Washington Report: Florida Republican Allen West introduces a bill that will encourage small businesses to start hiring (Image: File)

• Florida Republican Introduces Small Business Tax Credit Bill

Rep. Allen West (R-Florida) has introduced a bipartisan bill he says will encourage small businesses—our nation’s most prolific employer—to start hiring and help put Americans back to work.

The Small Business Encouragement Act would amend the Internal Revenue Code to allow small businesses with less than $20 million in gross receipts in the preceding taxable year or 100 employees or fewer, a work opportunity tax credit for hiring unemployed individuals as full-time employees in 2012 and 2013, and employing them for at least one year. In addition, the legislation would double the tax credit for employers that hire individuals from counties with higher-than-average unemployment rates. West estimates that each hire could save employers up to $12,000 per year.

The unemployment rate in West’s Florida district is close to 11 percent, which, he says, is unacceptable. The rate for African-Americans at 16.1 percent is more than double the overall national rate.

“The Small Business Encouragement Act is a simple, effective solution to putting people back to work by encouraging the very backbone of our economy, the small businesses,” West said.

West, is one of two Black Republicans in the House and the only Republican member of the Congressional Black Caucus. Fellow CBC members, Representatives Laura Richardson (D-California) and William Lacy Clay (D-Missouri), are two of the bill’s 10 co-sponsors.

West said that the legislation has won the support of the National Black Chamber of Commerce and entrepreneurs from around the country. “This legislation will support many minority owned businesses that have felt the impact of the recession and will encourage many others to become innovative with job creation,” he said.

• USDA Begins to Make Inroads to Clean Up Its Culture of Discrimination

Shirley Sherrod

A federal judge has finally granted preliminary approval of the $1.25 billion Pigford II settlement agreed to by the federal government and the nation’s Black farmers to compensate those who were discriminated against by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“I am pleased to see movement from the judge in this case. Black farmers have waited far too long for justice. They deserve to have their cases heard by a neutral arbitrator,” said John Boyd, president of the National Black Farmers Association. “This ruling signals one more step forward on the long march to justice. It has been an arduous and challenging journey.”

Judge Paul Friedman of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia made the long-waited ruling on Friday. His decision came on the heels of the release of a report produced by an independent firm that found the USDA is still mired in problems related to civil rights violations and racial discrimination. The report includes more than 200 recommendations to fix them, several of which Secretary Tom Vilsack had begun implementing before the report’s release.

The report strongly recommends that the agency make significant inroads in improving its outreach and service delivery to minority farmers and ranchers, the two groups that have likely experienced the greatest amount of discrimination. In an interesting twist, the USDA is currently trying to work out a deal with former agency official Shirley Sherrod, who was forced to resign from her position last year after a conservative blogger released a misleading video clip of an address she made to an NAACP group. The agency hopes that Sherrod will work with it on a contractual basis through the firm she co-founded called The Southwest Georgia Project For Community Education Inc. to promote outreach and diversity.

• U.S. Hits Debt Ceiling: What Happens Next?

(Image: ThinkStock)

The nation hit its $14.3 trillion debt limit last Monday, but, unlike the congressional lawmakers predicted, the sky didn’t come falling down.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has taken a series of steps to prevent default, including suspending payments to the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund and Government Securities Investment Fund, so he could extend the debt limit deadline to August 2. Geithner said that the suspended payments will be made to both funds and that federal employees and retirees won’t be affected.

Meanwhile, Congress and the White House will have 11 weeks—four of which House members are scheduled to spend back at home in their districts—to negotiate a deal. Staffers who work for the bipartisan, bicameral group of lawmakers tasked with figuring out ways to reduce the deficit are continuing to work on the task while the House is in recess this week.

Their task is not easy. House and Senate Republicans are standing firm on their pledge to not raise the debt limit until significant spending cuts are made in the federal government’s 2012 budget.

“Americans understand we simply can’t keep spending money we don’t have. Spending-driven deficits, record debt and the threat of tax hikes are smothering our economy with uncertainty and making it harder for small businesses to hire new workers,” said House Speaker John Boehner, in a statement Monday. “As I have said numerous times, there will be no debt limit increase without serious budget reforms and significant spending cuts—cuts that are greater than any increase in the debt limit.”

