Menu
Log in

THE COOPERATIVE 

PROFESSIONALS GUILD

Log in

Federation of Southern Cooperatives’ Dãnia Davy to Give Update on Farmer Debt Relief Provision in American Rescue Plan Act

  • 25 Aug 2022
  • 13:00 - 14:00 (EDT)
  • Zoom

Registration

  • Free webinar registration for Guild members. Members also have free access to all webinar recordings.
  • Anyone can register.

Registration is closed


Dãnia Davy, Director of Land Retention and Advocacy with Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund, will discuss the litigation about debt relief for socially disadvantaged farmers and give an update on the farmer debt relief provisions of the American Rescue Plan Act.

CLE Credit will be available in California.

Background:

Alleging unconstitutional reverse discrimination, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller in his capacity as a private citizen filed suit to invalidate a Congressionally authorized debt relief program administered by the USDA. Miller v. Vilsack, No. 4:21-cv-0595-O (N.D. Tex. Apr. 26, 2021). 

Under § 1005 of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to pay up to 120 percent of the outstanding USDA-guaranteed loans of each socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher. ARPA § 1005(a)(2), 135 Stat. at 12–13. Socially disadvantaged farmers or ranchers are defined as having been subjected to racial or ethnic prejudice because of their identity as member of a group without regard to their individual qualities. They may include (but are not limited to) American Indians or Alaskan Natives; Asians; Blacks or African Americans; Native Hawaiians or other Pacific Islanders; and Hispanics or Latino. 7 U.S.C. § 2279(a) and Notice of Funds Availability; American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 Section 1005 Loan Payment (ARPA), 86 Fed. Reg. 28,329, 28,330 (May 26, 2021). Suit was also filed by white farmers in Wisconsin and Florida. Faust v. Vilsack, 519 F. Supp. 3d 470 (E.D. Wis. 2021) (No. 1:21-cv-00548) and Wynn v. Vilsack, 545 F. Supp. 3d 1271 (M.D. Fla. 2021). The USDA had begun issuing debt forgiveness offers, but was enjoined by all three courts from continuing to distribute funds under the theory that the provision ran afoul of the Constitution’s Equal Protection clause. The Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund was allowed to join the Miller action in recent litigation

According to a news account, Congressional Democrats have drafted a provision that would replace ARPA § 1005(a)(2) with an $11 billion program that would provide debt relief to “economically distressed” and “at-risk” farmers who potentially could be white. Another bill S 2023, HR 3782, Relief for America’s Small Farmers Act, would provide loan forgiveness of up to $250,000 for certain borrowers who are actively engaged in farming, have an average annual adjusted gross income of $300,000 or less over the previous five years, and have certain Department of Agriculture farm loans.

Dãnia Davy serves as Director of Land Retention and Advocacy at the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund, which is the largest and oldest cooperatively-owned organization whose membership includes black farmers, landowners, and cooperatives. After double concentrating in Community Health and Africana Studies at Brown University, she earned her J.D. at University of Virginia School of Law. Dãnia has written extensively on heir property, Black land loss, racial disparities in maternal mortality, racial disparities in the criminalization of mothers, and disparities in healthy food access for low-income and communities of color. 

Dãnia began her legal career as a Skadden Fellow at the NCABL Land Loss Prevention Project implementing a project she designed which provided community education and estate planning services to improve Black farmers' access to legal services in the rural South. She developed the documentary - "Our Land, Our Lives: The North Carolina Black Farmers' Experience" and served on the inaugural North Carolina Sustainable Local Food Advisory Council. She is also the Director of the Federation’s Regional Heirs Property & Mediation Center managing the State Agricultural Mediation Programs in Florida, the Virgin Islands, Georgia, Mississippi and Louisiana. She currently serves on the boards of the Farmers Legal Action Group and Southern Rural Development Center.


The Cooperative Professionals Guild, 2024


Powered by Wild Apricot Membership Software