Week Lost for Farmers Needing Relief

October 22, 1999

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Larry Combest (R-TX) says producers could have been halfway toward receiving checks for financial relief had President Clinton signed the agriculture appropriations bill when it arrived at the White House. Reports are that Clinton may sign the bill today or over the weekend. USDA has said it takes two weeks to process checks for the $5.5 billion in aid to farmers. Those checks effectively double a farmer's 1996 farm law payment.

"Producers desperately needing $8.7 billion in emergency aid have waited more than a week for the president's signature on the aid legislation that his spokesmen have said the president will sign although they will not say when," says Combest.

The agriculture appropriations bill which included the farm aid was delivered to the White House on the evening of its final passage, Oct. 13. "If the president had signed the bill soon after it came to him, farmers would be getting their checks next week," said Combest.

Combest says USDA has indicated it needs two weeks to process checks that will get $5.5 billion of the $8.7 billion in aid delivered through the customary transition payment formula which is already calculated for each farmer.

"Congress insisted on the transition payment methods of delivering a large portion of the aid in order to prevent USDA from repeating last year's seven-month delay of releasing payments in June 1999 that were authorized by Congress in October 1998," Combest added.