House Assistant Democratic Leader James Clyburn (South Carolina), who sits on the bipartisan deficit panel, told Dow Jones on Monday that he believes the budget and debt limit deals should be negotiated separately. It may take longer to reach a budget deal and Congress must act swiftly so that a vote on raising the debt limit can be taken before the next deadline.

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (Maryland) accused Republicans of holding the economy hostage.

“Businesses—and the global economy—need certainty that the U.S. will continue to pay its bills. By choosing to hold the economy hostage by risking a default on our nation’s debt, Republicans are endangering our economic recovery,” he said. “I hope now that we’ve reached the debt limit, and the Treasury has been forced to employ extraordinary measures, Republicans stop putting the economy at risk and work with us to meet our obligations and set forward a serious, balanced approach to deficit reduction.”

• Black Farmers Still Seeking to Harvest Relief
• Two months after President Obama signed landmark legislation authorizing $1.25 billion to settle discrimination cases filed by the nation’s black farmers against the U.S. Agriculture Department, there has been no further progress on the Pigford II settlement.
• Before making an appearance at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. earlier this week, National Black Farmers Association president John Boyd, Jr. told BlackEnterprise.com that the claims process has been delayed because the federal judge assigned to the case has not yet given the settlement preliminary approval. The Cobell case, which will settle claims filed by Native American farmers has already received such sanction, however.
• “I was hopeful that Judge Paul Freeman would move just as swiftly. The farmers are desperate for information,” Boyd says. He maintains that there is a great deal of confusion about the claims process and believes that many farmers could wind up victims of scam artists.
• “I’ve been hearing from farmers that people are charging [some] $100 for an application or a petition. There is no fee to be a part of this process,” Boyd says. “And right now, there’s nothing the farmers can do but wait on the actual decision from Judge Freeman.”

• SBA Launches Program to Help Small Businesses Refinance Mortgages
• The Small Business Administration announced Thursday a temporary program to help small businesses refinance maturing commercial mortgages or balloon payments before December 21, 2012, similar to the agency’s 504 program. The agency, which estimates that the program could help as many as 20,000 businesses, will begin accepting applications on February 28.
• The program will initially focus on business owners with the greatest financial need, those facing balloon payments due before the end of the year. Borrowers will be able to refinance up to 90% of the current appraised property value or 100% of the outstanding mortgage plus eligible refinancing costs.
• “The economic downturn of recent years and the declining value of real estate have had a significant, negative impact on many small businesses with mortgages maturing within the next few years,” says SBA administrator Karen Mills. “As a result, even small businesses that are performing well and making their payments on time could face foreclosure because of the difficulties they face in refinancing and restructuring their mortgage debt. This temporary program is another tool SBA can provide to help these small businesses remain viable and protect jobs.”

For more news and politics coverage, be sure to read:

• Why Dems and Republicans Hate Obama’s Budget Plan
• Why Eugene Robinson Says Black America No Longer Exists
• BE’s Exclusive Interview with Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner

It was a bittersweet moment for John Boyd, Jr., president of the National Black Farmers Association, who observed the historic vote from the House gallery. “We won,” Boyd said wistfully. “But it’s been an uphill battle and the process has not been pretty.”

The measure appropriates $1.15 billion to settle discrimination claims made by farmers who missed the 1997 filing deadline for the class action suit now known as Pigford I that was settled in 1999. It also includes $3.4 billion to compensate Native American farmers for the Interior Department’s mishandling of American Indian trust funds and land, gas and other royalties.

President Obama issued a statement applauding the bill and said the administration will continue efforts to resolve past discrimination claims made by women and Hispanic farmers.

Boyd feels like the biggest hurdle is behind him and already thinking about educating farmers about the claims process. But as even Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack conceded in a conference call with reporters on Monday, the next steps will be “very complicated and detailed.”

To be eligible, claimants must have filed a late-filing request under the Pigford I consent decree after October 1999 and before June 2008, Vilsack said. Those not included on that filing class list will be required to provide “significant and independent documentary evidence” that they are in fact part of it.

