Vilsack urges mayors to support farm bill
January 17, 2013 | 06:11 PM
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today urged the nation’s mayors to encourage Congress to pass a new five-year farm bill, while Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., told the mayors they should make sure the bill has a good nutrition title.
Paul Soglin (Michael Kienitz photo)
After Vilsack spoke to the food and nutrition committee of the U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in Washington, Paul Soglin, mayor of Madison, Wis., noted that last year was the first time his city had taken a stand on the farm bill.
Soglin asked Vilsack if he saw enough support from mayors for the failed bill, whose biggest program — food stamps — makes up more than 70 percent of the USDA budget and is a safety net for low-income urban people.
“Absolutely not,” Vilsack responded, adding that that he has created controversy by telling rural Americans that they are becoming “politically irrelevant” and need to form stronger alliances with people in other areas to get the farm bill passed.
Without a five-year farm bill in place, Vilsack said, USDA will have fewer resources and less flexibility for the programs that mayors use to help their constituents.
Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass.
McGovern, who had also spoken to the group, said, “We need louder voices from urban areas.”
But he added that the mayors should make sure that the nutrition title is acceptable. He noted that House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has to deal with the fact that he doesn’t want any cuts in food stamps while there are also “libertarian Republicans” who don’t believe in the public sector.
Soglin noted that mayors know exactly “who to mobilize” in Congress on transportation and block grant issues, but not on agriculture.
Vilsack promised that his staff would help the mayors learn more about key members of Congress on agriculture, and also urged them to refer to the farm bill as he does: a food, farm and jobs bill.
In his remarks, Vilsack reminded the mayors that only 8 percent of food stamp recipients receive cash welfare. The program has a lower fraud rate than crop insurance, he noted, but food stamp critics never mention that.
McGovern noted that food stamps, officially known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, survived in the farm bill extension without cuts, but said he is afraid the program will again become a target.
He said he has become “really concerned by rhetoric in Congress that has demonized SNAP.”
“SNAP has become the ATM machine to fund everything else,” McGovern said, a reference to the use of SNAP budget authority to pay for teachers’ salaries and the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act.
McGovern also said that if no action is taken, SNAP benefits that were increased by the Recovery Act will go down next November. He also urged the mayors to support his goal of a White House conference on nutrition and hunger and a comprehensive policy to fight hunger.
After Vilsack spoke to the food and nutrition committee of the U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in Washington, Paul Soglin, mayor of Madison, Wis., noted that last year was the first time his city had taken a stand on the farm bill.
Soglin asked Vilsack if he saw enough support from mayors for the failed bill, whose biggest program — food stamps — makes up more than 70 percent of the USDA budget and is a safety net for low-income urban people.
“Absolutely not,” Vilsack responded, adding that that he has created controversy by telling rural Americans that they are becoming “politically irrelevant” and need to form stronger alliances with people in other areas to get the farm bill passed.
Without a five-year farm bill in place, Vilsack said, USDA will have fewer resources and less flexibility for the programs that mayors use to help their constituents.
McGovern, who had also spoken to the group, said, “We need louder voices from urban areas.”
But he added that the mayors should make sure that the nutrition title is acceptable. He noted that House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has to deal with the fact that he doesn’t want any cuts in food stamps while there are also “libertarian Republicans” who don’t believe in the public sector.
Soglin noted that mayors know exactly “who to mobilize” in Congress on transportation and block grant issues, but not on agriculture.
Vilsack promised that his staff would help the mayors learn more about key members of Congress on agriculture, and also urged them to refer to the farm bill as he does: a food, farm and jobs bill.
In his remarks, Vilsack reminded the mayors that only 8 percent of food stamp recipients receive cash welfare. The program has a lower fraud rate than crop insurance, he noted, but food stamp critics never mention that.
McGovern noted that food stamps, officially known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, survived in the farm bill extension without cuts, but said he is afraid the program will again become a target.
He said he has become “really concerned by rhetoric in Congress that has demonized SNAP.”
“SNAP has become the ATM machine to fund everything else,” McGovern said, a reference to the use of SNAP budget authority to pay for teachers’ salaries and the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act.
McGovern also said that if no action is taken, SNAP benefits that were increased by the Recovery Act will go down next November. He also urged the mayors to support his goal of a White House conference on nutrition and hunger and a comprehensive policy to fight hunger.
