WASHINGTON – Senator Chuck Grassley today continued his efforts to keep only 10 percent of farmers from receiving 72 percent of the benefits from the farm program payments. Grassley offered an amendment to the budget resolution that was being debated in the Senate Budget Committee that would cap farm payments at $250,000 per farmer. The amendment failed by a vote of 10-13. Grassley is a senior member of the committee.
“We face enormous budget pressures and this amendment would have saved a good deal of money and helped pay for important legislation that the Senate will work on later this year,” Grassley said. “The only way we’re going to keep urban support for a farm program is to have policy that both protects family farmers and makes sure that big farms aren’t being subsidized to get bigger. The policy changes in the farm bill didn’t go far enough in that direction.”
Grassley said that farm payments were originally designed to benefit our small and medium sized farmers, but instead have gone to just the opposite, resulting in the demise of farmers that need assistance the most.
The Grassley amendment would have placed a $20,000 cap on Direct Payments, a $30,000 cap on Counter Cyclical Payments, and a $75,000 cap on marketing loan gains, Commodity Certificates and Loan Deficiency Payments.
The amendment would have saved $235 million over five years. Half of the savings from the cap placed on farm payments in Grassley’s amendment would have been redirected for child nutrition programs and the other half for deficit reduction.
Here is a copy of the text of the amendment.
Amendment Offered by Senator Grassley
Purpose:
To impose annual commodity program payment limits of $250,000, to tighten eligibility rules, and provide additional funds for child nutrition programs and to reduce the deficit.
At the appropriate place, amend the Chairman’s Mark as follows:
1.
Decrease new budget authority by the following:
Fiscal Year 2010: 7,556,000
Fiscal Year 2011: 32,504,000
Fiscal Year 2012: 14,802,000
Fiscal Year 2013: 35,125,000
Fiscal Year 2014: 36,616,000
2.
Decrease outlays by the following amounts:
Fiscal Year 2010: 7,556,000
Fiscal Year 2011: 32,504,000
Fiscal Year 2012: 14,802,000
Fiscal Year 2013: 35,125,000
Fiscal Year 2014: 36,616,000
3.
Decrease deficits by the following amounts:
Fiscal Year 2010: 7,556,000
Fiscal Year 2011: 32,504,000
Fiscal Year 2012: 14,802,000
Fiscal Year 2013: 35,125,000
Fiscal Year 2014: 36,616,000
4.
Decrease debt subject to limit by the following amounts:
Fiscal Year 2010: 7,556,000
Fiscal Year 2011: 40,059,000
Fiscal Year 2012: 54,861,000
Fiscal Year 2013: 89,986,000
Fiscal Year 2014: 126,602,000
5.
Decrease debt held by the public by the following amounts:
Fiscal Year 2010: 7,556,000
Fiscal Year 2011: 40,059,000
Fiscal Year 2012: 54,861,000
Fiscal Year 2013: 89,986,000
Fiscal Year 2014: 126,602,000
6.
Decrease amounts in Function 350 by the following amounts:
Fiscal Year 2010: 15,000,000 in budget authority and 15,000,000 in outlays
Fiscal Year 2011: 64,000,000 in budget authority and 64,000,000 in outlays
Fiscal Year 2012: 27,000,000 in budget authority and 27,000,000 in outlays
Fiscal Year 2013: 65,000,000 in budget authority and 65,000,000 in outlays
Fiscal Year 2014: 64,000,000 in budget authority and 64,000,000 in outlays
7.
Increase amounts in Function 600 by the following amounts:
Fiscal Year 2010: 7,500,000 in budget authority and 7,500,000 in outlays
Fiscal Year 2011: 32,000,000 in budget authority and 32,000,000 in outlays
Fiscal Year 2012: 13,500,000 in budget authority and 13,500,000 in outlays
Fiscal Year 2013: 32,500,000 in budget authority and 32,500,000 in outlays
Fiscal Year 2014: 32,000,000 in budget authority and 32,000,000 in outlays
8.
Decrease amounts in Function 900 by the following amounts:
Fiscal Year 2010: 56,000 in budget authority and 56,000 in outlays
Fiscal Year 2011: 504,000 in budget authority and 504,000 in outlays
Fiscal Year 2012: 1,302,000 in budget authority and 1,302,000 in outlays
Fiscal Year 2013: 2,625,000 in budget authority and 2,625,000 in outlays
Fiscal Year 2014: 4,616,000 in budget authority and 4,616,000 in outlays
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