In a recent advertisement from the Senate Leadership Fund, Senator Jon Tester was called out for supporting a farmer relief program that excluded white farmers and ranchers.
In the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act, a measure was added to provide debt relief for farmers and ranchers up to 120% of their outstanding loans to alleviate the financial burden caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, this program excluded white farmers and ranchers, reserving the loan forgiveness solely for the “socially disadvantaged”. Senator Tester was not just the tiebreaking vote in passing the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act, but also the tiebreaking vote in striking down an amendment in the Senate to remove the exclusionary provision.
The bill punted defining “socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers” back to the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 Section 2501, which defined them as those belonging to a “group whose members have been subjected to racial or ethnic prejudice because of their identity as members of a group without regard to their individual qualities”. According to Congressional Research Service, the USDA has implemented this program with the understanding that this means “Black/African American, American Indian, Alaskan native, Hispanic/Latino, Asian, or Pacific Islander.”
According to the 2022 USDA Census of Agriculture, 91% of farmers and ranchers in Montana are white, meaning the overwhelming majority of Montanan farmers and ranchers were excluded from the $5 billion that the program was allocated by the federal government.
According the New York Times, white farmers in Texas, Wisconsin, Florida, and Oregon have brought class action lawsuits against the USDA, claiming the program violates equal protection because it excludes them on account of race.
While Senator Tester supported this bill with his tiebreaking vote, he has been outspoken about not providing financial support for American farmers and ranchers. In a 2020 interview with the Commonwealth Club, he denounced former President Trump’s attempts to keep farmers afloat amidst the pandemic, saying, “You start cutting federal checks to farmers, that’s socialism.”
Also of note is the fact that Republican Senator Dan Sullivan was absent for the vote of the American Rescue Plan Act and its amendments, as he was home attending a family member’s funeral. Had he been present, this would have resulted in a tie-breaking vote by Vice President Harris, who has already broken more ties than any other Vice President in American history with 33. In all 33, Senator Tester has voted with Vice President Harris.
As a result of Republican objections and the class action lawsuits over the bill, it was repealed as part of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. The IRA then boasted a provision to provide aid for “underserved farmers, ranchers or forest landowners”, which it defined to include “veterans, limited resource producers, beginning farmers and ranchers, and farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners living in high poverty areas.”
Senator Tester’s office has not responded to YCN’s request for comment at the time of publication.
