Payments from settlement for black farmers coming too late for some

We've been following the Obama administration's decision to award money to black farmers as part of the so-called Pigford case alleging discrimination by the Department of Agriculture, most recently here, but those payments may come too late for many of the affected farmers. "Wrangling over the federal budget in Washington has delayed payouts from the $1.25 billion settlement," Ashley Southall reports for The New York Times.

"I thought that the elderly farmers would get their money and get to live a few happy days of their lives," John W. Boyd Jr., the president of the National Black Farmers Association, who is not a plaintiff in the settlement, told Southall. "They deserve the money before they leave God’s earth." Younger relatives have often filed claims for affected farmers who are dead or ill. A lawyer at one of the firms handling the claims said many of the plaintiffs are over 65 and in poor health. The lawyer, who is nameless because her firm was not authorized to speak explained, "We have a lot of death certificates."

"Congress missed a March 31 deadline set by the administration to provide financing, which would have allowed payments to start by the summer of 2011," Southall writes. "The farmers agreed to give the government an extension through May 31. The House is expected to vote Wednesday on a bill that includes the settlement." The settlement has bipartisan support, but some lawmakers have voiced concerns that the bill's costs are not offset by corresponding spending cuts. (Read more)