Baldwin Introduces Bill to Release Illegally Withheld Funding for Wisconsin Farmers

Legislation comes after Trump Administration continues to take back funding guaranteed to Wisconsin’s farmers and producers
WASHINGTON, D.C.– U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and her colleagues introduced theHonor Farmer Contracts Act, legislation to release illegally withheld funding for all contracts and agreements previously entered into by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). President Trump’s USDA has refused to make reimbursement payments to fulfill signed contracts, without any indication of when or whether farmers will be paid the money they paid out and are owed. Farmers in Wisconsin and the organizations that serve them operate on tight margins and cannot be left waiting without funding they rightfully were awarded and planned for. This legislation would require the USDA to pay farmers all past due payments as quickly as possible to prevent them from having to shut down their operations.
“Donald Trump and Elon Musk are stiffing our farmers and processors – taking away resources these folks were guaranteed, threatening small businesses' ability to stay open and people's livelihoods. Wisconsin farmers work hard on tight margins and drive our rural economy forward – and there is no reason they should be left high and dry by this administration just so Elon Musk and Donald Trump can pass a tax break that makes their rich friends richer,”said Senator Baldwin. “It’s wrong and I am fighting back.”
When farmers successfully apply to USDA programs and then spend their own dollars  under contracts with the agency, they rightfully expect that they will receive reimbursement. Similarly, farmer-serving organizations—which farmers rely upon to connect to local markets and implement practices that make them more productive and less resource intensive—are facing imminent funding crises from not being reimbursed for completed or in-progress contracted work. If not quickly made whole, these organizations will be forced to make agonizing decisions to lay off staff and stop helping farmers, destroying years of progress and investment in our agriculture economy.
In March of this year, Senator Baldwinsuccessfully pushedthe USDA to restart payments already committed to Wisconsin Dairy Business Innovation (DBI) Initiative recipients aftercalling onthe Trump Administration the month prior to release the funding. She’s alsocalled onthe Trump Administration to reverse course on funding for a partnership between Wisconsin farmers and local food banks that was clawed back by the federal government earlier this month.
TheHonor Farmer Contracts Actwould:
The bill is led by Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and also co-sponsored by Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Peter Welch (D-VT), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Angus King (I-ME), Tina Smith (D-MN), Ed Markey (D-MA), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Bernie Sanders (I-VT). U.S. Representative Gabe Vasquez (D-NM-02) also introduced companion legislation in the House of Representatives.
Full text of this legislation is availablehere.
###