The House of Representatives has passed a continuing resolution (CR) bill, funding the government through Dec. 11, resolving a fight over funding the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC).
The vote initially took a political turn as Democrats in the House of Representatives initially did not include $21.1 billion of the farm payments program the administration was seeking.
In addition to funding the CCC, monies were also allocated for the Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) Program, which provides funds to families with children who are currently not receiving regular school meals.
“We have reached an agreement with Republicans on the CR to add nearly $8 billion in desperately needed nutrition assistance for hungry schoolchildren and families. We also increase accountability in the Commodity Credit Corporation, preventing funds for farmers from being misused for a Big Oil bailout,” Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-12) said in a statement.
The idea of a “Big Oil bailout” came from a Reuters’ report earlier this month. The Trump administration considered giving $300 million from CCC funds to refiners who were denied exemptions from the renewable fuel standards volume obligation.
Senate Agriculture Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) said the CCC funding would give the USDA enough money to fund farm bill programs, “including additional COVID-19-related disaster programs authorized under the CARES Act.”
Stabenow also said in a statement, “Under current law, unchanged by the continuing resolution, the Commodity Credit Corporation will receive its normal reimbursement in mid-November after filing financial reports for the fiscal year as required by law.”
Before the passage of the CR, agricultural groups, several members of Congress, including Democrats from rural areas, asked the House to restore funding to the CCC. Previously, members of the House expressed concerns over the use of funds for the Market Facilitation Program (MFP) among other services.
The CCC has been funded $30 billion since 1987 for programs such as the Agriculture Risk Program, Dairy Margin Coverage, Livestock Indemnity Program and several conservation programs.
As part of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) announced in April by the USDA, $6.5 billion was transferred from the CCC as part of the $16 billion total in CFAP funding. The American Farm Bureau Federation looked at information from USDA’s fiscal year 2021 budget summary and estimated additional expenditures for this year.
The funding included $3.9 billion in outlays for loan deficiency payments and Agriculture Risk Coverage, Price Loss Coverage and Dairy Margin Coverage payments. Additionally, $14.5 billion for MFP and disaster programs, $2 billion for conservation programs and other programs for a total of $28 billion.
Without funding in the CR, the estimated remaining $2 billion would have resulted in the delay of additional commodity and conservation payments until November or later.
The CR moved to the Senate where it is expected to pass shortly after WLJ press time. — Charles Wallace, WLJ editor
