pregnant and post-partum and breastfeeding women,
infants and children up to age six. The budget requests $106.8 million for this
program, the same level appropriated in fiscal year 2005. Under this funding
level, we anticipate a decrease of 44 thousand. We face a difficult challenge
with regard to discretionary budget resources. CSFP operates in selected areas
in just 32 States, the District of Columbia, and two Indian Tribal
Organizations. The populations served by CSFP are eligible to receive similar
benefits through other Federal nutrition assistance programs that offer them
flexibility to meet their individual needs. We believe our limited resources are
best focused on programs available in all communities nationwide.
The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP)
As provided for in the Farm Bill, the budget requests $140
million for commodities in this important program. Our request for States’
storage and distribution costs, critical support for the Nation’s food banks, is
$50 million. The Food and Nutrition Service is committed to ensuring the
continuing flow of resources to the food bank community including directly
purchased commodities, administrative funding, and surplus commodities from the
USDA market support activities. Much of this funding is provided, at the local
level, to faith-based organizations. Surplus commodity donations significantly
increase the amount of commodities available to the food bank community from
Federal sources.
Nutrition Programs Administration (NPA)
We are requesting $140.8 million in this account, an increase of
$2 million over our fiscal year 2005 level. This increase will partially offset
personal-related costs of the FNS workforce in fiscal year 2006. Our request for
Federal administrative resources is needed to sustain the program management and
support activities of our employees nationwide. I believe we need this modest
increase in funding in order to maintain accountability for our $59 billion
portfolio and to assist States to effectively manage the programs and provide
access to all eligible people.
Thank you for the opportunity to present this written testimony.
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