Progress Illinois

A U.S. House vote on President Obama's budget could come as soon as today, but freshman Rep. Debbie Halvorson (D-IL) isn't saying which way she plans to vote.  After hearing murmurs that she was waffling, we asked her office where she stands on the spending plan and got the following statement back from a spokesperson this afternoon:

As you know, this is no small issue and there is a lot of information on the budget to process. Right now Congresswoman Halvorson is taking time to listen to her constituents, as well as the debate. She is still considering her vote.

If you've been following the latest reporting on the Capitol Hill budget negotiations, you might have seen this coming.  A recent BusinessWeek article identified Halvorson as one of the freshmen representatives being targeted by the agribusiness lobbyists:

Lobbyists for the American Farm Bureau Federation are targeting freshman Democrats who make up some 30% of the House Agriculture Committee. Many come from rural areas and depend on support from farmers. Key among the freshmen to persuade: Travis Childers of Mississippi, Bobby Bright of Alabama, and Debbie Halvorson of Illinois. 

And Halvorson has already gone on record saying she opposes the provision in Obama's budget that has infuriated these lobbyists, which would cut direct-payment subsidies to farmers with annual sales revenue of more than $500,000:

Faced with a choice between supporting President Barack Obama or local farmers on the issue of slashing agricultural subsidies, U.S. Rep. Debbie Halvorson (D-11th), of Crete, is siding with her constituents in the heavily rural congressional district. [...]

Halvorson said farming is "a risky business" and the payments are "an important part of the safety net." Eliminating the subsidies would "hurt the everyday farmer," she said.

In his recent New Republic piece, Jonathan Chait pointed out that Obama's proposed change to the subsidy is pretty modest, considering the widespread criticism:

It is virtually impossible to find an economist on the left, right, or center who defends agriculture subsidies, which are costly, distort the market, and hurt the Third World poor. Obama does not dare phase out crop subsidies. Instead, he modestly asks to save about $1 billion per year by eliminating payments to farmers who gross more than $500, 000 per year--the least justifiable slice of a totally unjustifiable program. Conrad the Deficit Hawk, joined by other farm-state senators (such as Nebraska's Ben Nelson) and representatives, cannot abide it.

If Halvorson is considering opposing the budget on these grounds in order to establish her "moderate" credentials, she should take a step back and think about it some more.  If she needs guidance, Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin provides a great counter-example of how you can support "family farmers" without backing the most non-sensical subsidies:

One lawmaker who opposes direct payments despite representing many farmers is Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), the chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee. Harkin, who supports other types of farm subsidies, recently said direct payments "make no sense, because they go out no matter how much money you make, how good the year may be."

Halvorson should take a cue from Harkin and focus on good public policy -- not simply politics.