Several different types of legislation affect TEFAP on a regular or periodic basis. They deal with program authorization – the statutory establishment of the program, appropriations to provide funding to operate the program, and related issues, such as the purchase or barter of surplus commodities. This section of the web site looks at these topics in more detail.

Legislation is being considered in Congress that would increase funding in fiscal year 2009 for four key nutrition assistance programs, including The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). On July 30, 2008, Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV), chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced his intention to earmark $24 billion for a second economic stimulus package in fiscal year 2009, which begins on October 1. Byrd’s proposal includes an additional $50 million to purchase more food for TEFAP next year.

Please contact your Senators and ask them to support Chairman Byrd’s supplemental economic stimulus plan, including money for TEFAP and other nutrition priorities, when they return from the August recess.

The legislation, which has not yet been introduced, would provide an additional $570 million for nutrition programs: $450 million for WIC to maintain current caseload in the face of rapidly rising food and administrative costs; $30 million for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) to maintain participation levels and the integrity of the food package; $40 million for home-delivered meals to seniors to help cope with food and fuel costs; and $50 million for TEFAP “to buy additional food a time when food prices are at record highs and the economy is weak at best,” according to Byrd. “Congress needs to act now and do its part to stimulate the U.S. economy and put our nation back on the right track,” concluded Byrd.

The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) was created under The Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 and has been amended a number of times over the past 25 years. Currently TEFAP is authorized approximately every five years as part of the “Farm Bill,” an omnibus piece of agriculture-related legislation that establishes the Food Stamp Program (in the process of being renamed the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) and other nutrition assistance programs.

Statutorily, TEFAP resides in Title 7 of the U.S. Code, under Agriculture, in Chapter 102, Section 7501. Code sections on the program cover: definitions; the availability of commodities; state plans; processing costs; federal and state responsibilities; assurances; state and local supplementation of commodities; appropriations; allotment and delivery of commodities; and settlement and adjustment of claims. The Code section may be reviewed at: http://www.access.gpo.gov/uscode/title7/chapter102_.html.

TEFAP authorizing language was amended in the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, also known as the Farm Bill, which passed in May 2008, and 1) provided an immediate $50 million infusion of funds for food purchases in fiscal year 2008; 2) raised the funding level for TEFAP food purchases in fiscal 2009 and later years; and 3) increased the authorization limit from TEFAP distribution and storage funds from $60 million annually to $100 million.

No other program changes were included in the latest Farm Bill, and it is unlikely that the program will face a legislative re-examination until the 2008 Farm Bill is up for renewal in 2012. For more details on the 2008 Farm Bill, see the article on “Farm Bill Highlights” in the May 23, 2008 issue of Foodlinks America at: http://tefapalliance.org/blog/archives/date/2008/05/.

Currently, funding for TEFAP comes from two sources – an annual allocation of “entitlement” (i.e. secure or “mandatory”) funding to purchase food for the program and a discretionary appropriation of funds for distribution and storage. It is possible that supplemental funding for TEFAP could be attached to another legislative vehicle (e.g. a boost for TEFAP was suggested as a candidate for the “economic stimulus” package discussed in the spring of 2008), but unlikely.

The 2008 Farm Bill, enacted in May 2008, contained increased funding levels both for food purchases and transportation. Purchases of commodities, made through the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), were allocated $140 million annually under the 2002 Farm Bill. The 2008 Farm Bill increased the allocation to $190 million for the remainder of fiscal year 2008, $250 million in fiscal year 2009 and the $250 million figure adjusted for inflation in fiscal years 2010 through 2012. Funds from the CCC are entitlement funds and are not subject to the annual appropriations process.

TEFAP storage and distribution funding, on the other hand, is discretionary. Although the authorization level has now been raised to $100 million, it is unlikely the full amount will be appropriated. From fiscal 2002 through fiscal 2008, the authorization limit for storage and distribution was $60 million a year, but the appropriation never topped $50 million. Because TEFAP agencies did not have adequate funds to transport the commodities, Congress has been allowing states to convert a portion of the food money to storage and distribution costs. Up to $10 million in funds annually has been transferable on a nationwide basis.

The basic arrangement for storage and distribution funding is likely to be maintained for the near future due to funding limitations. For fiscal year 2009, Congress has tentatively decided to provide $55 million in appropriated funds for TEFAP storage and distribution, with another $15 million allowable for conversion from food purchases, providing a total of $70 million for the transportation of TEFAP food.

From time to time legislation on other issues may impact TEFAP. Because states tend to have TEFAP commodities in storage on an ongoing basis, they are often the first emergency supplies available in disaster relief situations. Often, the food can be used for immediate needs to feed the hungry, homeless, and dispossessed and replenished later. This occurred as part of the response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.

Because TEFAP is a national outlet for surplus commodities, the program sometimes gets caught up in distribution concerns. When USDA took action in 2007 to barter bulk agricultural commodities for finished end products that could be distributed to needy households, TEFAP was selected as a primary vehicle to do that.