Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com
Published - Thursday, May 15, 2008
Most Wisconsin House members vote against farm bill
WASHINGTON — The House passed a farm bill by a 3-1 measure Wednesday, but most Wisconsin members voted against it, concluding that the bill didn’t do enough to rein in payments to wealthy farmers during a time of high food prices.
Wisconsin House members rejected the bill on 5-3 vote, a striking tally for a farm state that stands to benefit from dairy provisions in the legislation. The House passed the bill 318-106.
The Wisconsin no votes included Democrat Ron Kind and Republican Paul Ryan, who helped lead reform efforts against the legislation. They were joined by Democrat Gwen Moore and Republicans Tom Petri and Jim Sensenbrenner.
Democrats David Obey, Tammy Baldwin and Steve Kagen voted for the farm bill.
“This bill was well designed to avoid every opportunity for serious reform of wasteful, outdated subsidy programs while actually piling on additional layers of unnecessary spending,” said Kind. “Commodity prices are through the roof and yet we are still funneling billions of dollars” to wealthy farmers.
Last year, Kind lost an effort to wean farmers from government payments. His amendment would have imposed stricter income limits on farmers, barring subsidies to those making an average of $250,000 or more annually.
Ryan, the ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee, had a similar take.
“The farm bill should be focused on providing a safety net for family farmers in times of need, yet Congress has instead opted to subsidize the wealthy at a time when food prices are surging,” he said. “Our agricultural policies are in desperate need of common sense reform and this bill fails to deliver.”
Petri called the bill “a bloated disaster,” adding, “it continues allowing wealthy farmers to receive the bulk of farm payments, to the detriment of small farmers and consumers.”
President Bush has threatened a veto, but the House passed the bill with a veto-proof majority. Bush noted that married farmers who make up to $1.5 million still could collect subsidies under the new farm bill. “I believe doing so at a time of record farm income is irresponsible and jeopardizes America’s support for necessary farm programs,” he said.
The bill has good news for Wisconsin dairy farmers, renewing the Milk Income Loss Contract at higher rates. The program, known as MILC, pays dairy farmers cash when milk prices fall below certain levels, and Wisconsin dairy farmers have benefited more than any other state.
Currently, when prices fall below a baseline level, the federal government pays dairy farmers cash to cover 34 percent of the difference. Under the renewal, the rate would increase to 45 percent.
Obey cited that provision as one reason he voted for the bill.
“The bill the House passed today is not a good bill,” he said. “But I reluctantly voted for it because it is better than existing law for farmers and better than existing law for taxpayers.”
Kagen, a member of the Agriculture Committee, did not share Obey’s ambivalence.
“The new farm bill is great for Wisconsin agriculture, our health and our economy,” he said. “As a physician, I am pleased that it begins to move our diets away from carbohydrates and towards healthier choices such as fruits and vegetables.”
The bill increases subsidies for certain crops, including fruits and vegetables excluded from previous farm bills. It boosts nutrition programs, including food stamps and emergency domestic food aid, by more than $10 billion over 10 years, and expands a program to provide fresh fruits and vegetables to schoolchildren.
Baldwin called the bill “far from perfect,” but said it included some noteworthy reforms.
“I strongly support the investments in nutrition programs that help 38 million American families afford healthy food,” she said.
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