NewsOK.com, OK
07-24-007
Critics say wealthy growers would benefit from farm bill
By Chris Casteel
Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — The House farm bill, characterized by some lawmakers as a
step toward reform, still will allow federal payments to the wealthy and increase
the annual payments that aren't tied to crop production, critics of the legislation
said Monday.
"This bill is not as advertised,” said Chuck Hassebrook, executive director of the
Center for Rural Affairs.
The House Agriculture Committee approved a five-year farm bill last week that
would, according to lawmakers, cut off farm subsidies to people with adjusted
gross incomes over $1 million, while also reducing the number of entities through
which a farmer could receive payments.
Currently, the law prohibits farm payments to people with an adjusted gross
income of $2.5 million or more.
Roger McEowen, director of the Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation at
Iowa State University, said a U.S. Department of Agriculture regulation allows
spouses to file separate tax returns. Because of that, he said, one spouse in a
couple with an adjusted gross income of $1 million or more could report a smaller
income and still be eligible for the farm payments.
Ken Cook, director of the Environmental Working Group, which has created an
online database showing that the majority of farm subsidies go to a relatively
small number of operations, said the House bill "will allow people of great means
to participate in the programs if they can afford a lawyer and a certified public
accountant.”
Cook said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., could conceivably qualify for
farm subsidies, even though she and her husband, an investor, are very wealthy.
Hassebrook said the new bill would actually increase direct payments to many
farmers, even though it was being billed as a way to trim them. The direct
payments are based on a landowner's historical acreage used for planting and
the crop yields.
Currently, a farmer can collect a maximum of $40,000 in direct payments, or
double that either by collecting from a total of three entities or having his or her
spouse also collect the $40,000, Hassebrook said.
The proposed House bill would increase the maximum direct payment to $60,000
a year, and allow spouses to collect the maximum.
Though it would eliminate the rules about collecting from different entities,
making the payments more transparent, it would still allow a couple to collect
$120,000 a year.
‘Bigger payments'
Hassebrook said the government would now be making "bigger payments to
bigger farms” and giving large operations more money to buy out their smaller
neighboring operations.
Hassebrook, Cook and McEowen spoke to reporters Monday on a conference
call organized by the Environmental Working Group.
The farm bill is expected to go before the full House this week, and amendments
aimed at limiting taxpayer subsidies are expected.
But Pelosi endorsed the bill last week and called it an important first step toward
reform.
Her backing could help stave off major changes to the bill on the House floor.