“We’re also going to have a number of steps inherent in the review of these claims by the comptroller general and by USDA’s inspector general to make sure that we are performing the settlement process appropriately, that we are legitimately reviewing these claims, and that we’re paying those who are entitled to payment,” Vilsack said. An independent arbitrator also will be appointed to review all claims.

These provisions were added to the Senate version of the bill passed on November 19 in response to Republican lawmakers who have charged that the settlement is akin to reparations and that many Pigford claims are riddled with fraud. But some Black lawmakers are countering that they set a disproportionately high burden of proof for black farmers.

“I have concerns with language added in the Senate that could have a chilling effect on farmers settling claims. The Senate-added language calls for a ‘Neutral Adjudicator’ who has the authority to demand additional information from claimants, beyond what was required to qualify for the class action suit,” said Majority Whip James Clyburn (South Carolina). “I hope the unprecedented processes laid out in this bill do not become tools for witch hunts and intimidation.”

Boyd says that the discrimination that led to the settlement was so pervasive that farmers won’t have any problems proving their case. “We have a lot [of proof] in our favor that Republicans choose to not recognize. They’re trying to turn this into a fraud case,” he said. “When things happen for blacks there’s always a tougher road to tread and this situation is similar.”

Rep. Artur Davis (D-Alabama) believes that success of the process, which he agrees is less than ideal, will largely depend on the farmers securing strong representation and the government’s commitment to righting historic wrongs, which were problems during Pigford I.

“It’s better than nothing, but how well it works will depend on the quality of the claimants’ lawyers and whether they are diligently and aggressively representing the interests of the farmers and not their own, and whether the Agriculture and Justice departments are vigilant about the resolution of the claims,” Davis said.

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The Senate failed to pass legislation that would finalize settlements with black farmers. (Source: NBFA)

It’s National Farmers Week, but the nation’s black farmers have little to celebrate because Majority Leader Harry Reid has failed yet again to get a unanimous consent vote on funding for the Pigford II discrimination suit. He had hoped to do so before the Senate departed for its August recess, but during his Thursday morning pen and pad with reporters, Reid pretty much conceded that it wouldn’t happen and said he hoped the matter would be settled by the end of the year.

This is a really shameful situation here. We had meetings this week with Senators Dick Durbin and Harry Reid about this bill and we just can’t seem to get to the middle of the road,” said a deeply disappointed John Boyd, Jr., president of the National Black Farmers Association. “We’re caught up in … mid-term election politics and that is not good for the black farmers who’ve been waiting patiently, hoping something good would happen.”

Boyd believes that the matter would have been settled long ago if the White House demonstrated its commitment to the deal by applying the same level of influence that it reportedly did for Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Arkansas) to provide $1.5 billion dollars in aid to famers in her state whose crops have been destroyed by natural disasters.

“We need an administrative fix like the one they’re going to give to the white farmers,” Boyd said. “It’s time for the president to show up for black farmers.”

Meanwhile, John Boyd, Jr., president of the National Black Farmers Association is boiling mad because of reports that within weeks Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Arkansas) has been able to work out a deal with the Obama administration for $1.5 billion dollars in aid to farmers in her state whose crops have been destroyed by natural disasters while black farmers have waited decades to be compensated for discriminatory acts.

“When white farmers are involved, everything is put on fast track. That’s a smack in the face to us,” Boyd said. “I’m asking farmers to take a strong look at elected officials in [farm states] and campaign to get rid of those who vote against us.”

A spokeswoman for Reid was unable to predict how successful the unanimous consent vote will be. “Hopefully the Republicans will allow us to move forward because it’s paid for,” she said.

NBFA's John Boyd spent much of Thursday lobbying lawmakers to pass a bill to settle discrimination suits.

As the furor begins to die down over the debacle that was the Shirley Sherrod false racism accusation and firing, one thing that has been overlooked in many quarters is the fact that black farmers are still waiting for Congress to pass legislation to settle discrimination suits.

