Congress overrides veto to pass Farm Bill: Landmark Provisions for HSIs  

Member Advisory—May 28, 2008  

HACU urges its membership to thank their Senators and Representatives who supported H.R. 2419, the Food and Energy Security Act of 2007.  Congress last week overrode President Bush’s veto to pass the reauthorized Farm Bill, H.R. 2419.  The Law contains landmark provisions for Hispanic-Serving Institutions.  The Farm Bill originally passed Congress overwhelmingly, 81-15 in the Senate and 318-106 in the House.  Following the President’s veto Wednesday, May 21, the House voted 316 to 108 to override, and the Senate followed suit on Thursday, 82-13. 

The inclusion of the new HSI provisions came partly as a result of field hearings held with HACU membership in California, Texas, Puerto Rico, and Illinois and of close collaboration with Members of Congress who have demonstrated their exceptional support of HSIs. 

“This historic piece of legislation includes new, bold initiatives and much-needed resources for HSIs.  For the first time, HSIs offering degrees in agriculture and related fields will have a special designation: Hispanic-Serving Agricultural Colleges and Universities (HSACU).  This provision and others in the legislation will expand access for Hispanics and other minorities pursuing degrees and careers in agriculture, bio-energy, food science, forestry, environmental sciences and related areas,” said Dr. Antonio Flores, President & CEO of HACU. 

The new Farm Bill includes the following provisions for HSIs:

• Establishes a new designation for HSIs offering degrees in agriculture: Hispanic-Serving Agricultural Colleges and Universities (HSACU);
• Creates an endowment fund for HSIs offering degrees in agriculture and related fields;
• Creates an Institutional Capacity Building Program to promote agriculture and sciences;
• Reauthorizes Title VII and increases the authorization level from $20 to $40 million;
• Establishes a competitive grants program for Hispanic-Serving Agricultural Colleges and Universities to expand research and extension capabilities;
• Creates a forestry workforce development program for HSIs to Hispanics and others in the area of forestry; and
• Establishes HSI eligibility for International Agricultural Research and Extension.

HACU commends Congress, particularly House and Senate leadership, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Conference for their support of Hispanic-Serving Institutions during the reauthorization process.                   

In the near future, HACU’s government relations team will be calling on membership for support of appropriations requests for the new programs in the Farm Bill.  The HACU Farm Bill policy agenda can be found here.

HACU Member Advisories are a service of the
Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities.