S.2131, the Senate’s Fiscal Year 2024 Agriculture Appropriations Bill includes provisions that reduce Section 502 loan funds by $400 million and raise the minimum interest rate from 1 to 2 percent.
Attached please is a letter to the Senate opposing both and urging the Senate to restore the 1 percent loan and increase the program level. The closing date for the letter is September 11 at 12pm EST. Also attached is a fact sheet on the Senate provisions.
We hope your organization will sign on and that you will also reach out to public officials, contractors, and others involved in the Section 502 program to urge them to sign on as well. We also ask that you send your own letter to your Senators. We have attached a draft and ask that you copy NRHC when you send it.
You can sign on here: https://lnkd.in/eTrbpa2e
Congress is in recess now until after Labor Day. When the House and Senate return, we expect the Senate to take up appropriations legislation including S. 2131.
NRHC is working with a number of Senate offices and we hope to have a bipartisan amendment ready when the Ag Bill comes to the floor. We’ll keep informed.
Thanks for your cooperation.