The industry is poised to receive an increase in funding for the Floriculture Nursery & Research Initiative after the Senate recently approved a $1.5 million increase in its proposed budget. The House approved a $1 million increase in its proposed budget last month.
Momentum is building for the industry to secure one of the largest funding increases in the history of the Floriculture Nursery & Research Initiative.
The Senate recently included a $1.5 million increase for the Floriculture Nursery & Research Initiative in its proposed budget. That comes after the House approved a $1 million increase in its proposed budget last month.
Society of American Florists’ members pushed for the additional funding earlier this year during SAF’s Congressional Action Days. Members requested a $2 million increase in annual funding for the Floriculture Research & Nursery Initiative — the largest increase request in the program’s history. That funding would be in addition to the $5.4 million annually going toward research projects in the current program. The next step in the appropriations process is for the House and Senate to reconcile the differences in their proposed budgets before it is sent to the president to sign into law.
“The fact that the House included a $1 million increase for FNRI and the Senate followed-up with a $1.5 million increase puts us in the strongest possible position for a $1 million or more increase,” says SAF Senior Lobbyist Joe Bischoff. “Before 2018, FNRI was a program suffering from funding decline by USDA. Since then, we’ve successfully turned the funding outlook around and are poised to keep that momentum in fiscal year 2023.”
The strategy to seek the increase came together late last year, following visits to growers who had expressed the need for technological innovation to address farm labor and productivity challenges. Attendees at SAF’s Congressional Action Days in March talked to congressional members and their staff about the need for expanded research into mechanization, including drone technology. SAF made official appropriations requests following CAD and continued to make the case for the funding with key congressional leaders. As part of this effort, SAF collaborated with AmericanHort on advocacy outreach. Between the two associations, staff submitted more than 30 official appropriations requests and held more than three dozen meetings.
Bischoff is quick to point out the role of SAF’s political action committee in influencing a positive outcome for the industry. More than $45,750 was raised for SAFPAC in the 2021-2022 cycle, so SAF has been able to develop more touch points with key congressional appropriators and their staffs. “By supporting members who are inclined to be helpful on our issues, we build stronger personal relationships with them and getting a sense of their priorities,” Bischoff says “This puts us in the best position for wins. The House and Senate Appropriations Committees have been particular areas of focus for the SAFPAC and our results in the last five years reflect that.”
While Congress should have the funding bills done before the end of the federal fiscal year on September 30, Congress has not met that deadline in recent history. “With mid-term elections this fall and other significant pieces of legislation to be debated in the months ahead, I don’t expect to see don’t see passage of FY2023 spending bills until late November, at the earliest,” Bischoff says.
Stay tuned to SAF NOW for updates as the appropriations process moves forward.
Katie Butler is the senior vice president of the Society of American Florists.
