The following was circulated May 6 by the office of Senator Susan Collins:

Q&A on USDA Funding: Click HERE to watch and HERE to download.

Q&A on PFAS: Click HERE to watch and HERE to download.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – At a hearing to review the Fiscal Year 2026 budget request for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Senator Susan Collins, Chair of the Appropriations Committee, questioned Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Brooke Rollins, on the delayed release of funding and its partnership with the University of Maine (UMaine).

Q&A on Delayed USDA Funding:

Senator Collins:

In late March, I wrote you a letter detailing my concerns about USDA's delay in releasing some program funds.  I've heard from constituents who have received grant award letters from USDA in the previous Administration, only to later receive letters from USDA informing them that their grant funding is frozen… It creates a lot of uncertainty.  And we are a state that has lost 600 farms in the past decade, and that is very troubling to me.  I grew up in northern Maine.  One of my first jobs was picking potatoes for a farmer, and I am aware of how important that heritage is to our state and to our food supply.  

We've seen a situation where farmers, landowners, loggers, and natural resource businesses that have applied for USDA loans still have no clarity on what decisions will be made.  And the timing of this funding is absolutely critical, because, as you know well, agricultural producers are making purchases now for this year's crops, and processing facilities need to order equipment for the summer and the fall harvest.  Local farm economies are fragile, and timing is really important. 

I know and appreciate that you've made some significant strides in releasing program funding over the past few weeks.  Could you provide the subcommittee with an update on federal funding at USDA that remains frozen, and a timeline for when you plan to finish your reviews?

 Secretary Rollins:

I will, and I take to heart so sincerely everything you've said, and I know many of you have reached out during this process of frozen funds from both sides of the aisle, and my goal is to respond immediately… We are working around the clock, going line, by line, by line.  We're down to the final $5 billion out of, I believe, almost $20 billion of frozen funds.  But $5 billion is a lot of money, and when you think about that in terms of, you know, grant or contract and moving that out quickly, we're very hopeful to keep moving through that very, very quickly, and have that done very soon… Some of the funding that we have pulled back and then reopened, we've asked for re-applications to realign around this President's priorities, which of course, not surprisingly, is not diversity, equity, and inclusion or some climate programs, but instead to reapply where the farmer or rancher would receive 65% of the funding or more…

Q&A on UMaine PFAS Center of Excellence:

Senator Collins:

When we first met, we discussed PFAS.  Those are the toxic class of forever chemicals that are being found in our soils, water, animal feed, crops, and livestock.  In Maine, the presence of PFAS in wastewater sludge that was spread decades ago as a fertilizer is preventing some of our family farmers from being able to sell their products, causing them significant financial harm.  To support these affected farmers and to come up with solutions, the University of Maine is undertaking research on the presence of PFAS in agricultural land. 

To build upon this work, I secured $17 million in Fiscal Year 2024 for the Agriculture Research Service (ARS) and the University of Maine to establish a new Center of Excellence for PFAS solutions, and the whole purpose is to help address this very serious PFAS contamination in agriculture. 

Madam Secretary, will you continue to support the partnership between ARS and the University of Maine in establishing this research center to help our farmers?  And I would note that the research that's being done there won't just help the farmers in Maine, but across the nation.

 Secretary Rollins:

As we discussed, this is an issue that is very close to my family's heart.  My mom, Helen Kerwin, is almost 78.  She is the youngest elected freshman to the Texas House of Representatives in Texas history, and her number one issue is PFAS…

But yes, we remain committed to this research.  Very proud of that $17 million grant to the Center for Excellence.  And I think that, at least according to my mom, who is amazing, raised my sisters and me by herself, she was a single mom, but at least according to my mom, Maine leads the way in many respects on this important issue for all of our farmers and our ranchers, and I'm excited to learn more, perhaps even come visit the center in Maine, see the work that they're doing firsthand, and to continue to support it.  So, thank you for your leadership on that. 

Senator Collins also secured $8 million in the Fiscal Year 2023 appropriations cycle to support UMaine’s efforts to address PFAS contamination.