In the wee hours of Friday morning, the U.S. House of Representatives passed its budget reconciliation legislation with cuts totaling $49.9 billion. Agriculture's share is nearly $4 billion, more than the Senate approved reconciliation package.
The deficit-reduction plan passed the House by a narrow vote of 217-215 with all Democrats and 14 Republicans voting against this bill.
The House reconciliation legislation cuts $1.033 billion from the farm safety net for 2006 through 2010. It also makes $734 million in reductions in conservation spending.
"Farm spending makes up less than 1% of the federal budget, yet farmers and ranchers are required to take more than nine percent of all federal spending reductions," says National Farmers Union President Dave Frederickson. "Policymakers are placing a disproportionate share of the burden on rural America while proposing tax cuts for the nation's wealthy."
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