Legislative Update: House, Senate work on latest round of COVID-19 relief
By Amanda Bilek, senior public policy director for the Minnesota Corn Growers Association
Last week, U.S. Senate Republican leadership unveiled their version of phase four COVID-19 relief and assistance. The Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protection and Schools Act (HEALS Act) proposes to spend around $1 trillion for various assistance programs to help different sectors of the economy and support public services.
Since Senate leadership provided the bill text and summary, House and Senate negotiators have been trying to reach agreement on a final package that can be supported by the White House, Senate Republican and House Democratic leadership, but no agreement has been reached.
For agriculture, the HEALS Act provides $20 billion in direct funding to the Secretary of Agriculture to remain available until spent to prevent, prepare for and respond to coronavirus by providing support for agriculture producers, growers and processors impacted by COVID-19. This includes producers, growers and processors of specialty crops, non-specialty crops, dairy livestock and poultry. Livestock and poultry assistance would help to cover depopulation assistance.
The HEALS Act also directs USDA to use the $14 billion previously appropriated under the CARES Act for assistance to agriculture producers, growers and processors. There is also funding for USDA administrative expenses, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and Foreign Agricultural Service.
In May, the House passed their version of a phase four COVID-19 assistance package, the HEROES Act, which would cost almost $3 trillion. Negotiators have their work cut out to not only close the gap on overall cost between the House and Senate bills, but there are also non-finance provisions where House and Senate leadership are far apart.
For agriculture, the House passed HEROES Act included $16.5 billion in farmer assistance. The House also included language giving direction to USDA on payment calculations for the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) and expanded CFAP to cover loses in quarter 2. Whereas, the Senate HEALS Act gives USDA flexibility in structuring assistance programs for agriculture.
During the Minnesota Corn Growers Association (MCGA) virtual fly-in two weeks ago, MCGA leaders urged Congressional members to include COVID-19 relief, including for the 2020 crop, for biofuel producers, and for processors whose harvest or processing is disrupted by COVID-19. Following those conversations, MCGA sent a letter to members of the Congressional delegation outlining specific priorities for the phase IV COVID-19 relief package under consideration. We will keep you updated once negotiators have an agreement that can pass the House and Senate and be signed into law by President Trump.
Coronavirus Food Assistance Program
It has been a few updates since I have included information on current payment status of CFAP. As of August 3, nationwide the Farm Service Agency (FSA) has processed $6.8 billion in payments to nearly 500,000 farmers. In Minnesota, non-specialty payments total approximately $173.68 million to nearly 23,000 farmers. There has also been about $180.6 million in livestock payments and $80.7 million in dairy payments.
As a reminder only 80 percent of the total eligible payment has been made and FSA will issue the other 20 percent of the payment depending on available funding. CFAP was authorized as a $16 billion program for direct assistance to farmers. Farmers have until Aug. 28 to apply for funding.
Water Resources Development Act
On July 29, the U.S. House passed the 2020 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) on the floor by a voice vote. The bill contains language for a cost-share change for the construction account for inland waterways. The change would shift the cost-share allocation from a 50 percent general revenue/50 percent inland waterway trust fund to a 65 percent general revenue/35 percent inland waterway trust fund.
The Waterways Council and National Corn Growers Association identified the change in cost-share allocation as a top priority for the 2020 WRDA bill. Similar language on the cost-share allocation is include the Senate bill, which has passed out of committee but has not been approved by the full Senate yet.
WRDA is important policy priority for corn farmers because WRDA is how we move our commodities to export markets and how we stay competitive in a tough global market against competitors like Brazil and Argentina.
Be sure to follow the MCGA blog and its social channels (Facebook, Twitter) for updates. You can also follow me on Twitter (@AjBilek).
