The final version of the farm bill does not include a provision that would require lawmakers to disclose how much crop insurance assistance they received.
The original House bill mandated that members of Congress, cabinet secretaries and their immediate family members disclose the amount of crop subsidies they received, according to the manager’s statement on the conference report. The final bill amended the House provision to remove the disclosure requirement.
The House passed the conference version of the bill Wednesday morning on a bipartisan vote, sending it over to the Senate for consideration later this week.
The Senate bill did not include any requirement to disclose subsidies for public figures.
Taxpayers for Common Sense released a statement Wednesday urging senators to vote against the bill that they said fails to make needed reforms and only yields savings in later years of the 10-year scoring by the Congressional Budget Office.
“The Agricultural Act of 2014 locks in failed status quo policies for yet another five years, continues the outdated direct payment program for cotton by another name, and wastes taxpayer dollars on new special interest policies for everything from sheep to sushi rice,” Ryan Alexander, president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, said in the statement. “The Senate should reject this conference report and go back to the drawing board.”
SEE ALSO: Massive farm bill gets needed push across the House finish line
• Jacqueline Klimas can be reached at jklimas@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.