The US House of Representatives should dramatically tighten farm subsidy rules to push the wealthiest Americans out of the farm program, Deputy Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner said on Monday.
Conner cited the administration's proposal to bar grain, cotton and oilseed subsidies to an estimated 38,000 people with an adjusted gross income above $200,000 a year. The House Agriculture Committee has proposed a $1 million ceiling, affecting 9,500 people, from a cut-off of $2.5 million now. The House is scheduled this week to debate a successor to the 2002 farm law that expires this fall.
"We simply don't have the luxury," Conner said, of paying crop subsidies to rich people when other agriculture programs are short on funds. Conner told a meeting of the National Association of Conservation Districts that lawmakers should reject the Agriculture Committee's proposals for higher support rates for some crops and should not allow bookkeeping maneuvers that hide the cost of the farm bill.
Afterward, he told reporters the Agriculture Department did not support a broad-ranging amendment by Wisconsin Democrat Ron Kind. The amendment, to be unveiled formally on Tuesday, will propose an adjusted gross income cap of roughly $200,000 and include "revenue protection" in the crop subsidy system.
Along with the $1 million income ceiling, the Agriculture Committee voted to require payments to be traced to individuals, making it clearer who receives subsidies.
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