Climate and Tax Bill Rewrites Embattled Black Farmer Relief Program

By Alan Rappeport, New York Times

To circumvent legal objections, the new law will provide aid to farmers who have faced discrimination, regardless of their race.

A $4 billion program to help Black and other “socially disadvantaged” farmers that never got off the ground last year amid legal objections will be replaced with a plan to make relief funds available to farmers who have faced discrimination.

The changes, which are tucked into the climate and tax legislation that is known as the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, are drawing backlash from the farmers whom the original debt relief program, part of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan of 2021, was intended to help. The new program is the latest twist in an 18-month stretch that has underscored the challenges facing the Biden administration’s attempts to make racial equity a centerpiece of its economic agenda.

Black farmers have been in limbo for months, not knowing if the debt relief they were promised would be granted. Many invested in new equipment after applying last year for money to help defray their debt. Some received foreclosure notices from the Department of Agriculture this year as the program languished.

The legislation, which Congress passed this week, will create two new funds to help farmers. One, at $2.2 billion, will provide financial assistance to farmers, ranchers and forest landowners who faced discrimination before 2021. The other provides $3.1 billion for the Agriculture Department to make payments for loans or loan modifications to farmers who face financial distress.

The money will replace the $4 billion program that was intended to aid about 15,000 farmers who received loans from the federal government or had bank loans guaranteed by the Agriculture Department. They included farmers and ranchers who had been subject to racial or ethnic prejudice, including those who are Black, American Indian/Alaskan Native, Asian American, Pacific Islander or Hispanic.

Discover how these same groups struggled without aid last year.

The Inflation Reduction Act could also help Black Americans with medication costs.

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