Will Agriculture Energy Programs Be Preserved?

The bipartisan Congressional “super-committee” has begun meeting to discuss how to reduce the federal deficit by $1.2 trillion or more over the next decade. Which programs will they cut? Which will they keep? All congressional committees have been encouraged to submit their suggestions for deficit reduction to the “super-committee” by October 14.

If the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (aka the “super-committee”) follows the lead of Senate and House appropriators, prospects for agriculture energy programs are not good. The Senate agriculture appropriations bill for FY 2012 (H.R. 2112) would cut funding for the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) by about half, and the House bill would cut REAP by more than 90 percent and eliminate the Biomass Crop Assistance Program. The Senate has yet to debate and vote on its version of the bill.

Farm bill energy programs are relatively new in the history of U.S. agriculture policy. Most are relatively small and just getting started. They lack the large, powerful political constituencies that support other agriculture programs, and they lack the baseline, continuing funding that most other agriculture programs receive. All of this adds up to make them politically vulnerable. Yet the justification for these programs remains as strong as ever: to promote rural development and job creation, and to advance energy security, energy efficiency, and renewable energy.

If agriculture energy programs are important to you, now is the time to let your legislators know.

The super-committee, established on August 2, 2011, by the Budget Control Act of 2011 , includes Reps. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), Dave Camp (R-MI), Fred Upton (R-MI), Jim Clyburn (D-SC), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Xavier Becerra (D-CA); and Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Max Baucus (D-MT), John Kerry (D-MA), Jon Kyl (R-AZ), Patrick Toomey (R-PA), and Rob Portman (R-OH). A majority of seven must approve the plan, which must be submitted to Congress by November 23.