1 The increase of $11,408,000 in appropriated funds is composed of--- $3,136,000 (2) Funds for work on the 1964-65 wheat programs comparable to that financed by ad- Total..... 11, 408, 000 The decrease of $30,000,000 eliminates advances of Commodity Credit Corporation capital funds to finance work in connection with the feed grain and wheat stabilization programs. At the present time there is no legislation authorizing a program for the 1964 crop of feed grains and funds for work to be done in fiscal year 1964 on the 1963 feed grain program, and the 1964 and 1965 wheat programs are included in the appropriation request. 2 Increased pay and postal costs pursuant to Public Law 87-793. * Increase of $780,000 to provide funds for additional workload resulting from a change in the marketing year to a calendar-year basis. Payments for the 1962 and 1963 marketing years (the latter a 9-month period) are to be made in fiscal year 1964. In addition, payments will be made for the first time under the mohair program. 4 Net decrease of $28,500 in transfer of CCC funds for National and State offices consisting of- +$22, 500 -51,000 -28, 500 The Department of Agriculture and Related Agencies Appropriation Act, 1963, authorized the transfer of certain CCC funds to the appropriation "Expenses, Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service." However, the authorization did not include funds for supply and foreign purchase, International Wheat Agreement, sale of stockpile cotton, and that portion of Wool Act administrative funds, which formerly were direct allotments. The estimate proposes that these funds be included in the transfer authorization in order to further streamline accounting, fiscal, and budgetary work in line with the intent of the Congress. JUSTIFICATION OF THE ESTIMATES Mr. WHITTEN. We shall insert now the summary tables and status report for this appropriation from the justifications. (The material follows:) (a) Expenses, Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service NOTE. The budget estimates propose an increase in direct appropriations of $19,521,000 over the amount appropriated in 1963. This is offset by a decrease of $28,772,000 in the transfer from CCC funds. The following justifications are presented on the basis of funds available and reflect a decrease of $14,092,463. The 1963 column reflects the proposed use of $4,841,863 of funds from other accounts (primarily loan service charges) for increased pay and postal costs in that year. Summary of increases and decreases, 1964, on basis of available funds Increase in direct appropriation for administering the wheat stabilization program (partially financed with CCC funds in 1963).. Decrease due to expiration of the feed grains land diver- Increase for land-use adjustment program under sec. Increase in the contingency reserve to enable the Com- Increase for aerial photography, printing, and other expenses previously paid from program funds.. Decrease to reflect estimated savings due to installation of a centralized data processing operation (MODE) for payroll and personnel data.. Subtotal.... Increased pay costs pursuant to Public Law 87-793.. Subtotal, increased pay and postal costs.. 1 Includes $124,000 estimated to be transferred to "Salaries and expenses, General Administration," during fiscal year 1963 for the Office of the Inspector General, ? Includes $639,000 for administrative activities previously financed from capital funds PROPOSED TRANSFER FROM COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION FUNDS The 1964 budget estimates for "Expenses, ASCS," reflect the transfer of CCC funds used to carry out specific programs not covered in the CCC administrative funds limitation as well as amounts formerly carried as “Other program funds" in several other ASCS programs. These include $900,000 in agricultural conservation program, $19,000 in sugar program, and $25,000 in conservation reserve program. The amounts transferred from CCC funds total $639.000 which is made up of $310,000 for the wool program, $115,000 for supply and foreign purchase program, $200,000 for the International Wheat Agreement and $13,500 for the long-staple cotton program. These transfers were made to consolidate all administrative funds used by ASCS in one account for clarity and better management and control of administrative funds. EXPLANATION OF THE ACCOUNT It is proposed that the appropriation account for fiscal year 1964 include funds, by direct appropriation and by authorization to transfer capital funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation, to cover expenses of all programs administered by the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service, including costs previously charged against program funds, such as the cost of aerial photography and printing. In addition, it is proposed that funds made available to this Service by other agencies for services performed in carrying out various programs be advanced to and merged with this appropriation. The authorization to transfer the foregoing funds into the appropriation account is being proposed to streamline accounting, fiscal, and budgetary work by eliminating the necessity for making individual allocations and allotments and maintaining and recording obligations and expenditures under numerous separate accounts. Under this proposal, additional funds would be advanced to and merged with this account. The following tabulation shows obligations in the project statement which are directly controlled by appropriation language plus the additional funds advanced into this account. In recommending this appropriation item last year, the Senate Appropriations Committee report (Rept. No. 1908, p. 18) stated, "For some time the committee has been concerned about the appropriation procedures which required appropriations or limitation within appropriations to finance the operation of the various farm programs. A consolidated appropriation will simplify budgetary and accounting requirements and recordkeeping." The Department will continue to develop data on the estimated cost of administering major programs. However, separate accounting records and reports by program will not be maintained. The distribution of charges among major programs will be made on the basis of workload data. If the need arises during the fiscal year to distribute expenses among programs, such distribution will be determined on the basis of workload and progress reports as related to annual allocations, and the portion of the year which has elapsed. The foregoing method of distributing expenses by programs is the most feasible way it would be possible to reduce recordkeeping and paperwork in line with the intent of Congress. It is believed that this method will be reasonably accurate and that it is consistent with the overall objective of keeping expenses strictly in line with necessary workload. A large portion of the funds available to the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service are for expenses of county offices. Payments to county committees for estimated expenses are deposited in county committee bank accounts from which all expenses at the local level are paid. Expenses paid from these accounts are as follows: To describe the process for estimating expenses by program more fully : 1. County offices constitute the largest segment of administrative expense activity. For this group of offices, the volume of major workload items are estimated under each major program. These workload items are weighted to reflect the relative time required for each item. The resulting workload points are used for the allocation of funds and will be of considerable use in distributing costs to the various programs in 1963. The validity of the weights is currently being tested for use for the distribution of costs in 1964 and to further develop accurate unit costs of specific functions for use both in formulating estimates and distributing expenses by program. 2. A work measurement and performance standards system is used for planning, measuring, and forecasting administrative expenses for the commodity offices in the field and the data processing center in Kansas City based on the workload arising in the field under the provisions of farm program legislation. The program volume is translated into approximately 60 work units and production rates with the resultant manpower and final requirements. The major work items relate to producer transactions, inventory management, and merchandising activities. 3. Administrative expenses for other programs and organizational units are determined on the basis of past experience coupled, in some cases, with estimates of workload volume. A summary of the major program estimates for the fiscal years 1963 and 1964 follows: 1 Includes barley, oats, rye, soybeans, dry edible beans, and flaxseed. 2 Includes butter, cheese and milk, nonfat dry. |