A conservative group that can claim most House Republicans as members is calling for deep cuts in commodity programs and crop insurance to save taxpayers billions of dollars.
The fiscal 2023 budget proposals offered by the Republican Study Committee include proposals to eliminate the “duplicative” Price Loss Coverage and Agriculture Risk Coverage programs to save $42.7 billion over 10 years.
The RSC budget also would bar the agriculture secretary from making payments from the Commodity Credit Corp. account without congressional approval. “The CCC has been given vast unilateral authority to buy surplus agricultural products to manipulate market prices for the purpose of the same kind of subsidies that PLC and ARC achieve,” the budget says.
The budget also proposes what it describes as a “modest reform” to crop insurance. It calls for slashing premiums in half and eliminating the government’s reimbursement to crop insurance companies for administrative expenses. The government currently subsidizes about 60% of insurance premiums.
Nearly 160 House Republicans are members of the RSC; 16 signed the budget proposal, including Ron Estes of Kansas, Kevin Hern of Oklahoma and Ronny Jackson of Texas.
Other farm bill-related proposals in the budget include banning new enrollments in the Conservation Reserve Program and Conservation Stewardship Program to save a total of $11.4 billion over 10 years.
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Outside of agriculture, the budget calls for rolling back regulations, eliminating the estate tax and extending expiring tax cuts that were enacted in 2017.
The agriculture section of the budget says the proposals “should be viewed in conjunction with other reforms contained in the RSC Budget that provide immense benefits to stakeholders in the agriculture community. America’s farmers would thrive under the RSC Budget’s suite of pro-growth tax reforms and deregulatory measures.”
The budget proposals have no chance of going anywhere in this Congress, but could provide a wish list for House GOP leaders in 2023, if, as expected, Republicans win control of the House.
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