Special to the Democrat by John Zippert, Co-Publisher
The Inflation Reduction Act, passed by Congress and signed by President Biden, in August 2022, provides in Section 22007, an authorization of $2.2 Billion to compensate farmers who “experienced discrimination in USDA Farm Loan Programs, prior to January 1, 2021”.
USDA is working now to develop the regulations and the claims process for farmers who experienced discrimination in USDA farm lending programs to receive these funds. USDA has designated a national administrator for the process -the Midtown Group; and two subsidiary groups, Windsor Group for the counties east of the Mississippi river and Analytic Acquisitions for the western half of the nation.
The Section 22007 process is for farmers who experienced discrimination in the USDA farm loan programs, this includes racial and ethnic discrimination against Black farmers, Latino, indigenous, Asian-Pacific islanders, gender discrimination against women and LBGQT persons, religious discrimination and other forms of discrimination, which farmers may wish to assert in their claims.
Dania Davy, an attorney who heads the Federation of Southern Cooperative’s Land Retention Program said, “There is a lot of misinformation already about the Section 22007 program. This is not a new
class action lawsuit. This is not the re-opening of any prior lawsuit or settlement process. This is a new process for people who were discriminated against in USDA Farm Loan Programs. We are awaiting the regulations and the claim form, which USDA plans to release next month in June. They hope to complete this process in the next six months by the end of 2023.”
Davy further commented that, “USDA is saying you will not need a lawyer to fill out the claim form. You will not have to pay a fee for getting assistance in filling out these claim forms. The Federation and other community-based organizations with agricultural experience and knowledge of USDA programs, will be contracted to provide technical assistance in the filing of claim forms for Section 22007 funds. If you choose to employ your own attorney to file your claim, you will need to pay for these services out of your award.”
The maximum claim can be up to $500,000 but the average claim will be much less and closer to the $50,000 basic claim assistance offered in the
prior discrimination settlements.
Farmers who experienced recent discrimination in USDA programs, may contact the Office of Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (OASCR), Information Research Service, at (866) 632-9992 (toll free) or send an email to the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at CR-INFO@usda.gov.
USDA has set up a website for information on the Section 22007 process, which is: http://www.farmers.gov/22007, that will have up to date information on the process going forward, as well as answers to frequently asked questions.
The Federation, Rural Coalition, Intertribal Agriculture Council and many other community-based organizations who work with BIPOC farmers are awaiting the release of the regulations and claim form for the 22007 discrimination process. Once this critical information is released then these groups plan to implement strategies to assist farmers with their claims.
The Federation can be reach through their website at; http://www.federation.coop or by phone at 404/765-0991 at the Atlanta administrative office or 205/652-9676 at the Rural Training and Research Center in Epes, Alabama.