California Votes Here: H.R. 8646

June 5, 2026 - WASHINGTON - On Thursday, Congressman Jim Costa (CA-21), a senior member of the House Agriculture Committee, voted against H.R. 8646, the FY2027 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. 
 
The bill comes at a moment when farm bankruptcies are up, and farmers need a lifeline. As farmers and growers across the San Joaquin Valley struggle with rising costs, volatile markets, and ongoing pest and disease threats, this legislation cuts overall USDA funding by more than $1 billion. It slashes conservation programs that help ranchers protect their land, cuts the agricultural research growers rely on to fight invasive pests and crop disease, and guts rural development investments that small agricultural communities depend on. 

"The San Joaquin Valley feeds America, and this bill falls short of supporting the very people who make that possible,"said Rep. Costa."In addition to the $187 billion in cuts to SNAP included in Republicans' Big Ugly Bill, this legislation further reduces support for nutrition assistance, rural infrastructure, and economic development programs that serve working families, children, seniors, veterans, and rural communities throughout the Valley."  

Despite his opposition, Rep. Costa fought for the San Joaquin Valley and secured real wins for everyday families. He protected funding to combat a growing pest outbreak threatening California's grapevines and wine industry, an infestation already spreading across more than a dozen counties and reaching grocery store shelves. He preserved home loan protections for rural families buying their first home, expanded crop insurance options for farmers growing the fruits and vegetables that end up on dinner tables nationwide, and secured research funding to address the bird flu outbreak that has driven up the cost of eggs and poultry. 

Those wins, however, could not overcome the fundamental failures of this bill. Rather than building on bipartisan priorities, House Republicans chose to slash billions from the nutrition programs that feed hungry children, seniors, and veterans. They cut the conservation and research programs farmers depend on to protect their land and fight invasive pests and disease, gutted the rural infrastructure that connects and powers small communities, and inserted divisive partisan riders that have no place in an agriculture funding bill. A bill that defunds USDA while farm country is hurting, and cuts food assistance for working families is not a compromise. It is a choice, and it is the wrong one. 

The bill: 

• Cuts overall USDA discretionary funding by more than $1 billion below FY2026, at a time when farmers and rural communities are already under serious economic strain.  
• Cuts SNAP funding by approximately $6 billion.  
• Reduces WIC funding and fruit and vegetable benefits for women and children.  
  Cuts funding for TEFAP, which provides food to food banks and emergency feeding programs.  
• Eliminates the Healthy Food Financing Initiative.
• Cuts conservation funding for farmers and ranchers by nearly 8%, reducing the technical assistance that helps producers protect their land and water.  
• Eliminates the Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative, which helps livestock producers manage privately owned grazing lands.
• Cuts Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education by 17%, undercutting research that helps farmers stay productive and competitive.  
• Cuts the Farm Service Agency budget, which provides critical loans and support to farmers facing financial hardship.
• Cuts rural broadband investments by 20%.  
• Cuts rural business development funding by 28%
• Cuts the Rural Energy for America Program by 50%.  
• Cuts water and wastewater infrastructure grants by 44%.  
• Cuts Food for Peace international food aid by 25% below last year's level. 
  
  Source: Congressman Jim Costa