Biden admin pays thousands of farmers for loan discrimination

By Marc Heller | 07/31/2024 01:55 PM EDT

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the Inflation Reduction Act payments are an acknowledgment of past discrimination, but not compensation.

Tom Vilsack speaks at a lectern.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack speaking at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center in Washington on May 28. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

The Biden administration has paid more than 43,000 people for discrimination in the Agriculture Department’s loan programs, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Wednesday.

Tapping a $2.2 billion assistance program in the Inflation Reduction Act, the USDA paid producers an average of $82,000 for discrimination experienced before 2021, the department said.

The payments — ranging from $10,000 to $500,000 per farmer, rancher or forest owner — are a one-time event through the Discrimination Financial Assistance Program in the IRA, Vilsack said.

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Congressional Republicans had cautioned the administration about the use of nongovernmental entities to administer the program, as well as the risk of equity-related programs running afoul of the Constitution’s equal protection clause.

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