Grassley renews payment limit attack
Mar 12, 2004 12:00 PM
THE SENATE Budget Committee passed a budget resolution for the 2005 fiscal year that includes yet another payment limit amendment written by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.
The latter would reduce spending on commodity programs by $1.24 billion over five years and apply the savings to conservation, nutrition and value-added agriculture programs such as ethanol production.
The reductions would be achieved by limiting direct payments under the 2002 farm bill to $20,000, counter-cyclical payments to $30,000, and marketing loan benefits to $87,500 for “multiple-entity operations” and $40,000, $60,000 and $175,000 for farms operating as “single entities.”
The resolution approved by the Senate Budget Committee by a 12-10 vote would take effect in October of this year if it were approved by the full Senate and the House and signed by the president. The payment limit language would require separate enabling legislation to become effective.
