Agricultural News
Senators Tom Coburn and Dick Durbin Succeed in Attaching Premium Subsidy Reduction for Crop Insurance to Farm Bill
Fri, 24 May 2013 06:31:38 CDT
Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) successfully persuaded the Senate to adopt the Durbin-Coburn amendment #953 to the Senate's version of the farm bill. The measure passed by a vote of 59-33. This amendment reduces the level of federal premium support for crop insurance participants with an Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) over $750,000 by 15 percentage points for all buy-up policies beyond catastrophic coverage. The amendment is projected to save $1 billion dollars over ten years.
A statement released jointly by Durbin and Coburn said: "Four percent of the most profitable farmers in America account for nearly 33 percent of all the premium support from the federal government. All we are asking with today's amendment is for the wealthiest of farmers those most able to cover more of their own risk to help us balance out that inequality. By reducing this unbalanced subsidy for only the top one percent of farmers in America, we can save a billion dollars without putting anyone at risk. Today's bipartisan vote shows the Senate is capable of reaching across the aisle to tackle the debt with common sense reforms."
We have an audio summary of the give and take between Senators Coburn and Stabenow over the amendment- click on the LISTEN BAR below to hear it.
You can also watch the full give and take between, Durbin, Coburn and Staebnow by clicking on the play button in video box below.
Ron Hays reports on floor action in the Senate on the 2013 Farm Bill.
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