America Grows Act of 2026

Summary

Provides automatic, inflation‑adjusted annual Treasury funding for four USDA research agencies beginning in FY2027, with a 5% real increase applied each year through FY2036 and only inflation adjustments thereafter. It also amends the list of budget items treated as exempt from sequestration orders and instructs that the Act’s budgetary effects not be entered on specified statutory PAYGO scorecards. The measures deliver predictable, formulaic increases to federal agricultural research budgets, change how future sequestration orders may treat certain accounts, and remove the Act’s recorded effects from common PAYGO tracking mechanisms — affecting federal research agencies, research partners, and federal budget accounting and deficit measures.

• Creates automatic, inflation‑indexed annual appropriations for ARS, ERS, NASS, and NIFA beginning in FY2027.
• Imposes a 5% real increase (105% multiplier) each year for FY2027–FY2036 on top of CPI‑U adjustments; from FY2037 onward funding grows only with CPI‑U.
• Appropriations come from the Treasury and are available only through the fiscal year for which they are provided.
• Amends the list of sequestration exemptions in 2 U.S.C. §905(g)(1)(A), affecting how future sequestration orders may apply.
• Directs that the Act’s budgetary effects not be recorded on certain PAYGO scorecards, changing standard budget accounting treatment.
• Does not specify dollar amounts, offsets, or change tax law; it focuses on formulaic funding and budget‑process rules.
• Likely to increase mandatory outlays for agricultural research agencies and reduce the role of sequestration and PAYGO in offsetting those costs.
• Creates potential administrative questions about implementation, CPI‑U measurement, and interactions with other budget controls.