OMAHA, Neb.—U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson is co-sponsoring a measure to limit federal subsidies available to farmers.
“Megafarms should not receive megapayments,” the Nebraska Democrat said Wednesday in a telephone conference with reporters. “A payment cap will bring equity back to the program.”
Sens. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., and Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, introduced the amendment that would limit a married couple to $250,000 in subsidies per year. Current law allows $360,000 annually.
The measure is part of the proposed $286 billion federal farm bill now before the Senate.
President Bush has threatened to veto the bill, saying the legislation would not adequately protect farmers and uses “budget gimmicks.”
Nelson acknowledge rumblings that question the president’s motives, noting that the farm bill is less expensive than other Republican-backed bills in years past that did not draw vetoes.
“I don’t know the president’s motives,” he said. “Whether this is sort of a reborn conservatism or whether it’s his concern about not having the budget balloon … that’s sort of up to speculation.”
The Environmental Working Group says only about a dozen farms in Nebraska received in excess of $250,000 in payments in 2005, Nelson said.
During the debate on the 2002 farm bill, Nelson co-sponsored a similar Dorgan-Grassley amendment that would have capped farm payments at $275,000. That effort passed the Senate, but was stripped from the final bill in conference negotiations with the House.
Nelson also remarked on this week’s partisan squabbling just as debate on the latest farm bill began.
Nelson said he understood Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s decision to limit Republicans on their ability to offer amendments to the bill. The Nevada Democrat said he had no choice, because Republicans refused to restrict amendments to issues clearly related to the bill.
But Nelson supports GOP members’ attempts to include a renewable fuels standard within the farm bill that would require 15 billion gallons of ethanol to be blended with gasoline supplies over the next eight years.
“We’ll just have to see if we get 60 votes,” Nelson said. “Hopefully, there will be enough people interested in seeing this happen.”
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