Polis Statement on FARM Bill Vote

Press Release

Representative Jared Polis (CO-02) today made the following statement regarding his vote on the FARM bill:

"Despite several encouraging individual provisions, today I voted against the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act (FARM Bill). This pork-laden bill contained a wide range of extraneous taxes, including a Christmas Tree Tax, and failed to cut wasteful spending like $30,000,000 for a USDA Catfish Inspection program that has never inspected a single catfish.

"In addition, the bill extends costly subsidies to agri-business which distort the market and force consumers to pay more for food.

"It's time to end our byzantine soviet-style agriculture policy.

"Sadly despite my efforts to get rid of command-and-control sugar price supports and restrictions that force Americans to overpay for food, the Farm Bill also continues policies that lead to the outsourcing of jobs overseas in the confection and processed food businesses. To pay for these continued subsidies, programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) were slashed by billions of dollars.

"The bill did contain several items which I have been fighting to have included. First, my amendment to allow Colorado's world class universities to cultivate hemp for academic and agricultural research purposes was included. This will invigorate our thriving market for this historic and versatile crop, creating jobs in industries from agriculture to food service.

"I am also pleased that communities with large tracts of untaxable federal lands, like Larimer, Eagle, and Grand Counties, will receive the vital funding that supports schools, infrastructure, and police protection through the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program. While this is an important bridge measure, I believe that this program should be permanently funded to remove the uncertainty for tight local budgets. That is why I offered legislation to ensure we never have to fight for the PILT program again.

"Finally, the bill does nothing to encourage the labeling of genetically modified organism (GMO), which is important for providing valuable information for consumers."

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