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Sen. Salazar Grades Administration’s Rural America Proposals
WASHINGTON
- United States Senator Ken Salazar analyzed the administration budget
requests and graded the administration’s priorities for rural America:
Overall Budget
for Agriculture: F
Out of
the total federal mandatory cuts for Fiscal Year 2007, agriculture accounts
for 25%. In other words, the budget proposes $4.4 billion in total mandatory
cuts to the budget for Fiscal Year 2007 – cuts to agriculture total
$1.1 billion. There are more than 2 million farms in the US. Agriculture
accounts for less than 1% of the budget, yet the President is proposing
that 25% of the mandatory budget cuts come from America’s farmers and
ranchers. These cuts mean that rural America will further wither on
the vine and endanger America’s food security.
Rural Access:
Distance Learning, Telemedicine and Broadband Program: F
The budget reduces
grants for broadband initiatives as passed in the 2002 Farm Bill. In
addition, the budget eliminates loans for distance learning and telemedicine
citing “little demand” for the program. Rural America has a population
of nearly 50 million people.
Production Safety-Net:
C
The budget reduces payments for farmers by 5%. In light of increased
costs due to the rising cost of fuel, ongoing weather-related disasters
and stagnant commodity prices, these reductions in payments deal another
huge blow to the safety-net which is important to the stability of producers
and rural communities. There are more than 938 million acres of US farmland.
Rural Development
Programs: F
This
budget reduces USDA’s rural development programs by $308 million, or
13% - including the Rural Community Advancement Program, the Rural Housing
Service, the Rural Business-Cooperative Service and the Rural Utilities
Service.
Additional Taxes
on Farmers and Ranchers: F
The Bush
Administration’s budget includes a proposal to establish a tax on Loan
Deficiency Payments (LDPs) and Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) contracts,
including re-enrollments and extensions.
Conservation
Programs: D
This budget eliminates
all funding for the Grasslands Reserve Program (GRP), eliminates funding
for all watershed operations programs and caps funding for the Environmental
Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program
(WHIP). In addition, funding for the Resource Conservation and Development
program was reduced by 50%. The good news is additional funding for
the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). In Colorado there are 2.3 million
acres enrolled in CRP.
Agriculture and
Energy-Related Programs: C
The Bush
Administration has eliminated funding for the Renewable Energy Systems
& Energy Efficiency Improvements program, which is a loan program
designed to invest in renewable energy systems and energy efficiency
improvements made by agricultural producers and small, rural businesses.
The President, did, however, dedicate funds to research alternative
and renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, nuclear and ethanol.
“These poor marks
are exactly why we need to revitalize rural America with new initiatives,
technologies and investments,” Senator Salazar said. “The development
of renewable energy technology, specifically ethanol, can greatly strengthen
rural America and the nation. For each ethanol plant that is constructed,
approximately 700 permanent jobs are created, an extra $130 million
in additional income can be generated, and tax revenue for local and
state government will increase by at least $1.2 million per year. Breaking
America’s addiction to foreign oil will mean more than energy independence;
it will mean an economic boom to 50 million people living in rural America.”
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