Politics Prioritized Over Aid, Despite Rep. Letlow’s Best Efforts

By Avery Davidson

Louisiana Farm Bureau News

This week, the House Agriculture Committee passed its portion of the $3.5 trillion reconciliation package, including more than $94 billion in new spending related to agriculture.

For Louisiana, there is a glaring hole in that spending plan as it is lacking supplemental disaster assistance for farmers and ranchers after Hurricane Ida ravaged the state last month. Louisiana’s lone member of the House Ag Committee, 5th District Congresswoman Julia Letlow, tried to fix this problem by amending the package to include such aid.

Letlow has spent much of her brief time as an elected official rallying the constituents of her district, and across the state, to persevere through a number of disasters. However, she has yet to find the attention of her colleagues in Congress (outside of the Louisiana delegation) to assist with these needs.

Not only has Letlow been finding time to make heartfelt visits with farmers, ranchers and rural citizens in the aftermath of Ida, but Letlow put her state’s interest on center stage through her amendment to extend USDA’s Wildfire and Hurricane Indemnity Program (WHIP+) during the rushed committee markup.

“We were waiting and waiting to know what would be in this reconciliation package,” said Andy Brown, Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation’s National Affairs Coordinator. “All of a sudden, the text was released with only a day or two’s time to review things before the House Ag Committee markup was called.”

This has been common across committee markups for the $3.5 trillion package, with many House members and their constituents voicing displeasure for such little time to review the massive spending.

Nevertheless, Letlow and her staff worked quickly and directly to offer an amendment that would open up direct assistance to farmers and ranchers not only for Hurricane Ida, but Hurricanes Laura, Delta and Zeta from 2020, and the freeze of 2021.

“We have been requesting this assistance repeatedly,” Brown said. “We were successful in getting this extension for WHIP+ granted prior to Ida in the House Ag Committee recently as a standalone bill; but we need an appropriations vehicle, like this budget reconciliation, to actually carry it to the House floor and eventually to the President’s desk.”

Letlow’s attempt to use budget reconciliation as that vehicle, through this amendment, fell short as a casualty of partisan politics. Her amendment was one of 30 amendments offered by Republicans in the House Ag Committee that failed.

Letlow’s amendment did receive one vote of support from a Democrat, Rep. Cindy Axne of Iowa. It was the only Republican amendment offered to receive a vote from across the aisle.

“We know it is politics, and Congresswoman Letlow likely knew before she even offered the amendment that it wouldn’t pass because of those politics, but we are thankful to have her in that seat doing what is needed for Louisiana farmers and ranchers, regardless of the letters behind the names,” Brown said.

Louisiana Farm Bureau President Jim Harper said he was disheartened that politics got in the way of helping people.

“Hurricanes don’t know party lines,” Harper said.  “Freezes don’t discriminate on voting record. And to hear folks in Washington claim that they are rushing through the votes on $3.5 trillion because there are ‘urgent needs that must be addressed quickly,’ but yet they can’t find the time to help folks like us? It’s disheartening. It’s concerning.”

“But that’s not who Julia Letlow is,” Harper added. “She, and all of our delegation, is trying to find help to get us through this storm, while still looking for help from the storms from last year. It is time that other folks around the country see where these needs are and come to the table to help as well. We’re thankful to have someone like Congresswoman Letlow there representing us, particularly farmers and ranchers like me. It’s great to work with her and her staff.”

With a packed calendar of votes looming on the Congressional calendar in 2021, the Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation will continue to look for avenues to pass disaster aid legislation for its farming and ranching members.