Mann, Scott and Panetta Introduce Legislation to Strengthen Crop Insurance

US Representative Tracey Mann of Kansas, Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee's Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy and Poultry, along with Representatives Austin Scott of Georgia, Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee's Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities, Risk Management and Credit, and Jimmy Panetta of California of the Ways and Means Committee, have introduced the Ensuring Access to Risk Management Act.

The legislation corrects a current flaw that cuts risk management delivery funding for crops and restores the annual inflation adjustment for risk management delivery funding.

The last general inflation adjustment for risk management delivery was in 2015. Both the Fiscal Year 2022 and Fiscal Year 2023 agricultural appropriations legislation urged the US Department of Agriculture to provide permanent relief for specialty crop risk management delivery and the restoration of the general annual inflation adjustment for all crops, but USDA indicated that legislation is required.

"The higher the risk, the higher fall, and the stronger the safety net you need to survive," said Representative Mann. "While the federal crop insurance program mitigates risk and helps strengthen that safety net, the program's administrative and operating costs have not been adjusted for inflation since the 2015 reinsurance year. Since then, inflation hit a 40-year high, and America's agricultural producers and crop insurance agents are feeling its weight. By establishing a minimum reimbursement rate for administrative and operating expenses and restoring the annual inflation adjustment, this legislation helps Congress further strengthen the agricultural safety net to give farmers, ranchers and agricultural producers the certainty they deserve."

(Information courtesy Representative Mann's Office.)