John Boyd, president of the National Black Farmers Association, is calling on the White House to put pressure on lawmakers to pass the bill to settle the lawsuits brought by black and Native American farmers. Earlier this month, the House included money for the settlement in a war supplemental bill, but the bill that passed in the Senate late Thursday did not have that provision.

• Related Reading: Irony of Sherrod Debacle: Still No Relief for Black Farmers

“It is clear that without pressure from the White House this funding will not make it through Congress,” said Boyd in a statement released July 23. “It is clear now that without greater White House pressure, the Senate cannot manage to keep this funding, despite its widespread support, in a larger funding measure because it continues to get grouped with other controversial add-ons. This is an unacceptable situation and must be resolved immediately.”

Boyd spent much of Thursday lobbying lawmakers on Capitol Hill, hoping to win greater support and commitments from senators before they adjourn for their August recess in two weeks. He said that staffers in the office of Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) told him getting the settlement in the war supplemental will be too difficult and that he plans to introduce a standalone bill.

But Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Missouri) on Thursday expressed serious doubt that the House would be able to pass a similar freestanding bill and questions whether the cases will be settled before January.

During their weekly press conferences, both House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) and Minority Leader John Boehner both spoke of the need to resolve the matter.

“This issue has gone on for almost the 20 years that I’ve been here, and it needs to be resolved,” Boehner said.

What will Washington be talking about next week?

The Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship will hold a July 27 hearing titled “The Deepwater Drilling Moratorium: A Second Disaster for Small Businesses?”

Congressional Black Caucus Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Illinois) will chair a Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection subcommittee hearing on the BP oil spill’s impact on Gulf Coast tourism on July 27.

The National Urban League will be in town celebrating its 100th birthday from July 28-31. Forum topics include the state of black America and what black America will look like in 2025. President Barack Obama will address the organization July 29.

Sherrod receives some vindication

After publicly apologizing to Shirley Sherrod and inviting her to return to her job, Secretary Tom Vilsak will make his way to Capitol Hill to meet with Congressional Black Caucus members.  Sherrod is the Agriculture Department official who was abruptly forced to resign earlier this week based on a misinterpretation of an edited video of remarks that she made at an NAACP event in March. The CBC is furious that nobody at the Agriculture Department or the White House took the time to view in its entirety the video in which she appeared before literally forcing her to pull over on a Georgia highway to text in her resignation.

“We want to talk about and hopefully receive an explanation for what many of us consider to be a snap reaction to what should have been a thoughtful investigation,” said Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Missouri).

• Related Reading: Shirley Sherrod: A Rush to Judgment?

Cleaver and others also lay part of the blame for Sherrod’s “resignation” with NAACP president Benjamin Jealous, whose swift reaction to the video helped hasten Sherrod’s dismissal. “That was a bad, bad decision on his part,” Cleaver said.

In a statement issued late Monday, Jealous said, “According to her remarks, she mistreated a white farmer in need of assistance because of his race. We are appalled by her actions, just as we are with abuses of power against farmers of color and female farmers.” Jealous also said that in her remarks, Sherrod gave no indication she had attempted to right the wrong she had done to this man.” (NAACP Statement on the Resignation of Shirley Sherrod)

Of course, he didn’t know that, because like the administration, he, too, had not reviewed the video. Once the truth came out, Jealous said that he had been “snookered” into condemning Sherrod. The video appears on the civil rights organization’s website with the following statement: The video of Shirley Sherrod released by Andrew Brietbart’s Big Government Blog on July 19 didn’t tell the full story. It was selectively edited to cast her in a negative light. Here is the video, shot by the local NAACP unit that hosted Ms. Sherrod. Watch the video and judge for yourself.

Rep. Artur Davis (D-Georgia) said that Jealous reacted too quickly because of the backlash he’s been receiving for comments he made last week about racists in the Tea Party.

The White House also apologized today to Sherrod, admitting that the administration was acting without all the facts. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs issued the apology on behalf of the entire administration.

House Passes Bill to Fund 200,000 Summer Youth Jobs

With the passage of the $5.7 billion supplemental appropriations bill (HR 4899) on Wednesday, members of the Congressional Black Caucus are hopeful that black youths will be able to take advantage of the $600 million in Labor Department grants to states to fund summer youth job programs.

