Durbin Votes To Approve Farm Bill; Measure Passes Senate by 64 to 35 Margin

[WASHINGTON, DC] – The Senate today approved a new farm bill which would authorize most agriculture programs for fiscal years 2002-2007, including commodities, credit, conservation, rural development, trade, and nutrition. The legislation was approved by a vote of 64 to 35.

Durbin said he voted for the bill, but he did so with some misgivings. "While I was disappointed with the farm bill because it fails to fix a number of the long-term problems facing our family farmers, some portions of the bill are quite good. It restores the safety net for farmers when prices are low, boosts on-farm income, doubles the commitment to conservation over the next ten years and promotes renewable fuels," Durbin said.

Durbin said the bill increases price supports and provides counter-cyclical income protection for grain, soybean and other farmers, and creates a counter-cyclical safety net for dairy farmers. It also increases funding for export assistance and nutrition programs as well as rural development efforts.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) predicts the legislation will increase agriculture spending by $82.8 billion over the next 10 years, nearly 80 percent more than the cost of existing agriculture programs. The 80 percent figure is somewhat misleading because past agriculture appropriations have been supplemented by annual emergency spending bills to make up for the inadequate payments provided by the failed 1996 farm law. According to the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute, farmers nationwide would receive $16.5 billion in payments this year under the new farm bill; Illinois farmers would receive $1.6 billion this year.

"The final version of the farm bill did not contain the payment limitation provisions I supported in the Senate nor the disincentives for overproduction. These are two real shortcomings," Durbin concluded.

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