{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.flake.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=ca2f9165-ab2d-4d95-a6ae-3f9f0a08c5a3", "VIDEO: Flake Motions to Strip $3 Billion Crop Insurance Subsidy Hike in Highway Bill", "2015-12-04", "2015", "2015-12", "Republican", "House", "AZ", "Jeff Flake", "F000444", "www.flake.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, D.C.  U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) yesterday evening raised a point of order to strip a provision from a highway funding bill to increase subsidies to private insurance companies participating in the federal crop insurance program by $3 billion dollars. Congress had approved $3 billion in cuts to those subsidies to offset and justify spending increases in the October 29 budget deal. Flakes attempt to preserve those savings was defeated in Senate by a vote of 22-75.\r\nIf we're ever going to get serious about controlling our deficit and addressing our debt, then we've actual got to stick to some of the cuts that we've made. That's what this point of order is all about, said Flake.\r\nVideo of Flakes remarks can viewed here. A transcript can be viewed here.\r\nBackground: During debate on the budget bill  which included the $3 billion in savings from crop insurance subsidies to offset spending increases  crop insurance advocates secured an agreement to reverse those savings in upcoming legislation. In response, Flake took to the Senate floor to criticize the move, noting that Congress had not even waited to pass the bill before agreeing to go back on the spending cuts it included. Video of Flakes speech can be viewed here.\r\nIn November, Flake and U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) introduced S. 2244, the Assisting Family Farmers through Insurance Reform Measures (AFFIRM) Act, a bipartisan bill that would reform the crop insurance system to save taxpayers about $24.4 billion over the next 10 years. The reforms included lowering the Standard Reinsurance Agreement (SRA) rate of return from 14.5 percent to 8.9 percent, eliminating an unprecedented restriction in the 2014 farm bill that currently prohibits USDA from achieving any savings when it renegotiates the SRA, and eliminating subsidies for a costly but little-publicized profit guarantee known as Harvest Price Option. The bill would also limit the total value of crop insurance subsidies to $40,000 per person each year and eliminate subsidies for those with a gross income of more than $250,000.\r\nIn May, Flake and U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) introduced S. 1442, the Exclusion for deficit Reduction in Agriculture Subsidies Elimination (ERASE) Act. The bill would eliminate an unprecedented restriction buried in the 2014 farm bill that prohibits the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) from achieving any savings when it renegotiates its five-year subsidy deal, known as SRA, with the private companies that administer federal crop insurance.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.flake.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=ca2f9165-ab2d-4d95-a6ae-3f9f0a08c5a3"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9764158166944981, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}