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INDIANA CONGRESSWOMAN SPARTZ EXPLAINS HER ANTI-CHECKOFF BILL
Jul. 27, 2023
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| Congresswoman Victoria Spartz (R-IN-5th District) |
by Sabrina Halvorson, Hoosier Ag Today radio network
Congresswoman Victoria Spartz (R-IN-05) is firing back after several checkoff groups have slammed her recent amendment to the ag appropriations bill.
Introduced by Spartz to the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2024--the legislation that funds the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)--the amendment states that none of the funds made available by the bill may be used to carry out commodity checkoff programs.
Ethan Lane, Vice President of Government Affairs with the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA), says Spartz's amendment simply wasn't necessary.
"The amendment that was offered by Representative Spartz would seek to prevent any federal funds from being used to implement federal commodity checkoff programs. But the strange thing about that is that no federal funds are used to implement federal commodity checkoff programs. They are funded by contributions to those programs from producers throughout the country that pay in," he explained. "It really speaks to the fact that Representative Spartz and her team don't understand completely the issue that they're attempting to impact with the amendment."
However, in an interview with Hoosier Ag Today, Spartz says the ag checkoff programs lack oversight and transparency.
"I just sold over fifty thousand bushels of wheat and paid the fees, so I understand what it is about," rebuffed Spartz. "But I haven't seen what these organizations are doing. I know that they're paying big salaries to their boards. So, I think that we need to look and make sure that these organizations are serving the purpose to promote agriculture, not to promote [a] few oligarchs and large monopolies."
Spartz also pointed out that it wouldn't affect any federal money for checkoff programs since there is no federal money. However, she says the mandatory checkoff payments equate to a farming tax and therefore Congress should have some oversight.
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