Iowa GOP US House member who wants to 'empower' farmers voted to cut critical farm loans

Rep. Zach Nunn (R-IA) has been touting a bill he introduced in August that lowers the requirements for Americans to obtain federal loans to purchase farm businesses, saying his legislation is a “critical step forward to ensure young, starting farmers have the tools they need to purchase farmland and continue the tradition of agriculture in the United States.”

“My Next Generation of Farmers Act will empower beginning farmers to access the capital they need to start their very own farm,” Nunn tweeted on Sunday, along with a local television news clip covering his bill.

However, Nunn voted in April to dramatically cut federal loans to farmers.

Nunn voted for the Limit, Save, Grow Act, a House Republican bill that would have raised the debt ceiling in exchange for across-the-board cuts to the federal budget. The bill passed the House in April on a vote of 217 to 210, with only Republicans voting in favor, but the Senate never voted on the measure, and a separate debt ceiling bill was passed in June.

The Limit, Save, Grow Act Nunn voted for would have cut the federal budget by 22%. U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack wrote in a letter to Congress in March that cutting his department’s budget at those levels would have led to the loss of thousands of farm loans that go to those wishing to expand their farms, those whose farms have been hit by natural disasters, and those who can’t get loans from commercial lenders.

“The reduction of farm loan funding could result in a loss of up to 26,250 private sector jobs (plus the hundreds of farmers that would be forced out of farming and into the off-farm job market), reduce the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by more than $1.6 billion, and reduce household income by more than $1.3 billion,” Vilsack wrote in the letter.

After the vote on the act, Nunn issued a joint statement with Iowa’s three other GOP members of Congress claiming that they had “stood united for Iowa’s farmers and producers” to help negotiate the bill: “Iowa farmers and producers feed and fuel the world, and we will always have their backs.”

Nunn’s seat is a top target in 2024 for Democrats looking to win control of the House.

Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District is the most competitive of the state’s four House seats. Former President Donald Trump narrowly carried it in 2020 by less than a half of a point, according to data from Daily Kos Elections.

Nunn only narrowly won the district in 2022, defeating incumbent Democratic Rep. Cindy Axne by less than 1 point.

The race is rated “tilts Republican” by the nonpartisan political handicapping outlet Inside Elections.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.