The new farm bill has the support of the U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), but he admits he’s not happy with everything that made into the legislation.
Durbin wanted an amendment attached to the bill that would have decreased federal subsidies to farmers who make more than $750,000 a year. That wasn’t in the version signed by the president, but neither was the $40 billion in cuts to the food stamp program favored by House Republicans.
“If they would have shown as much anger over subsidies to millionaire farmers as they did over poor people receiving food stamps, perhaps I would take them seriously,” Durbin said.
Durbin says he can live with the compromise, which was $8 billion in cuts over the next 10 years.
Durbin claims the new law will reduce the deficit by $18 billion over five years. The legislation also ends direct government payments to farmers while expanding the federal crop insurance program.