Support Pro-Taxpayer Amendments in Agriculture Appropriations

Jun 11, 2014 | 3 min read | Print Article

June 11, 2014

SUPPORT COMMON SENSE AMENDMENTS TO AGRICULTURE APPROPRIATIONS BILL

Dear Representative:

Taxpayers for Common Sense urges you to support common sense amendments to the House Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill, H.R. 4800, that will rein in out-of-control spending on federal crop insurance and other farm subsidies. While the recently passed 2014 farm bill eliminated the wasteful direct payment program, it failed to adequately reform other federal farm subsidy programs, some of which originated during the Great Depression. Instead of putting savings toward deficit reduction, the bill plowed taxpayer dollars into continued direct payments for cotton producers, new special interest carve-outs, government-set minimum prices, new agribusiness income entitlement programs, and expanded federal crop insurance subsidies.

The federal farm safety net should be made more cost-effective, accountable, transparent, and responsive to current market conditions and our nation’s fiscal situation. To this end, we urge you to support common sense amendments to the Agriculture Appropriations bill that will help save millions of taxpayer dollars. Some of the amendments that will save taxpayer dollars include:

Rep. Blumenauer’s (D-OR) amendment to rein in farm subsidies to the most profitable agribusinesses by eliminating agricultural commodity subsidies to agribusinesses earning more than $250,000 in average adjusted gross income; less than 4% of all agricultural producers.
Rep. DeLauro’s (D-CT) amendment to prohibit taxpayer spending on crop insurance program outreach to the most profitable agribusinesses by eliminating outreach and education funding to agribusinesses with an average adjusted gross income over $250,000.
Reps. Goodlatte (R-VA), Costa (D-CA), and Welch’s (D-VT) amendment to ensure that the mature corn ethanol industry does not receive additional taxpayer subsidies for ethanol blender pumps.
Rep. Hartzler’s (R-MO) amendment to save taxpayer dollars by denying funding to the duplicative USDA catfish inspection office.
Reps. Kind (D-WI) and Petri’s (R-WI) amendment to increase the public transparency of the most lucrative crop insurance premium subsidies. Taxpayers deserve to know which agribusinesses are receiving billions in federal premium subsidies each year.
Rep. Polis’ (D-CO) amendment to eliminate funding for the Sheep Production and Marketing Grant Program, a special-interest program included in the 2014 farm bill even after the House voted overwhelmingly to eliminate it.