Federal crop insurance subsidies, conservation programs, and dairy programs would all be impacted if a proposal by the Republican Study Committee, the largest conservative caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives, goes into effect.
The reduction in agriculture programs is part of the committee’s spending priorities entitled “Fiscal Sanity to Save America.” Read the full proposal here.
The Republican Study Committee is led by its chairman, Congressman Kevin Hern of Oklahoma. His official biography page states that he sold his hog farm about 25 years ago to open his first McDonalds fast food restaurant.
Here are the members of the Republican Study Committee. About 80% of Republicans in the U.S. house are members of the committee.
Note: The seats of all U.S. House members are up in this November’s general election.
Also Note: While Republicans hold a slim majority in the U.S. house, they are the minority in the senate and President Joe Biden is a Democrat. So, their budget blueprint has no realistic chance to make it through Congress in its present form.
Among the changes to agriculture:
Cap at $40,000 the crop insurance subsidies a farmer may receive.
Offer federal crop insurance subsidies only to pay for catastrophic policies.
Restrict Price Loss Coverage and Agriculture Risk Coverage payments to farms with an adjusted gross income below $500,000.
Reduce the federal share of crop insurance premiums by 14%.
Prohibit new enrollments in the Conservation Reserve Program and Conservation Stewardship Program.
Eliminate the Conservation Technical Assistance Program.
Eliminate federal dairy subsidy programs.
Republicans chose not to institute these changes when they held the majorities in the U.S. House and Senate during Republican Donald Trump’s administration.
The Republican spending plan also includes raising the Social Security retirement age for future retirees, reducing retirement benefits for higher earners, rolling back Affordable Care Act/Obamacare provisions, and recognizing life at conception. It promises to balance the federal budget in seven years.
The previous federal fiscal year ran a $1.7 trillion deficit.
The country’s cumulative debt is nearly $35 trillion.