Congressional Black Caucus members have for months stressed the urgency of funding such programs for teenagers and young adults aged 16 to 19  whose unemployment rate at around 25% in February. The rate for young African Americans is almost double, and black lawmakers fear that without something productive to do during the summer, many will find themselves in trouble.

“African American youth unemployment rates are now estimated to be as high as 42%,” said CBC chairwoman Rep. Barbara Lee (D-California). “So we need targeted assistance to help put our young people to work and to teach them an array of valuable job skills that they can use throughout life.”

Developing summer youth programs was one of the issues President Barack Obama and the CBC agreed was doable when they met earlier this month. In a statement released by the White House on Thursday, Obama applauded the effort and encouraged the Senate to follow suit.

“As we continue the work of rebuilding our economy and encouraging job creation, investing in summer youth employment is an important way to teach our young people the value of hard work and prepare them for careers in the future,” Obama said.

Last year, the government spent $1.2 billion to fund work opportunities for more than 300,000 young people, 10,000 of whom were offered work beyond the summer, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said during a conference call with reporters. According to White House figures, more than 40% of the 2009 summer youth program participants were black.

Lee said that the bill, which will create 200,000 jobs, is merely a “down payment” and that Congress is considering various bills and seeking ways to create and fund additional measures. The measure also appropriates $5.1 billion for FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund and $20 million to continue covering the cost of waiving fees for some SBA loan programs.

The summer youth program will be paid for with unused funds from other programs, which she hopes will be an incentive for the Senate to act swiftly when it considers the bill.

CBC Members Threatened for Healthcare Vote

Passing healthcare reform has been a bittersweet victory for Congressional Democrats. On one hand, they’ve helped President Barack Obama honor a campaign promise that’s both historic and the centerpiece of his legislative agenda. But it has come at a significant cost, with lawmakers reporting this week several incidences of threats against their offices, their families, and themselves.

One rancorous message sent to Rep. David Scott (D-Georgia) said, “None of your colored constituents are going to keep you elected because we do not want this socialist Obamacare that is going to help Negroes who will not help themselves,” he reported. Another referred to him as nigger three times.

On Wednesday, the FBI notified Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Missouri) that it had “collected” and investigated a call made by a local white businessman threatening to kill him if he voted for the healthcare bill. It concluded the man didn’t intend to carry out the threat.

In addition, Cleaver said, his Tea Party opponent has sent e-mails to protestors encouraging them to show up at his town hall meeting on Saturday. In response, the security team Cleaver had when Kansas City mayor will be at his side, as well as undercover police and an FBI detail.

While Democratic and Republican leadership sparred over who was to blame for the breakdown in civility inside and outside the House, black lawmakers expressed concern over the racial tone some protestors have taking, recalling for them the violence they experienced during their fight for civil rights.

“What I saw over the weekend was a different class of folk who basically used code words that I hadn’t heard in a long time, such as ‘I want my country back.’ I saw Hispanic lawmakers being told to go back where they came from,” Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Mississippi) recalled. “Clearly there’s this racial undertone and GOP leadership has done a very poor job reigning them in. [Tea Party members] are some of their core constituents and they’re not going to alienate them just because Democrats feel threatened.”

Deadline Looms for Black Farmers Settlement

A protester at a 2009 NBFA rally in Jackson, Mississippi. (Source: NBFA)

When Congress goes on its two-week recess next week, it might do so without having appropriated the funds needed to pay the $1.15 billion settlement with black farmers for past acts of discrimination by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

For farmers, that delay means “missing another planting season, more black farmers going out of business, more black farmers dying waiting for justice,” said National Black Farmers Association President John Boyd Jr.

During a Wednesday press conference Sen. Kay Hagan (D-North Carolina), House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (Michigan) and Rep. Robert Scott (D-Virginia) urged the administration to act more forcefully to bring the settlement to a conclusion. During the press conference Conyers called Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack’s office to arrange a meeting that he insisted take place that evening.

