Top federal lawmakers in the Northeast have penned a letter to Congress asking them to provide more direct help to local growers impacted by July’s historic flooding.
Lawmakers are asking the federal government to approve more aid for New England farmers as part of a spending package needed to avert a government shutdown on Oct. 1.
The letter was sent on Monday by Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, and was signed by over a dozen Democratic legislators across New England. The group called on the U.S. House and Senate Appropriations Committees to pass emergency or annual spending bills that would aid farmers affected by the devastating rain and flooding.
Most of these workers run small to midsize farms and aren’t well protected by federal risk management programs, according to the letter. Many producers lost crops this season and a large number of them will see long-term damage from the July floods.
According to federal weather officials, the July flooding is one of nearly two dozen billion-dollar weather and climate disasters the U.S. has already sustained this year.