May 16, 2008
Senators split on farm bill
The United States Congress and Senate yesterday both passed the five-year, $290 billion farm bill by margins wide enough to override a threatened presidential veto, though not all of Maine's congressional representatives and senators approved of the legislation.
Republican Sen. Susan Collins voted against the bill, saying in a statement it "contains massive, wasteful taxpayer subsidies for large agri-businesses in the Midwest and South at the expense of family farms in the Northeast." However, Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe joined Democratic representatives Tom Allen and Mike Michaud to vote in favor of the bill, saying in a statement that the bill "keeps Maine in mind with subsidies for specialty crops and dairy farmers."
Roughly two-thirds of the bill will support domestic nutrition programs like food stamps, $40 billion is appropriated for farm subsidies and $30 billion will be used for environmental programs, including those requiring farmers to idle their land, according to the Associated Press. Provisions in the bill will provide $30 million annually to economically distressed areas of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York for economic development and job creation projects.
Republican Sen. Susan Collins voted against the bill, saying in a statement it "contains massive, wasteful taxpayer subsidies for large agri-businesses in the Midwest and South at the expense of family farms in the Northeast." However, Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe joined Democratic representatives Tom Allen and Mike Michaud to vote in favor of the bill, saying in a statement that the bill "keeps Maine in mind with subsidies for specialty crops and dairy farmers."
Roughly two-thirds of the bill will support domestic nutrition programs like food stamps, $40 billion is appropriated for farm subsidies and $30 billion will be used for environmental programs, including those requiring farmers to idle their land, according to the Associated Press. Provisions in the bill will provide $30 million annually to economically distressed areas of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York for economic development and job creation projects.
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