Conyers said Thursday that the meeting, at which Scott, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (Connecticut), and House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (North Carolina) were present, went well and Vilsack is committed to settling the matter, “but that doesn’t get us the money.” He added that he and other lawmakers would meet with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (Maryland) to figure out how to satisfy the judgment.

“The USDA is actively working with Congress to find the resources needed to fulfill the Pigford settlement agreement,” said a USDA spokesman. “In recent weeks, Secretary Vilsack has made personal phone calls and sent a letter in support of the President’s budget amendment, and he has urged Congress to appropriate the resources to resolve this important matter.

Lawmakers have yet to figure out where the funds to pay the farmers will come from. Conyers, Scott and other lawmakers have suggested that the judgment be considered an emergency to bypass paygo rules.

Congress May Miss Black Farmers Settlement Deadline

National Black Farmers Association President John Boyd, Jr., fears that Capitol Hill lawmakers won’t meet the March 31 deadline to appropriate funds for the settlement agreement reached last month with the Agriculture and Justice departments to compensate black farmers for past acts of discrimination. With only 10 days left on the legislative calendar before Congress breaks for Easter recess, it’s easy to understand why.

Boyd says bipartisan support for the settlement seems to have fallen by the wayside amidst partisan bickering over healthcare, jobs and other issues. Democratic lawmakers and administration officials continue to offer their support, but Boyd–and NFBA members, who understand little about the legislative process and thought it was a done deal—are more interested in action.

“They say they’re supportive, but that has to turn into results and I’m not seeing that right now,” said Boyd. “I know they’re busy on healthcare and other issues, but we need them to act. We need the president to be more vocally active on this issue, too.”

USDA spokesman Justin DeLong said in an email message that the agency is “actively working with Congress to ensure the settlement agreement is funded, and Agriculture Secretary [Tom] Vilsack has made personal phone calls and sent a letter in support of the president’s budget amendment to communicate the administration’s commitment to resolving this issue.” The timing, however, is up to Congress.

Georgia Rep. Sanford Bishop, a Congressional Black Caucus member who sits on the House Appropriations Committee, said this week that while the White House included the settlement in its budget request, it didn’t indicate how to pay for it. Both he and Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Mississippi) suggested that President Obama give the settlement an emergency designation, as it would a natural disaster, to fast track the process.

“If that’s done, it’s done,” Thompson said matter-of-factly.

Funding Unclear for Proposed Jobs Bill

House Democrats and U.S. mayors introduced a jobs bill on Wednesday that would direct $100 billion over two years to states and localities to help them save or create government jobs and fund salaries for job-training programs.

The Local Jobs for America Act would provide more than $24 billion to governors to support education and public safety jobs; $75 billion would go directly to struggling communities to help them hire or retain employees.

But Rep. George Miller (D-California), who heads the House Education and Labor Committee, acknowledged that he doesn’t know how the bill would be paid for.

Bill co-sponsor Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minnesota) said that sometimes “the right kind of circumstances can come together to make [such bills] a hot issue.”

Ellison and other black lawmakers want Obama to publically acknowledge that black communities have been hit the hardest by the recession and that something must be done about it.

“I want the president to stop saying ‘We are the world, one size fits all’ in terms of the jobs situation,” Ellison said. “The misery that this country is facing is hitting everybody, but it’s hitting some much worse than others and we need to be real about that.”Department of Education to Step Up Enforcement

Duncan

Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced on Monday plans to amp up the agency’s civil rights enforcement to ensure equal educational opportunity and access in schools and colleges. Duncan unveiled the plan before participating in a marching across the Edmund Pettus Bridge to commemorate the “Bloody Sunday” civil rights protest.

According to agency statistics, white students are six times more likely than African American students to be college ready in biology and four times as likely to be college ready in algebra. They also are more than twice as likely to have taken advanced placement calculus classes.

“This is the civil rights issue of our generation. The battle for a quality education is about so much more than education. It’s a fight for social justice,” said Duncan in a conference call with reporters. He also said that the agency’s Office for Civil Rights has not been as vigilant as it should have been with regard to combating gender and racial discrimination and protecting the rights of the disabled.

