Wednesday, March 13, 2013
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Leaders to Washington: First-Hand Report from IFB's National Legislative Team
When weather forecasters predict anywhere from 3 to 7 inches of wet snow to fall, the federal government preemptively closes for a snow emergency, and a bunch of Illinois farmers wake up in Washington D.C. to the Weather Channel reporting live from outside U.S. Capitol, it's a bit nervy. But when you look outside and see nothing but falling rain, you decide you have no choice but to stick to your schedule and count on Illinois congressmen and their staffers to report to work.
That was the scenario that unfolded last week for IFB's Leaders to Washington group, which soldiered on in the face of the predicted and much hyped "Snowquester." Despite the dreadful forecasts and the bleak picture that was being painted back home, our group stayed on track and advanced IFB's national legislative agenda.
Our group was short a couple of members due to flight cancellations back home. Several participants - whose flights were scrubbed in Chicago - re-booked, drove a few extra hours, and boarded flights out of St. Louis. Already, the trip was memorable, and our group proved again that day that it was a determined bunch.
These Illinois Farm Bureau leaders broke up into small groups and visited each of our 17 (soon to be 18) U.S. House offices, including all 6 new members and our state's 3 representatives - Bill Enyart, Rodney Davis, and Cheri Bustos - who serve on the House Agriculture Committee. We also met as a single group with Sen. Durbin and Sen. Kirk's staff. A few leaders visited briefly with Sen. Kirk who was returning to his office from his daily physical therapy session.
In each of our meetings, our message was simple: crop insurance proved to be an absolutely indispensable program for Illinois farmers during the Drought of 2012. We also stressed that crop insurance - at a minimum in its current form - must be the centerpiece of the next 5-year farm bill. IFB leaders told the crop insurance story through their own personal experiences and urged congressional support.
Also last week, Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Arizona) and Rep. John Duncan (R-Tenn.) introduced their bill (S 446/HR 943), the Crop Insurance Subsidy Reduction Act, which would reduce crop insurance risk premium subsidy payments by $40 billion over 10 years. There will no doubt be other efforts to undo the crop insurance program that we will strongly oppose along the way, so please share your stories why crop insurance is important to your farming operation and the economy.
Our group met with several House Agriculture Committee staffers who suggested that enough major issues, including the sequester, have or will soon be addressed providing a clearer picture for the resumption of the farm bill debate. As of last week, it sounded like the House Ag Committee will begin writing a new bill in mid-to-late April.
We were told to expect changes from last year's Senate and House Ag Committee versions of the bill. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) dealt the process a bit of a blow March 1 when it released revised estimates of last year's bills. CBO said the Senate bill would now only save $13.1 billion over 10 years, down from $23 billion. CBO said the House Ag Committee's bill would save $26.6 billion, down from last year's CBO score of $35 billion in 10-year savings. Deficit reduction has been one of our biggest selling points. The reduction in savings was the result of several factors and exposes programs like crop insurance to cuts.
While no one expects that the new CBO scores will turn crop insurance upside down, it is abundantly clear that we need to continue talking about the program's importance throughout the spring and summer at every opportunity.
While on the Hill, county Farm Bureau leaders asked each office to sign on to a letter from Rep. Aaron Schock and Iowa Rep. Dave Loebsack. The letter asked President Obama to include funding in his upcoming Fiscal Year 2014 budget for infrastructure improvements and ecosystem restoration on the Upper Mississippi River. The Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Program, known as NESP, was authorized in the 2007 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA). You'll note that our group's efforts paid off, with several Illinois congressmen signing on to the letter. If your congressman has signed the letter, please thank him or her.
It also appears Congress is determined to pass another WRDA bill this year. Illinois Farm Bureau supports both the Senate and soon-to-be-introduced House versions of bills that call for reprioritizing infrastructure needs on the U.S. waterway system and for more revenue from an increased barge fuel tax (from 20-29¢ per gallon) to flow into the depleted Inland Waterway Trust Fund.
Illinois Farm Bureau leaders wrapped up their trip with four meetings last Thursday at USDA on climate change, crop insurance, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and the 2012 Census of Agriculture. Our leaders were quite vocal in their belief that this census was far more intrusive than past surveys. In response to our concerns, it appears Illinois Farm Bureau will be asked to provide a representative on an advisory committee for the 2017 Census of Agriculture. We also learned that if the sequester continues into the next fiscal year, crop insurance will be cut in a way that has yet to be determined.
The Leaders to Washington program is part of IFB's year-round effort to have an influence on legislation that affects the economic well-being of agriculture and quality of life in rural Illinois. It provides an opportunity for Farm Bureau members to travel to the nation's capital to share their story with members of Congress in March and September. You are the key to that influence at home, in Springfield, and in Washington! To learn how you can be a part of that voice, please contact your county Farm Bureau or visit FB ACT's website.
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Want More DC Stories? Click here for live streaming on RFD Radio, which today is featuring Terry Smith, an Adams county farmer who spoke out for ag in Washington last week.
