Hartzler seeks to reduce relief to Black and other minority farmers in Biden stimulus
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A Missouri congresswoman wants to reduce the amount of debt relief Black and other minority farmers would receive under President Joe Biden’s stimulus bill.
The House Agriculture Committee met Wednesday afternoon to consider agriculture policy sections in the massive budget resolution that the Biden administration and congressional Democrats are aiming to pass in the near future.
The legislation includes a provision that the U.S. Department of Agriculture pay “each socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher” for 120% of their outstanding debt stemming from farm loans made directly or guaranteed by the USDA.
This would amount to an estimated $4 billion in debt relief for Black and other minority farmers. It’s part of a wider push on Capitol Hill, led by New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, to redress historical discrimination against Black farmers by the USDA and to provide financial help to a population of farmers that have struggled to obtain loans or subsidies at the rate of their white peers.
But Rep. Vicky Hartzler, a Republican whose family owns a farm in Cass County, has offered an amendment that would dramatically shrink the proposed debt relief by limiting it to debts “incurred… as a direct result of the COVID–19 pandemic.”
Republicans have said throughout negotiations on the package they want COVID-19 relief to be targeted in scope.
“Solving the issue of discrimination has long been a concern in America, predating this pandemic and, for many, our entire lifespans. While it remains an important issue today, the sole purpose of this package is to provide targeted COVID-19 relief – not assistance which reaches outside this objective,” Hartzler said in a statement to The Star.
“Up to this point, we have already authorized $4.09 trillion with $1 trillion still left over from previous COVID packages. While I encourage hearings in the future to better understand the issue and its impact, it is paramount we focus these efforts on the imminent needs of the American people and the agriculture industry, which have been upended by this virus.”
Hartzler’s amendment stood little chance of making it onto the bill since Democrats control the House. A spokeswoman for the committee confirmed it was rejected during the course of the marathon eight-hour meeting.
John Boyd, founder and president of the National Black Farmers Association, said Hartzler’s amendment would put up unnecessary stumbling blocks for minority farmers.
“We’ve been having problems the whole damn time. COVID-19 just made it worse for us,” said Boyd, who owns a farmer in Boydton, Virginia, where he raises cattle and grows wheat, corn and soybeans.
“You limit the numbers of Blacks and other minorities who would receive the relief… It’s a way to indirectly discriminate,” Boyd said. “It’s frustrating for people like me.”
Boyd’s organization, founded in 1988, represents about 116,000 members across 42 states, including Kansas and Missouri. He said Black farmers tend to have smaller operations, which means they often fail to meet production thresholds for federal subsidy programs.
Hartzler’s farm has received more than $1.2 million in federal subsidies since 1995, including the funds her received as part of former President Donald Trump’s bailout for losses related to his trade war with China.
Hartzler family’s businesses also received nearly a $480,000 loan from the federal Paycheck Protection Program, set up during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Here’s someone who has a half-million dollar PPP loan… I’m telling you that the Black farmers, many didn’t get that PPP,” Boyd said.
This story was originally published February 10, 2021 at 5:06 PM with the headline "Hartzler seeks to reduce relief to Black and other minority farmers in Biden stimulus."
