Whew, that is a chunk of money!!!

I have not ever personally known of anyone receiving funds like this....

How does one qualify and how is the amount determined?

What kind of strings are attached (if you in fact get money from the feds)?

This whole line of thinking falls under 'shower thoughts'

Bill

Two representatives have objected, one being Massey of Kentucky. Their objections are that the bill was to be passed when congress was not in session, and congressmen we all absent. Pelosi wants to gavel the House into session, pass the bill by "unanimous consent," and appropriate the unbudgeted money. As I understand it, there is no actual bill, just a draft. If passed, it could be virtually anything. So no, no one knows who, why, where, or how much will be distributed or where it will come from. Other than that, it's a great idea.

A portion of the bill includes some $3B for support to farmers. Don’t know what the specifics are, but if it’s like last year’s farm support, it’s designed to mitigate some of the price drops due to the China tariff issues. They distribute the money directly to farmers based on how many bushels of soybeans and corn each farm produced. It was a specific amount per bushel. Corn was almost nothing (something like a penny a bushel), but the soybean payment was considerably higher. I ended up with a few thousand from the program last year for the 160 acres my family farms, and I assume this year will be similar. The actual payments are direct deposits from USDA into a farmer’s checking account, at least in my case. Maybe they mail checks for farmers who don’t have bank accounts, but I suspect most do.

Hopefully that gives you some idea how that part works; can’t speak to the rest of the bill.

Is the money that you received taxable?

I’m not really interested in the particulars of the bill, I’m just interested in how does that money filter down to normal people, you and me.

Like I said, I’ve never been involved in anything like that, so it seems like a big enigma, where there’s this pot of funds available, but there must be a method that is used to tap into it.

Oh yeah, it’s definitely taxable as long as the overall farm was profitable (mine was). Obviously if you had a loss for the year, even after including the USDA payments, then you wouldn’t have any taxable farm income, but I’d suggest you’d have much bigger problems in that situation!

Below is a link to Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) release of the $19.1 Billion for Disaster Relief. (He chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee). It's the most info I have seen so far but not much of the detail you're seeking.

It's been my experience in our family that anytime a massive bill such as this has been implemented there are always little touches/tweaks added by someone? that minimizes/eliminates/penalizes the average person/family. Income/profit caps/location/etc.

If you've ever filled out a scholarship application for your kids you know what I mean...


Emergency Supplemental Summary

The SBA gives disaster relief loans to homeowners (and businesses) that suffer losses from disasters such as hurricanes. I received SBA loans for my cabinet company for repairs and loss of business and my home for repairs after hurricane Ivan (2004). Still owe a little on the 3% home loan.