Local Officials Getting Above-Average Subsidies FINAL Edition

Employees and members of local farmer committees that help decide who gets government agricultural subsidies have received $2.3 billion of the subsidies themselves over the past 10 years, according to a study released yesterday. "We were shocked to find that so many of the bureaucrats and farme...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Washington post
Main Author Spencer, Rich
Format Newspaper Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Washington, D.C WP Company LLC d/b/a The Washington Post 29.06.1995
Subjects
Charles E. Schumer
Kenneth A. Cook
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Summary:Employees and members of local farmer committees that help decide who gets government agricultural subsidies have received $2.3 billion of the subsidies themselves over the past 10 years, according to a study released yesterday. "We were shocked to find that so many of the bureaucrats and farmer committee members running the program were getting so much money themselves from the programs that they control," said Kenneth A. Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit organization that conducted the study by a computer search of public records. While the rules forbid any committee members or employees to pass on their own applications, [Andrew] Art said, "these people who work together and sit together are simply passing on each other's applications and then signing the checks," he said. "There's nothing illegal about this, but this is crazy to let everyone at the local level receive subsidies in some cases for the same programs they administer."
ISSN:0190-8286