Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2026

Rural Hospital Support: A pilot program is funded to assist rural hospitals in improving their long-term operations and financial health, specifically to help expand and sustain access to maternal health care services. (Title III: Rural Development)

Food Security and Nutrition: Significant funding is allocated for the National School Lunch Program, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to support various nutrition needs. (Title IV: Domestic Food Programs)

Housing Assistance: The bill provides resources for rural housing insurance, including direct loans, guaranteed loans, and rental assistance, to help provide safe and affordable housing for low-income residents and farm laborers. (Title III: Rural Development)

Rural Infrastructure and Technology: Funding is provided for rural water and waste disposal, as well as broadband and telemedicine services, to improve connectivity and essential services in rural areas. (Title III: Rural Development)

Economic Development: Various programs are funded to support rural business development, cooperative services, and the creation of jobs in rural communities. (Title III: Rural Development)

Food Safety: The Food and Drug Administration is funded to carry out activities related to human foods, drug evaluation, and the safety of various products. (Title VI: Related Agencies and Food and Drug Administration)

Increased transparency for tobacco products: The bill requires the FDA to make a monthly updated list of products on its website, including those with marketing granted or denied orders and pending applications. (Section 2)

Support for rural development: The bill mandates that at least 10 percent of funds for several rural service accounts be allocated for assistance in persistent poverty counties. (Section 736)

Assistance for food processors: The bill provides $2,000,000 for the Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program to award grants to processors of invasive, wild-caught catfish. (Section 753)

Infant nutrition improvements: The Secretary of Agriculture is tasked with amending food packages to include peanut-containing foods to facilitate the early introduction of potentially allergenic foods for infants. (Section 769)

Protection of religious and moral convictions: The bill prohibits the government from taking discriminatory actions against people based on sincerely held religious beliefs or moral convictions regarding marriage. (Section 780)

Program Reductions: A rescission of $100,000,000 is applied to the supplemental nutrition program. (Title VII, Sec. 722)

Funding Limitations on Regulatory Activity: Certain rulemaking efforts related to poultry grower contracting, market integrity, and competition are barred from receiving funds, which could impact the implementation of these specific rules. (Title VII, Sec. 729)

Restriction on Program Implementation: Some funds are subject to specific limitations or requirements that could restrict how programs are managed or how many people they can serve. (Title I, Title II, Title III)

Increased costs for water infrastructure: Requirements to use all American-produced iron and steel for certain water and waste projects could increase project costs by more than 25 percent. (Section 734)

Restrictions on food regulation: The bill prohibits the use of funds to enforce certain food safety rules regarding produce, food traceability, and tobacco manufacturing. (Sections 738, 766, and 773)

Limitations on nutritional standards: Funds may not be used to implement rules that reduce milk allowances in WIC or to implement new sodium reduction actions. (Sections 742 and 757)

Potential impact on food availability: The bill prohibits the use of funds to procure certain poultry or seafood products imported from the People's Republic of China for school meal programs. (Section 747)

Reduction in existing funds: The bill includes several rescissions that cancel or reduce previously available money, such as $78,000,000 from the Working Capital Fund (Section 744) and $100,000,000 from conservation activities (Section 778).