Senate Votes to Reduce Crop Insurance Subsidies, Save Taxpayer Dollars

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) released the following statement today after the Senate accepted Coburn-Durbin amendment #2439 by a bipartisan vote of 66-33. This amendment is a reasonable step that asks our wealthiest farmers to cover more of their risk by reducing 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. Further, when fully implemented, this amendment would save more than $1.1 billion dollars over ten years.

“The very wealthiest of farmers are those most able to cover more of their own risk, yet we subsidize them at the same rate as we do the middle income and lower income farmers. This amendment is a reasonable reform to an unbalanced subsidy and gives us an avenue for tackling the debt by allowing us to save a billion dollars and not put anyone at risk.  We are encouraged our colleagues were able to reach across the aisle today and agree on this straightforward amendment,” said Durbin and Coburn.

Text of amendment #2439, here. Background on the amendment, here.