Bill to reach settlement with Black farmers and American Indians

The Senate is expected to approve $1.15 billion to fund a settlement initially reached between the Agriculture Department and minority farmers more than a decade ago. The legislation will pair an extension of a major welfare program with the settlement of longstanding claims that the federal government mismanaged funds owed to American Indians and discriminated against black farmers.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is seeking unanimous consent to clear the measure.

The 1997 Pigford v. Glickman case against the U.S. Agriculture Department was settled out of court 11 years ago. Qualified farmers are set to receive $50,000 each to settle the claim pertaining to racial bias, under a federal judge’s terms dating back to 1999.

“This is much long overdue justice for black farmers,” said John Boyd, founder and president of the National Black Farmers Association.

The bill would also include settlements dealing with Native American water rights sought by Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ).

It would extend Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the basic federal welfare program, through September 30, 2011, and extend for six months a supplemental TANF grant program for states with high population growth or historically below-average welfare grants.

The Senate failed several times to ratify agreements reached in December 2009 between the Interior Department and American Indian plaintiffs in the Cobell v. Salazar class action lawsuit, and in February 2010 between the Agriculture Department and representatives for black farmers.The settlements were dropped from two House-passed bills that were revised to win Senate passage. In August, Wyoming Republican John Barrasso stopped action on a stand-alone Senate bill to ratify the settlements, raising objections to attorney fees and other items in the Cobell agreement.

Coburn has now been satisfied that the bill is budget-neutral, spokesman John Hart said Thursday. Budgetary offsets would come from customs fees, a fund for Indian safety and health and rescissions from the Women, Infants and Children nutrition program.

The Interior Department agreement would provide $3.4 billion to settle allegations that the agency mismanaged trust accounts and cheated thousands of American Indians out of their share of revenue generated by leasing their land.

For more information, please visit www.nwyc.com or email me at gms@yourvotecountspittsburgh.com.