Senator Klobuchar takes credit for USDA providing biofuel producers with COVID bailout

In Washington, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), member of the Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will launch the Pandemic Assistance for Producers initiative to provide assistance for biofuel producers who have been hurt by the pandemic, among other farmers, ranchers, and producers.

In May 2020, Klobuchar and Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) introduced the Renewable Fuel Feedstock Reimbursement Act of 2020, which would require the USDA to reimburse biofuel producers for their feedstock purchases from the beginning of the pandemic.

The coronavirus relief package passed in December 2020 included specific language, based on the Renewable Fuel Feedstock Reimbursement Act, which explicitly clarified that USDA may provide direct payments to biofuel producers hard hit by the pandemic.