Washington, D.C. - Environmental Working Group (EWG) released the following statement in response to the sense of the House resolution passed by the U.S. House of Representative to instruct the farm bill conference committee to accept a Senate provision that would reduce crop insurance premium subsidies to farm operators annually earning more than $750,000 in adjusted gross income.
The resolution prevailed despite fierce opposition from the crop insurance industry and other farm subsidy interest groups.
Scott Faber, EWG's Senior Vice President for Government Affairs, said:
We congratulate Rep. Paul Ryan on his leadership to bring a measure of fairness to crop insurance subsidies. It makes clear that the House expects the final farm bill to reduce crop insurance premium subsidies to the most successful farm operations by 15 percent. We are grateful to not only Rep. Ryan, but to many other House lawmakers, including Reps. Earl Blumenauer, Chellie Pingree and Richard Hanna, who worked with Rep. Ryan. While other subsidy reforms, such as linking conservation compliance to crop insurance, are needed, means testing of crop insurance is long overdue. Though modest, the reform endorsed by the House lays the groundwork for a fairer, more fiscally defensible farm safety net.
