Farm Bill Vote Switchers Have Nearly Twice as Much Money From Traditional Farm Bill Interests
On Thursday, July 11, the House Republican leadership convinced just enough of its caucus to vote in favor of the revised farm bill H.R. 2642, which eliminates funding for food stamps, to pass it without any Democratic support. Republicans who switched their votes — voted NO the original bill in June but YES on the food-stamp-free version last week — have received significantly higher contributions from interests supporting the bills agricultural programs than Republicans who voted NO on both bills.
Data: MapLight analysis of campaign contributions to members of the House of Representatives from January 1, 2011 – December 31, 2012. Contributions data source: OpenSecrets.org
- House Republicans who voted NO on the original farm bill and YES on the new farm bill received, on average, 1.9 times more money $101,397 from supporting interests including the sugar cane & sugar beets, biotech products & research, and livestock industries than the average received by House Republicans who voted NO on both $53,528.