游说影响包括农业法案在内的立法超过5亿美元

国会应该根据社区的需要制定下一个食品和农业法案, Not Big Corporations, at the Center

Published May 13, 2024

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几乎从2018年食品和农业法案签署成为法律的那一刻起, 农业综合企业和工业集团已经花费了超过5亿美元游说包括下一个食品和农业法案在内的问题, according to new research by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). The UCS report, released today, shows that over the same timeframe, from 2019 through 2023, those corporations and industry associations donated $3.400万美元捐给了三位主要的食品和农业法案的设计者. 这项价值数万亿美元的立法将在未来五年塑造美国的食品和农业体系.

“在过去的五年里,农业综合企业的利益集团花费了5.23亿美元的巨额资金来游说国会,” said Karen Perry Stillerman他是加州大学洛杉矶分校食品与环境项目副主任,也是该报告的合著者. “This is an industry that regularly spends more money lobbying Congress than either Big Oil or defense contractors, and for understandable reasons. 食品和农业法案有能力改变我们的食品和农业系统, and agribusiness and industry groups know this. 几乎从最后一个农业法案颁布的那一刻起,他们就开始游说, 这表明这些团体一直在努力影响这项对他们有利的立法.”

UCS的分析汇总了季度游说报告,这些报告将食品和农业法案列为注册公司和组织游说的议题之一. Activity picked up approaching the September 30, 2023 expiration of the food and farm bill, 2023年的支出占五年总额的一半以上. The analysis found that 561 companies, industry associations, 其他特殊利益集团和倡导组织报告说,在此期间就食品和农业法案进行了游说, with top spenders including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the American Crystal Sugar Company, the American Farm Bureau Federation and Koch Industries.

The American Farm Bureau Federation, which has denied the science of climate change, worked 降低企业报告其617888九五至尊娱乐排放的要求,以及 counts 数以百万计的非农业客户作为国家保险公司的“会员”,” along with its state-based affiliates, spent $15.UCS的报告分析了在5年的时间里,700万美元用于游说.

毫无疑问,大型农业公司正试图通过游说和竞选捐款来讨好议员.

“农业仍然顽固地不受大多数环境法规的约束, 这是像农业局这样的行业参与者努力维持的现状,” said Dr. Omanjana Goswami他是加州大学洛杉矶分校食品与环境项目的跨学科617888九五至尊娱乐家,也是报告的合著者. “这应该引起人们的关注,因为农业占美国gdp的9%以上.S. 2022年的温室气体排放,以及农业径流 leading source of pollution of the nation’s rivers and streams.”

The report calls on the members of Congress who are writing the food and farm bill to prioritize the needs of constituents without the resources or political connections to extensively lobby lawmakers: small and midsize farmers; Black, brown and Indigenous farmers; and food and farmworkers.

“优先考虑企业利润的付费食品和农业法案对人们的健康有害, our environment and farm communities,” said Stillerman. “下一个食品和农业法案应该通过使农业成为617888九五至尊娱乐解决方案的一部分来应对今天的挑战, 为中小农户创造公平的竞争环境, 投资于工人和农村社区的健康.”