©2026 League of Conservation Voters
Issues
Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) sponsored an amendment to H.R. 1319, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which would have stricken a provision to provide $5 billion in aid, largely in the form of debt relief to disadvantaged farmers of color, who have historically been marginalized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The combination of systemic racism and the federal government’s well-documented discriminatory policies and actions has led Black farmers to lose 90% of their farmland over the last century, and the number of Black farmers has dropped from 1 million to only 45,000 today. The COVID-19 pandemic only further exacerbated and highlighted the lack of support for farmers of color. The Toomey amendment undermined attempts to advance equity and begin addressing historic injustices farmers of color have experienced because of the USDA. On March 6, the Senate rejected the Toomey amendment by a vote of 49-50 (Senate roll call vote 86). NO IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE.
©2026 League of Conservation Voters