“Every child is entitled to a quality education,” Duncan said. “Today we’re making it clear that we will enforce laws to ensure that all children have a fair chance at a good future.”

Government Pledges Support and Debt Relief for Haiti

Préval

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Debt Relief for Earthquake Recovery in Haiti Act (H.R. 4573) that seeks the cancellation of Haiti’s debt to the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and other multilateral development organizations. And in a departure from its usual lengthy procedural process, the Senate is expected to Rep. Maxine Waters’ (D-California) bill very soon.

Waters said that while she is pleased that her bill will soon become law, the US and other nations must continue to address Haiti’s more immediate needs in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake it experienced on Jan.  12.

“We must also keep in mind the immediate needs of survivors who, without adequate shelter, will be further subjected to the elements and to disease during the upcoming rainy season,” said Waters.

After meeting with Haiti’s President René Préval on Wednesday, President Barack Obama pledged continued financial and humanitarian support. Like Waters, he warned that the conditions there remain “dire,” and that preventing a second disaster remains a challenge.

A protester at a 2009 NBFA rally in Jackson, Mississippi. (Source: NBFA)

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Justice Department announced on Thursday that USDA will pay $1.25 billion to settle claims from black farmers who say the agency used racial discrimination to delay or deny them loans and other government assistance.

The settlement, dubbed Pigford II, is contingent upon Congressional approval and funding of $1.15 billion by March 31 that would then be added to the $100 million that Congress appropriated in the 2008 Farm Bill. If that deadline is not met, the plaintiffs will have the option to walk away from the deal.

“Our goal is getting it done,” said National Black Farmers Association President John Boyd, Jr. “We’re not interested in going to court and a long, drawn out court fight for a group of black farmers who don’t have the resources to defend themselves.”

In the original lawsuit, settled in 1999 and named after North Carolina farmer Timothy Pigford, the USDA paid approximately $1 billion to 15,000 claimants. But close to 80,000 more were excluded from participating in the settlement process because they were unaware of the filing deadline and in some cases the actual lawsuit. Pigford II will enable those farmers to submit their claims through a non-judicial process in one of two ways.

Track A is a simplified claims process that Treasury Secretary Tom Vilsack said will allow farmers to seek quick relief of up to $50,000. The second track will involve a more rigorous process, but also would yield a much higher payout of up to $250,000. Final awards, however, will be based on the number of successful claims filed. In the meantime, a moratorium will be placed on the foreclosure of farms with pending claims until the farmers have completed the claims the process.

“I look forward to a swift resolution to this issue, so that the families affected can move on with their lives,” said President Barack Obama in a written statement.

In his 2010 budget request, Obama requested $1.15 billion to settle the outstanding claims. Vilsack explained in a conference call Thursday that lawmakers did not appropriate the funds because they were concerned that there was no process or signed settlement agreement in place. He believes that there now will be plenty of bipartisan support resolve the case.

“Congress has already spoken fairly clearly about this in the 2008 Farm Bill and I think that [it] for the most part will be very appreciative of the fact that we actually have a structure, a settlement number and an agreement by counsel for the plaintiffs,” said Vilsack, adding that the settlement would close a “sordid chapter in USDA history.”

Three years ago approximately 2.20 million farms operated in the U.S., according to the 2007 Census of Agriculture. Of that number, 32,938, or approximately 1.5% of all farms, were operated by African-Americans.

Boyd would have preferred a higher settlement amount, but agreed to the deal to allow the process to move forward because so many of the prospective claimants are dying, aging, or in danger of losing their properties.

“These farmers simply cannot and should not have to wait any longer — Congress must follow the Administration’s lead and act now,” Boyd said.

Earlier this week at a protest rally that his organization held in front of USDA headquarters, Boyd estimated that perhaps only 50% of the claims would be compensated and said that heirs will file some of those claims.

Pointing to a few of the aging farmers who’d traveled to Washington from places like Alabama and Mississippi, sleeping in their cars along the way and borrowing gas money for the return trip home, he said, “They’re old. There’s a lot of age and pain in the faces of these farmers. The longer we wait, the more people we’re going to lose in this process.”

Resources:
Timeline of black farmers’ lawsuit