House endorses tighter limits on subsidies

? The House on Thursday overwhelmingly endorsed a $275,000-per-farm cap on agricultural subsidies in a nonbinding vote that supporters said shows growing momentum for such limits.

The payment limit is part of a Senate-passed farm bill. Under a House-passed bill, subsidies for cotton, grain and soybeans would continue essentially unlimited.

The lead House negotiator, Rep. Larry Combest, R-Tex., said Thursday’s 265-158 vote would “have no bearing” on talks between the House and Senate on a compromise bill.

Some 78 of the House members who voted for the subsidy cap Thursday voted last fall against adding a similar provision to the House’s farm bill, according to a count by the Environmental Working Group, which supports the measure.

The Senate’s payment cap would “ease the burden on smaller family-run farms by cutting the flow of money to corporate agribusinesses and steer it to those who need it the most,” said the group’s Susanne Fleek.

Chuck Hassebrook of the Center for Rural Affairs said the vote indicates the House might now reject a farm bill that lacks the cap.

The subsidy limit would save an estimated $1.3 billion over 10 years, according to budget analysts.

Critics of subsidy caps say they unfairly penalize efficient, highly productive farms and are especially unfair to cotton and rice, which cost much more to grow than corn, wheat and soybeans, the other major commodities the government subsidizes.

A program approved by the Clinton administration allows farmers to bypass the normal limits on subsidies by borrowing money against their crops and repaying the loans at below cost.

The subsidy cap is one of a number of issues dividing the House-Senate conference committee that is trying to merge the House and Senate bills. The negotiations returned to public sessions on Thursday after a series of private discussions failed to produce an agreement.

Besides the payment cap, the negotiators also are divided over commodity price guarantees. Senate Democrats want a $2-a-bushel minimum for corn, compared to $1.95 for the Republican-controlled House. The current rate is $1.89.