Wisconsin Ag Connection - Kind: GAO Report Shows Illegal Farm Subsidies Went to Millionaires

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Kind: GAO Report Shows Illegal Farm Subsidies Went to Millionaires
Wisconsin Ag Connection - 12/04/2008

A Wisconsin lawmaker is calling for more oversight after a report by the Government Accountability Office showed that nearly $50 million in farm subsidies were paid to ineligible multi-millionaires from 2003 to 2006. Congressman Ron Kind says the findings are 'a slap in the face' to the other American families who are struggling, and it creates a lack of trust for the government.

The La Crosse Democrat says the report documented 2,702 individuals above the previous income cap of more than $2.5 million annual income, who received $49 million in farm subsidy payments from the U.S. government from 2003 to 2006. With a new income cap of $1 million established in the 2008 Farm Bill, enforcement of this rule will prove only more difficult. Kind plans to introduce legislation in the new Congress that would implement the GAO's recommendation that the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Department of Agriculture work together to verify income eligibility, and possibly strengthen penalties on individuals who abuse the system.

"This is exactly the type of waste we sought to avoid with our reform effort during the passage of the last Farm Bill," Kind said. "The legislation I will introduce will ensure that we enforce the rules that are already in place."

The study was commissioned after the GAO was asked to evaluate how effectively USDA implemented 2002 Farm Bill provisions prohibiting payments to individuals or entities whose income exceeded $2.5 million and who derived less than 75 percent of that income from farming, ranching, or forestry operations.

The report said the best solution to the problem is to have the IRS develop a system for verifying the income eligibility for all recipients of farm program payments.

"If USDA determines that it needs authority to work with IRS, it should seek this authority from Congress, as appropriate," the GAO report stated.

Meanwhile, the USDA says it agreed with these recommendations, but disputed some of the findings.