Stop-Gap Will Provide Continued Help For Farming Community

Congress narrowly averted a government shutdown late last week, passing another stop-gap funding measure that continues farm disaster and pandemic aid. This came amid a Republican fight over the president’s vaccine policies. The new funding lasts only until February 18^th, when lawmakers must again wrestle with funding for the rest of the current fiscal year. But until then, the second stop-gap bill in just over two months continues billions in emergency aid for producers in the original bill.

“The legislation includes $10 billion for agricultural disaster assistance programs to cover events in 2020 and 2021."

House Ag Appropriations Chair Sanford Bishop said the initial funding continued in the new stopgap also includes $750 million for livestock, dairy, and sugar losses this year. And he noted, there’s help for watersheds.

“The bill also includes $275 million for the Emergency Watershed Protection Program to help communities address damages to infrastructure, caused by natural disasters, to infrastructure that impairs the watersheds.” 

The continued funding also allows USDA to meet the demand for farm ownership loans and boost the number of fruits and vegetables in the WIC food package, and to keep key agencies like FSA and APHIS operating. The House approved the second stop-gap first, but the Senate adopted it only after a failed 50-48 GOP attempt, with two Republicans absent, to defund the president’s vaccine mandates.

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