A
provision requiring members of Congress and the administration to
disclose what crop insurance subsidies they receive was quietly dropped
from the farm bill that the House passed on Wednesday.
Section
11001 of the House-passed farm bill had a provision that “requires
disclosure (by name) of the amount of crop insurance assistance received
by Members of Congress, Cabinet Secretaries, and members of their
immediate families.”
That provision was taken out
in closed-door conference negotiations before the bill was released on
Monday. The bill cleared the House in less than 72 hours, before many
lawmakers had a chance to review it, and now heads to the Senate.
Taxpayers for Common Sense spotted the change in the bill.
“Considering
a bunch of lawmakers receive those subsidies (including those on the
Conference Committee) it’s a wonder how it got in there in the first
place,” said Taxpayers for Common Sense staffer Steve Ellis.
In
2012, 15 members of Congress received direct farm commodity payments
according to an analysis by the Environmental Working Group. Direct crop
payments are already public, while crop insurance premium assistance
has not been subject to disclosure in the past.
With the new farm bill, that secrecy will continue.
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